LOCAL GLANCE Nov. 30: Prep wrestling, basketball, soccer
The Antelope wrestling team sent seven grapplers out to the mat at the unexpectedly one-day Sid Grande Tournament in Wellton on Friday.
Six of them made it to the individual finals and four of them took first.
Chad Cullison (126 pounds), Casey Pearson (132), Jason St. Clair (138) and Fred Pearson (160) each went 5-0 for the Rams, who went 2-1 in the team portion in the meet – which also featured Yuma Catholic, San Pasqual and Santa Cruz. Luis Saboria (170) and Jacob Peters (220) each finished second for the Rams.
“We wrestled really well, the moves were clicking,” Antelope coach Rich St. Clair said. “They cranked it up a notch today.”
Jason St. Clair and Fred Pearson were each named one of the outstanding wrestlers from the meet and the Shamrocks won the team portion of the event, sweeping matches against Santa Cruz (60-24), San Pasqual (78-6) and Antelope (54-27).
The Shamrocks had seven individual champions – Zach Lopez (120), Clay Sierra (145), Moisis Barcenas (152), Grady Eldridge (170), Ryan Waters (182), Jose Valencia (220) and Alex Varela (285).
Only four teams showed up to the event, which was slated to run over two days.
Yuma High perfect in five matches
The Yuma High wrestling team went 5 for 5 in team matches Friday at a tournament in Flagstaff.
The Criminals will face Flagstaff today in the team championship, plus they will have at least six wrestlers in the individual tournament, which features the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.
Kodi Doerr (106) and Cade Kottenbrook (138) went perfect for the Criminals. Leo Salcedo (113), Jose Gonzalez (120), Trent Haile (132) and Carlos Vargas (145) went 4-1.
The Criminals beat Coconino 43-33, Coolidge 61-15, Pinon 60-18, Glendale 33-30 and Bradshaw Mountain 57-21.
“Coconino is a real good team,” Yuma High coach Jeff Welsing said. “They have a defending state runner-up at 113, and (Salcedo) beat him. And then we had that nail-biter against Glendale, and we won the matches we needed to win. And the ones we didn't we stayed off our backs to help save those team points.”
Cibola dominates first day at Deer Valley
The Cibola wrestling team had nine undefeated wrestlers and the team went 3-0 at the Skyhawk Invitational on Friday.
The Raiders beat Dysart (59-12), Barry Goldwater (56-9) and Apollo (62-6).
Perfect wrestlers for Cibola were Josh Olsen (113), Alex Juarez (120), Andres Gandara (126), Isaac Camarillo (132), Luis Nunez (140), Mark Cruz (145), Miguel Lugo (152), Pierre Gaud (160) and Vincente Guerrero (170).
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
YC defense shines again
The Yuma Catholic boys basketball team had another pair of strong showings at the Williams Tournament Friday.
With a 60-20 win over Seligman and a 67-35 win over Williams, the Shamrocks earned a spot in the tournament championship tonight.
Carter Rodriguez and Matt Pistone led the way in both games. Rodriguez followed his 17-point, five-assist effort against Seligman with a 12-point showing against Williams. Pistone scored nine against Williams after 16 points and eight rebounds in the first game.
Yuma High into loser bracket finals
The Yuma High boys basketball team won its game Friday after a Thursday loss, setting itself up for a possible fifth-place finish at the Coca-Cola Classic in Chinle.
The Criminals beat Rock Pointe 72-70 in overtime in the semifinal on a late layup from Alex Juarez.
Andre Phillips had a steal on the defensive end after the layup to seal the win.
Cedric Rash scored 19 to lead the Criminals while Rash added 11.
Gila Ridge comes from behind
Despite trailing at halftime, the Gila Ridge boys basketball team used a huge second half and a hot-shooting night to win 65-48 at Mohave on Friday.
Marcus Weeks had a team-high 17 points to go with six assists for the Hawks and Christian Espinoza finished with 14 points. The Hawks made 10 3-pointers on the night, with Espinoza and Kevin McCullough each with three apiece.
The Hawks (3-0) host Cibola on Tuesday.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Shamrocks fall at Williams, San Pasqual wins two
The Yuma Catholic girls basketball team had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but missed in a 51-49 loss to Seligman Friday at the Williams Tournament.
The team rebounded with a 38-28 win over the host team but did not qualify for the championship. The Shamrocks were slated to play San Pasqual in the third-place game, but switched games and will face Northland Preparatory Academy today.
San Pasqual moved into second in their pool with wins over Northland Prep (35-27) and Ash Fork (24-17).
Madison Brazeel led the Shamrocks with 27 points against Seligman, but sat out the second game with a leg injury, said coach Bob McGalliard.
Mary Terkelsen led the Shamrocks with 14 against Williams.
McGalliard said the team led big early in the loss but struggled with fouls.
“We were in deep foul trouble the whole game,” McGalliard said. “But I tell you what, that team will win the championship.”
For the Warriors, Ceara Ingraham and Tatiana Damon combined for three double doubles in the two games. Damon had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against NPA and 14 points and 16 rebounds against Ash Fork. Ingraham and 18 points and 15 boards against NPA and six points and 114 rebounds against Ash Fork.
PREP BOYS SOCCER
Yuma High holds off Yuma Catholic
Brian Aguliar connected on what proved to be the game winner in the second half as Yuma High beat Yuma Catholic 4-3 on Friday.
Criminal coach Evan Chamberlain said there were 20 cards in the game – including two red cards, one for each team. Yuma Catholic coach Ralph Evans said his count had 11 yellow cards total — eight for Yuma High.
“After the game the refs made it a point to tell us how polite our kids were,” Chamberlain said. “They pointed out how remarkable it was.”
All three YC goals were the results of penalties – two penalty kicks and one free kick. Jorge Ruiz scored on both YC PKs.
“I proud of my boys,” Evans said. “They played a good, well executed game.”
On Thursday, Yuma High routed Lake Havasu 11-1 behind six goals from Abraham Topete.
