Maricopa wrestlers dominate Santa Cruz Tournament

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Three Maricopa High School wrestlers claimed individual titles, and the remaining seven placed in the top four of their weight classes at the Santa Cruz Invitational Wrestling Tournament last Saturday. Stellar performances across the board catapulted the Rams to a team victory in the tournament.

J. D. Masterson emerged from the tournament with an unblemished overall record of 10-0 over the course of the two-day tournament. Travis Moore took home top honors in the 130-pound category, while senior Matt Sanders topped the podium in the 145-pound class.

The success had by Masterson should not be any surprise. He has been wrestling since the fifth grade, falling in love with the sport, but he points to the leadership of new Head Coach Mark Hildago as a major key to the success of the team early in the 2008-2009 season. “I really think we have the two best coaches in the state. Coaches Hidalgo and (Tyler) Brandt have been great. They’ve got the guys working hard, and they like working for them,” said Masterson.

Four wrestlers, Ty Mundt (125), Austin Hewlett (152), Aldrich Dabu (171) and Mike Depaz (215), nabbed runner-up honors. Anthony Coronel, a transfer student from River Valley High School, and Marky Suazo took third in the 140 and 189-pound classes respectively. Honorable mention went to Buster Dunn, who placed fourth in the 160-pound category.

Due to scheduling issues resulting from the recent construction on campus, nearly all of the season will be spent on the road for the Rams. The coaches, however, are grateful to have a space of their own to use for practice this year. “Last year,” said Coach Brandt, “we had to have the guys come back at seven o’clock at night for practice. It made it real hard. But this year we can practice on our own schedule, and it’s made all the difference in the world.”

And it shows in the new makeup of the team. Taking the relationships built as an assistant coach for the Rams football team, Coach Hidalgo has been able to build a team that struggled to fill all of the weight classes last year, to one where 20-30 wrestlers are routinely eligible to participate. Wrestlers and coaches alike are hopeful that this is going to lead to a successful season.

The Rams next take to the mats for the preliminary rounds of the McClintock Invitational Wrestling Tournament in Tempe on Friday, Dec. 19.

Photo by David Vargas