During the winter break, the Maricopa High wrestling team pinned down more than presents and food, winning five duel meets as a team and earning five top spots at the Marana Invitational tournament.
Of the 12 teams in the Marana High School Invitational Tournament held in Marana on Jan. 4 and 5, Maricopa (9-18) finished eighth as a team, but came home with one first-place award to Ty Mundt, and three second-place awards to Hunter Field, JD Masterson and Cody Seymore for individual honors. Also placing in the tournament were Mike DePaz (4th) and Frank Acuna (5th).
“We definitely made an impact at the tournament,” Coach Jason Burr said. “And I think we gained respect from the other teams.”
Burr said the other schools in the tournament were all strong teams, including Marana, a 5A division school.
During the tournament, and a meet at Canyon State Academy on Dec. 28, Mundt and Masterson each boosted a 10-1 record, bringing their season totals to 28-3 and 29-3 respectively. Acuna (24-6), Field (23-9), and Seymore (10-4) each added eight wins to the teams total over the two events.
“Everyone is doing really well,” Burr said.
According to Burr the team is going to “ramp up” conditioning for the remaining four events of the season before the regional tournament. From there, the top four wrestlers from each weight class go on to the state tournament.
“I think we have a really good shot for all of our wrestlers to make it to the state tournament,” Burr said.
A lack of wrestlers accounts for most of Maricopa’s team losses as they have had to forfeit several matches to teams with wrestlers in weight classes in which Maricopa does not have a wrestler. Despite this, Burr said he is pleased with the season so far and with the improvement the team has shown.
The team’s next meet is today at the Apache Junction High School Invitational.
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