The Camp Verde High School wrestling team took first place in its own Verde Duals Wrestling Tournament this past weekend, beating out 15 other schools for the first-place prize.
“The tournament was an impressive opening for the young, aggressive Cowboy wrestling team,” longtime Camp Verde Head Coach Bob Weir said. “The team gave everything they had and came out of the tournament for the 12th year in a row as the tournament champions.”
It was the 18th time Camp Verde has held the event, with several Cowboys wrestlers doing quite well on the mat Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10.
At 106 pounds, senior Michael Casillas won the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his perfect 9-0 performance and three pins over the weekend in Camp Verde.
“This is his second year wrestling for the Cowboys and he is on a mission to win a state championship this year,” Weir said.
There were plenty of other top performances for the Cowboys at the Verde Duals as well including four second-place finishes by two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior for Camp Verde.
Sophomore Isiah McReynolds, who wrestles at 113 pounds, finished second overall with a 9-1 record and seven pins while 121-pound freshman Ryan Allred was 8-1 with seven pins, finishing second overall.
At 132 pounds, freshman Michael Nelson was second overall with a 9-1 record and six pins.
Junior Edwin Hazelwood was also in the mix for second-place finishers, going 9-1 with six pins in the heavyweight division at 285 pounds.
Overall, Camp Verde finished 7-0 at its own meet in duals, defeating several teams by nearly 70 points or more.
Camp Verde beat Tuba City [78-6], Winslow [72-12], Bradshaw Mountain [68-9], River Valley [72-6], Peoria [52-18], Antelope [75-6] and Cactus Shadows [78-3] high schools.
Camp Verde took first with 620 total team points while St. Johns High School was second with 525.5 points. Peoria wrapped up the top three with 469 points while Sunnyslope High School was fourth with 396 points. Holbrook High School was fifth with 327 points.
“The returning wrestlers and new wrestlers for the Cowboys have a new attitude to bring back the respect of Camp Verde wrestling on the mat and off,” Weir said.
Other top individual performances for the Cowboys over the weekend included 138-pound junior Heath Carroll, who was 9-1 with six pins, finishing third overall, while 145-pound junior Alex Anzar was third overall with a 9-1 record and five pins.
At 170 pounds, senior Andrew Teague was fourth overall with a 7-3 record and four pins while 195-pound junior Elmer Ruiz was fourth overall with a 7-3 record and five pins.
“It was a good weekend for the team with us winning the tournament and showing that we are a tough dual team to everyone else,” sophomore Chance Weir said. Weir was 2-4 during the meet this weekend.
The Cowboys get the week to prepare for the Moon Valley Tournament with 32 schools scheduled to be in attendance.
The Moon Valley Tournament is set to take place Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17, at Moon Valley High School. The first dual Friday is set for 10:30 a.m.
