Jeremy McEachern has some unfinished business.
Over the past two seasons, the Camp Verde High School 170-pounder has more match wins than any other Cowboys wrestler, pinning Angel Marquez, of Phoenix Christian High School, in 1:43 at the Division IV, Section II tournament to join fellow senior Ryan Allred and junior Matt Mejia at 40 wins this season.
The Cowboys would dominate their sectionals by 69 points, advancing 12 other wrestlers from Youngker High School in Buckeye to the state competition, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.
“We’re going to win,” said Mario Chagolla Sr., Cowboys assistant wrestling coach. “Many would consider that an arrogant remark, but anything less would mean a lack of confidence.”
McEachern, whose highest State finish was fourth place going into his final shot Friday, Feb. 13, at the Prescott Valley Events Center, is also charging forward to fit into one more group — CVHS state champions.
“When I was younger, I went where I thought I did belong — the troublemakers, my parents’ old friends,” he said. “It was destructive. It wasn’t the right way to go.
“It sucks to have to say that outright, but they just didn’t come out well.”
In fact, before McEachern was introduced to Chagolla and wrestling in sixth grade, he couldn’t be trusted on his own: Both of McEachern’s parents were dead by the time he was in third grade — casualties of drug abuse.
“My dad was dealing meth,” he said. “His heart just gave out. He stopped eating, he wasn’t taking care of himself. He didn’t have enough nutrients in his body to keep up with how much he was burning through.
“My mom, she had got into a pretty serious car accident. She was pumping a bunch of pain pills and was doing heroin on top of it. She was a beautiful lady, but her heart just couldn’t take it … drugs.”
After three years living with his grandparents, they enrolled McEachern in Chagolla’s New Breed Wrestling Club. With their help as well as the support of his aunt and uncle — his legal guardians now — McEachern has not only grown out of his former lifestyle the past seven years, he has lettered in football and carries a 3.4 GPA.
For more photos and full sectional results, please see the Wednesday, Feb. 11, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
