As if placing fifth overall in Division IV at last year’s AIA State Wrestling Championships was no tall task, the Camp Verde High School wrestling team is shaping up to potentially have an even better season in 2016-17.
The Cowboys had six individual champions en route to winning the third annual Veterans Memorial Invitational, which included 24 teams from Arizona, New Mexico and California on Dec. 16 and 17.
“This is one of the best years ever in terms of staying happy,” head coach Tracy Tudor said, adding that during the holidays the athletes normally want to rest. “They’re very happy, coming in every day joking, laughing. Some want to train twice a day.”
Perhaps that happiness has something to do with the team’s results.
At the tournament, freshmen Keene Todacheene [wrestling in the 106-pound weight class] and Korben Uhler [126], junior Skyler Pike [113], and seniors Ezekiel Casillas [132], Hayden Uhler [138] and Oscar Berrelez [152] all finished undefeated at 10-0.
Senior Wes Phillips went 9-1 to take second place in the 120-pound weight class, and seniors Enrique Garcia [160] and Jose Guzman [170] took fifth place.
“The studs are studs and we expect that out of them,” Tudor said. “The beginners are performing better.”
Three wrestlers have been absent from the team due to either injury or grades, but will return heading into the Joseph City Wrestling Invitation on Friday, Jan. 6.
Of the three, the most notable is that of heavyweight Jesus Curiel, who placed fifth in last year’s state tournament in the 285-pound weight class. In his absence, Tudor said freshman Laddie Wells has done well.
Also returning are state qualifier Daniel White, in the 145-pound division, and Tristian Stanfield at 220 pounds.
With the three returners and additional training time, the team is keen on improving.
“This is one of those exceptional years where we can come close to having a full team in all weight classes,” Tudor said. “It’s all up to the kids, the coaches have given them all they need in technique and conditioning.”
Of this season’s returners, two were finalists at last year’s state championships: Hayden Uhler was champion of the 126-pound weight division and Casillas was runner-up at 120 pounds.
Returning four of nine state qualifiers from last year and bringing in a group of talented freshmen, the team has the potential for another impressive season.
“We should only get better in the next years to come,” Tudor said.
But Tudor is more concerned with the journey toward success rather than setting high-reaching goals for his team.
“We don’t chase titles,” he said. “We do everything to the best of our abilities. We have to keep God in the room; that’s what keeps us as a brotherhood.”
Being that Camp Verde is a small school, Tudor credits a number of resources for his team’s consistency.
“Honestly, the strength of the team is in God,” he said. “And in the strong middle school program, they have a good coach there, and their program feeds ours with enough experienced wrestlers.”
He also credits his assistant coaches, like heavyweight coach Travis Black, who provides year-round technique training.
