A regular season that can only be described as unusual for the Camp Verde wrestling team came to an end on Saturday, Feb. 27, in a dual meet against Page. The Cowboys defeated the Sand Devils 60-21 to wrap up the regular season at 11-3.
Camp Verde has nearly an entire lineup, missing only two weight classes. The Page team is much smaller, which led to the Sand Devils having to forfeit a number of weights. They had to forfeit even more when three wrestlers missed weight. So, there was no doubt that the Cowboys would win. Even still, the Camp Verde team was happy with the performances on the mat.
“Today’s meet went great,” Cowboys senior Joseph Tinghitella said. “I know that a lot of their guys didn’t make weight but we still did the exhibitions. So, we got the matches. At the end of the day, it’s all about matches.”
Mat time is important for any wrestler trying to get ready for the state meet. It’s even more important this year, as it’s been so scarce. In a normal year, wrestlers would have 50 to 60 matches by this point. But with no tournaments, and meets taking place only between two schools, no Camp Verde wrestler has had more than 14 matches this season. In many cases, it’s even fewer, because a number of teams are smaller than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because of that, Cowboys coach Larry Allred wanted to be sure that as many wrestlers as possible got on the mat against the Sand Devils.
“One of the things I said to their coach was, ‘Your kid missed the weight. We’ll take the forfeit, but I want to wrestle. So afterward we’ll do exhibitions,’” Allred said. “So they get mat time and we get mat time.”
In past seasons, the next meet awaiting Camp Verde would be sectionals. This season, however, as a way to cut down on tournaments, there is no sectional meet.
So, the next meet awaiting the Cowboys is the state meet. That will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16 and 17, at Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley.
While sectionals would give Camp Verde more mat experience, the lack of sectionals could also be an asset, as well, something Allred is quite aware of.
“What that allows us to do is for our guys who are a little banged up to have a nice amount of time to really get healthy and focused,” he said. “And we can take all the film and everything we’ve filmed to see each kid, where they improved for state. It’s a big opportunity. And we’re going to use it.”
The team is similarly confident.
“With our coaching staff and everybody trying to put in as much hard work as they can, I feel pretty comfortable heading into state with how our team is,” junior Quintin O’Grady said.
Allred believes that a number of the Cowboys have a chance at placing at state. One is senior captain Dade Woodard, who placed last year. Another is Tinghitella, who, after missing most of the season with an injury, is now back and healthy. Junior Steven Bahe is another grappler that Allred realistically sees as a potential state placer.
Also, while he lost his match against Page, Allred was pleased with what he saw from freshman Angel Casillas. Casillas was up against Zach Ruiz, who won the state championship two years ago and finished in second place last year.
“He wrestled a state champion and lost — but wrestled good,” Allred said. “It didn’t look like a match that we couldn’t win if we made the right adjustments.”
While he did call them darkhorses at state, Allred also sees Garrett Dulaney and Santiago Gomez as wrestlers who could find their way to the podium if they wrestle well.
The 11-3 mark that Camp Verde finished with is solid, especially when considering that the opening meet of the season was a decisive loss to Morenci. The Cowboys have lost meets since but the coach has liked the improvement that his team has shown throughout the course of the abbreviated season.
“What I have seen is the team that got overwhelmed by Morenci hasn’t been overwhelmed by anyone since,” Allred said. “They’ve improved in every match, gotten better and better and better. Now I think we’re about where we need to be to start peaking, so we’ll peak at state. And I’m confident that they’ll wrestle the best matches of the season at state in this odd, bizarre season.”
