A season of steady progress is coming to a head for the Mingus Union High School wrestling team.
Four Marauders have qualified for the Arizona Interscholastic Association State Championship after competing at the Division IV Section I tournament, held at Payson High School Thursday and Friday, Feb. 2 and 3.
“The entire team has really bought into the system and worked extremely hard,” Mingus first-year coach Kirk Waddle said.
Mingus’ middle weights have been its bread and butter throughout the season, not to mention its most experienced crew of grapplers.
Junior Lucas Svoboda won the 145-pound division while fellow junior Nick Doerkson took second in the 152-pound weight class.
Sophomore Trent Miller [138] and senior Charles Hardy [185] took third place in their respective weight divisions, enough to qualify for the AIA State Championships.
Sophomore Michael Thurman [132] finished the tournament with a 1-2 record after being matched up with the region’s eventual champion in the first round. Waddle is confident in Thurman’s chances to be a state qualifier next season.
Sophomore Nick Lodico [122] also went 1-2, but as a first-year wrestler Waddle was satisfied with his performance.
Svoboda and Doerkson were both seeded No. 1 in their respective weight classes.
“From a technical aspect these wrestlers performed very well,” Waddle said. “This next week we will focus on the areas of weaknesses that Coach McKean and I saw.”
At the 2016 AIA State Championships, Miller was a sixth-place finisher and the only returning qualifier for Mingus.
The top four finishers from each weight class qualified for the AIA State Championships.
