Mario Chagolla Sr.’s proudest moment of the inaugural Veterans Memorial Invitational came not after Camp Verde High School’s team wrestling title, but after the 170-pound championship.
That was when the longtime Cowboys assistant wrestling coach asked senior Jeremy McEachern, who went undefeated through 10 matches Dec. 20 to lock up his first tournament title, to sit down beside him.
“He said, ‘Coach, I’m too old for that,’” Chagolla recalled. “But I told him, at that moment, with his victory, I was every bit as proud of him as a father.”
For the first time in two days, McEachern — looked after by his grandparents since the death of both of his parents more than seven years ago — fell to the mat.
“He had never heard that before,” Chagolla said. “He never had a mother or father in his life. He was on the wrong path.
“His grandfather took him to us in sixth grade and said, ‘Help us.’ He thanked me because, without us, he wouldn’t have been turned around.”
After the Cowboys won all eight of their duals and the tournament title with a 58-21 dual victory over Mountain Pointe High School, from Tempe, McEachern’s story was the only possible rival to the dominance of Cowboys freshman Skylar Pike.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 31, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
