Late to Weekend Wars was much better than never for rookie wrestler Zach Athey.
Athey, starting his final year at Camp Verde Elementary School, has already won two Weekend Wars in a row at 122 pounds — although he weighed exactly 125.9 pounds going into his final tournament of the season
Sept. 19 for New Breed Wrestling Club.
“I’ll take new challenges,” Athey said during practice at the Sterrett Wrestling Complex. “I wanted to get good enough sparring.
“I’ve sparred with kids in Flagstaff who came down here to wrestle.”
But the fifth-grader, whose parents first brought him to Mario Chagolla Sr., his New Breed head coach, and are allowing him to continue to spar at Sterrett through the winter, is still looking for wrestlers his own size.
Sparring partners Caiden Wolfe and Hunter Zellner are a year to two years younger than Athey — and up to 45 pounds lighter.
Athey, in his Sept. 5 debut at Weekend Wars, pinned all five opponents he faced. He estimates that in his first month at Sterrett, he has pinned 10 to 20 opponents.
“He couldn’t believe that he was dominating,” Chagolla said. “He’s still immature, young in the muscles.
“What I like is that he’s fearless. Oh my gosh, he’s got speed.”
For the full story and final month’s results from Weekend Wars, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 30, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
