Sophomore Belarmino “Mino” Diaz of River Valley High School took his 13-13 season record into the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Division IV/Section 1 championships in Wickenburg last weekend and won two of his four matches there.
The two victories by way of pins in the consolation bracket placed him in the medal round late Saturday afternoon, when he had to settle for fourth place in the 285-pound weight class — good enough to qualify him for the Division IV state finals at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
He was the lone Dust Devil survivor at the regionals, with three of his teammates unable to finish in the top four spots in their weight classes and ending their seasons.
"They worked hard all season, so maybe I was a little disappointed they didn’t go further, but I hear they definitely improved from last year,” noted the Dust Devils' first-year coach Jose Tejeda.
The other Dust Devils who competed at the sectional finals were senior Connor Gerard at 144 pounds, senior Evan Brooks at 190 pounds, and sophomore Matthew Reyes at 215 pounds.
Diaz opened the six-hour tournament in Wickenburg by being pinned in the second period by third-ranked Lorenzo Medina of Bagdad.
Then on the consolation side of the brackets, “Mino” pinned Valley Christian’s Francisco Lemus in the second period before pinning Wickenburg’s Keegan Sweet with only five seconds remaining in the match.
That put him in the medal round, but he had to face Bagdad’s Medina again after the latter lost his championship bracket semi-final match. Again, Diaz found himself on his back in the second period and had to settle for fourth place — leaving the sectionals with a 15-15 record.
Gerard had the unenviable task of facing the No. 1-ranked wrestler in his 144-pound weight class and eventual section champion — sophomore Hunter Hancock of Yuma Catholic. He lost that battle with an early first-period pin and moved on to the consolation bracket, where he drew a second-round bye before losing to seventh-ranked Justin Main of Northwest Christian a second-period pin and eliminating him from further competition. He finished with a 6-18 record for the season.
Brooks’ entry into the tournament wasn’t any easier. After drawing a first-round bye, he lost on a second-period pin to third-ranked Lorenzo Duran of eventual tournament team champion Yuma Catholic. So he moved over to the consolation bracket, where he pinned Mayer High School’s Destin Hanson in the third period. But he met Valley Christian’s Enrique Rannow and lost by a technical fall, 16-0, while aggravating injured ribs from earlier in the tournament.
He finished the season with a 6-8 record.
Reyes had the most successful start of all the River Valley wrestlers — winning his opening match against Phoenix Christian’s Gabriel Reyes with a 20-second pin. But then he was confronted by eventual tourney runner-up Carson Hone of Wickenburg, who pinned him late in the first period.
In the consolation bracket, he recorded his second quick pin (23 seconds) against Noah Cachora of San Pasqual and a third pin in the third period against Antelope’s Michael Hernandez. However, his season came to an end when he was pinn... Click here to read full article
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