Category: HS Wrestling

Exciting finish marks first Larry Faust Wrestling Invite

Art Preuss

    Although it was the final match of the day that decided the team winner at the Larry Faust Wrestling Invitational, it was the match preceding the finale that was perhaps the best of the tournament.
    Jake Smith from Basha HS held on for a double-overtime victory over Kalu Ukaku in the 215 lb. event to set the stage for the final match between William Poehle of Chandler HS and Gahrrett Kidd of Red Mountain HS.  Since Chandler was just a slim point-and-a-half ahead of Red Moutain as the 285 lb. competition began, that match would decide the tournament champion.
    Poehle won 13-9 and Chandler claimed the victory, a particularly sweet win since they came close last year, when the tournament was called the McClintock Invitational, but finished in third place.  The tournament was renamed in honor of the long-time wrestling coach at McClintock who passed away earlier this year.
    Chandler won with 195 points, followed by Red Mountain (188.5), Sandra Day O’Connor HS (179), Basha HS (162.5), and Mountain Pointe HS (143).
    Other individual winners: Vidal Max Mejia, Chandler HS (112 lb.); Hector Calderon, Maryvale HS (125); Shane McGough, Desert Mountain HS (130); and Reyes Cortez, Maryvale HS (140).  McGough was named the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler in the 103-140 lb. division and Heath Boers of Williams Field HS, wrestling in the 160 lb. weight class, was Outstanding Wrestler in for 145-and-heavier.
(click here to comment on this article)