Wildcat Wrestlers Win Pat Kenny Invitational

By Greg Perkins
   The Joseph City Wildcats came to Holbrook over the weekend and left town with the Pat Kenny Invitational team title, beating 17 other wrestling teams in the process. The Wildcats scored a team high 174 points, finishing ahead of second place Holbrook, which had 136.5. Mountain Ridge was a close third with 136. Winslow placed fourth with 123 and Monument Valley placed fifth with 99 team points.
   The Wildcats had one overall individual champion, with Chris Coppinger taking first place in the 215 class with an overall record of 7-0. He went 4-0 in pool action and was 3-0 in the bracket portion, with one forfeit and six pins.
   Five Wildcat wrestlers earned second place finishes, including Bryce Crosby at 112 lbs., Remington Baldwin at 140, Dalton Hughes at 145, Luke DeWitt at 171 and Zack Baldwin at 189. Including pool and bracket matches, Crosby went 4-1 with one forfeit. Remington Baldwin was 6-1, Dalton Hughes, 5-2, Luke Dewitt, 8-1, and Zack Baldwin, 7-1.
   Josh Burt placed third with an overall record of 6-2 in the 125 pound class. At 135, Tyson Smith also placed third going 5-4 over the two days. Justin Lee placed third in the 160-lb. division with a 5-2 record.
   Placing fourth for the Wildcats was Colton Spencer at 119 with a record of 4-3. Dalton Dixon went 3-2 in pool matches at 103, but did not place in the bracket portion.
    Holbrook had three individual champions, including RJ Alvarado, Scott Tafoya and AJ Aragon. Josh Hatch placed second, David Hatch finished third, and Caleb McClellan, Andrew Murray and Royce Reynolds all placed fifth.
   Wrestling in the 103-lb. class, McClellan went 4-4 overall, including pool and bracket matches. Michael McMonigal went 3-5 overall at the 119 class. Wrestling at 125, Alvarado was unbeaten, going 8-0 with seven pins. Murray placed fifth overall with a record of 4-4. David Hatch at 140 was 7-1, placing third. Josh Hatch placed second with a 9-1 mark in the 152-lb. division. Scott Tafoya was undefeated at 160 class with an 8-0 mark including six pins. Aragon won the title in the 171-lb. division impressively by pinning all nine of his opponents. James Self went 2-5 at 189. Shelton Thomas was 1-5 wrestling at 215. Reynolds placed fifth in the heavyweight division with a 6-3 record.
   Sheldon Maloney of Monument Valley was named the Outstanding Lightweight, Aaron Baca of Winslow was the Outstanding Middleweight and Marquis Greenwood of Canyon State was named the Outstanding Heavyweight.
   Canyon State received the team sportsmanship award.