Window Rock senior eyeing top finish at state

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Feb 13, 2025 | Sports |

WINSLOW – Window Rock senior Paige Kee is entering the Arizona state wrestling tournament with a 31-2 record.

With a first-place finish at Saturday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Division II, Section III meet, Kee is expected to be seeded in the top 4 in the 165-pound bracket for the state meet.

The AIA state wrestling meet is schedule for Feb. 20-21 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

“Gosh, I’m looking forward to the state meet,” Kee said following her win over Page’s Logan Rivers at the sectional meet held at Winslow High School.

Kee captured the sectional title in the opening period as the Window Rock wrestler put a headlock on Rivers (27-9 overall) before pinning her.

“When she put her arm up, I thought she was going to try and block me,” Kee said of Rivers’ countermove. “She probably thought I was going to go around the other way, and as soon as she pulled her arm out I went under.

“I made sure she had her chin on the side, and so I had her in a headlock,” she added. “From there I just threw her over.”

That fall over Rivers was Kee’s third one on Saturday as she won all of her matches with pins with the last two coming in the opening period. The Window Rock grappler is hoping to achieve similar results in her state wrestling debut next week.

“Most of the time I try to pin my opponents in the first period,” Kee said. “That is one of the goals that I have. I want to take them out in the first round.”

As for the state meet, Kee is looking to get even with Benjamin Franklin sophomore Madelyn Oliver, the defending 165 state champ.

“She took out me twice,” Kee said. “She took me out last year and she took me out this year.”

At the Veterans Memorial Invitational last December in Fort Defiance, Oliver hyperextended Kee’s elbow as the Window Rock wrestler had to withdraw from the match.

For the state meet, Kee is hoping to be on the opposite side of the bracket from Oliver when the brackets are released.

“If we’re in separate brackets, I want to wrestler her in the championship match,” Kee said. “I want to get back at her for what she did to me the past two years. My goal is to take her out.”

Window Rock coach Marc Hillis believes Kee has a good chance of earning a medal at the state wrestling tournament.

“I think it’s pretty high,” Hillis said of Kee’s pursuit at earning a podium appearance. “She has one other loss and in that match she got caught in a bad move and she got pinned by an Odyssey (Institute) wrestler.”

The Window Rock coach noted that Kee has beaten some of the competitors that the Odyssey Institute wrestled against during the regular season.

“I think she’s going to be OK,” he said.

In addition to Kee, Window Rock also qualified freshman Lucaira Begay for state at 185 pounds. Begay placed fourth overall, as she heads into the state meet at 25-12 overall.

“She’s been doing well, so we’re expecting her to hold her own,” Hillis said of Begay. “She took first at the Verrado Invitational this year and she got the outstanding wrestling there. She’s come in third at two other tournaments.”

And while she’s wrestled at the middle school level last season with some success, Begay said making state her freshman year is a big accomplishment.

“This is my first year wrestling at the high school, so it’s an upgrade to what I had in middle school,” Begay said. “I’m really happy and I’m shocked that I was able to go through all these girls to compete at state. I’m going to train hard for the next two weeks because I hope to place in the top six.”