Area wrestlers win individual crowns at Holbrook meet

HOLBROOK – To stay on top of their game, Monument Valley’s Davin Salt and Justin Yazzie have some perfect practice partners at home to grapple with.

The same could be said for the Ganado duo of Ryan Kee and Cimmaron Curley as well as the Tree sisters, Lyla and Rheanna, of Red Mesa.

On Saturday, they stood atop of the podium at the Pat Kenny Invitational with individual crowns at the Holbrook High-hosted meet.

“Our middle-class weight is pretty dominant at our school,” Monument Valley’s Salt said. “We get to wrestle with some of our more advanced wrestlers. We take turns on each other, and it helps with our conditioning.”

Salt was referring to seniors Joseph Rodriguez (132-pound weight class) and Jaron Anagal (138) as they placed second and third, respectively.

“We all push ourselves to the limit,” said Salt, who captured the 157-pound title.

The MV Mustangs senior won his championship match with a fall over Snowflake’s Brenner Green.

“I saw an opening,” Salt said. “I hooked my arm around him, and I threw him over.”

That second period pin improved Salt’s season record to 9-0.

In the 126-pound weight class, Yazzie scored a 9-3 decision over Snowflake’s Evan Perkins and improved to 10-1 overall.

“I just wrestled smart,” Yazzie said. “I didn’t use as much energy like I did in my first two rounds. I just paced myself.”

The MV Mustangs also got a first-place finish from freshman Nannabah Haskan as she won her bracket at 132 pounds.

Hasken pinned Joseph City’s Kayla Begay in the second period and moved her season record to 10-0.

“I just kept gunning for her even though she was a lot stronger” Hasken said of her opponent. “I just tired her out.”

Red Mesa girls

The Red Mesa girls earned three medals at the Holbrook meet with Lyla and Rheanna Tree winning their respective weight classes.

Rheanna took the 126-pound title by pinning Chinle freshman Carli Warren to improve to 11-0 overall.

“She was going for a Granby roll,” Rheanna said of Warren.

The Granby roll is a move used by wrestlers in the bottom position and they cross step their bodies to roll over the shoulders of their opponent by using a high kick, which results in an escape or reversal.

“She went for it, but I got her on her back,” Rheanna said.

Her older sister, Lyla, had a much easier time as she pinned Monument Valley’s Cheyenne Kescoli in 17 seconds in the 185-pound category.

Red Mesa also got a second-place finish from sophomore Emily Haskan, who was pinned in the first period by Round Valley’s Ellie Salazar.

Ganado wrestlers win gold

The Hornets got a pair of first place finishes from Ryan Kee and Cimmaron Curley.

Kee scored a 9-4 decision over Holbrook’s Kelton Reidhead in the 106-pound finals, improving his season record to 12-0.

“It took me a while to score points off of him,” Kee said of the Holbrook wrestler. “I was getting tired there at the end of the second and third period, so I have to keep working on my endurance.”

Kee is looking to place at state this year as he went 2-2 last year, falling one match short of medaling.

“I’m hoping to place in the top three,” Kee said. “Winning this tournament is helping with my confidence and it made my parents proud.”

Kee credits Curley for helping improve his skill sets.

“He makes me better because he’s more quicker, and he’s a lot smarter,” he said. “The way I make him better is he gets to practice on me.”

Curley (12-0 overall) posted a major decision of 15-1 over Blue Ridge wrestler Erick Galindo to win the 113-pound title.

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