MV girls take third at sectional meet

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

WINSLOW, Ariz. – The Monument Valley girls wrestling team filled eight of the 12 brackets during last Saturday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II, Section III wrestling tournament.

Despite missing weights at 132, 152, 185 and 235, the Mustangs took third among 22 teams at the sectional meet. MV racked up 114 points and finished behind sectional champ Snowflake (157) and runner-up Round Valley (129.5) at Winslow High School.

“We forfeited four weight classes and winning third with eight girls is pretty good,” MV coach Larry Tuni said.

The first-year coach is sending six wrestlers to the AIA Division II state wrestling meet, which is scheduled for Feb. 20-21 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

On Saturday, the Mustangs had four grapplers make the finals in their respective brackets with senior Hazel Shortman winning the sectional title at 100 pounds while senior Emily Curley (107) and juniors Carli Jones (126) and Kaylee Bailey-Quiroz placed second.

In the 100-pound finals, Shortman (35-5) pinned Round Valley’s Hunter Bliss (22-13) for her sectional championship.

“Honestly, I just went out there focused,” Shortman said of her match with Bliss. “I wanted to wrestle her the whole season and I didn’t get to until today. You know, I wanted to win the match because it’s my senior year.”

This is Shortman’s second state qualification as she went 0-2 last year wrestling at 114 pounds.

“We had several girls that wrestled at 107 so I couldn’t do 107,” she said. “This year I’m at 100, and I have the motivation to get on the state podium.”

As a second-year wrestler, Shortman says she’s had a breakthrough year, improving her wrestling skills and agility by leaps and bounds.

“Honestly, when I first joined it was kind of hard,” Shortman said. “I really didn’t understand wrestling so last year, it was more of a laid-back season for me. I knew that I wasn’t going to place at state because I wasn’t that good yet. I just wanted a chance to experience state.

“This year, I have that potential to place at state and I want to do good,” she added.

At 126, Jones is the defending state champ in the same weight class. Last year, she entered the state tournament finishing fourth at the sectional tournament. But at state, she surprised everyone last year by winning four straight matches, capping her sophomore campaign at 39-10 overall.

In Saturday’s finale, Jones lost her weight class by a major decision 12-2 to Round Valley’s Taizly Newman, who improved to 33-3.

“She’s not done (yet),” Tuni said of Jones. “She’ll probably do great at state, so don’t be surprised if she wins another state title.”

At 107, Curley (24-13) lost her championship match to Show Low’s Ruthie Wilhelm (39-1) in a fall while Bailey-Quiroz (16-10) came up short to top-seeded Ava Harding (32-9) of Show Low High by a pin.

The Mustangs also qualified sisters Nannabah Haskan, a junior, at 120 and Angel, a sophomore, at 114 pounds. Nannabah placed third and Angel took fourth.

On Saturday, Tuni will return to Winslow High School with the boys team and he’s hoping to get at least eight wrestlers to state.

His top wrestlers include freshman Bryce Yazzie at 126, senior Clayton Begay at 138, Justin Yazzie at 144 and senior Jayden Franco at 215.

“Bryce and Justin are brothers and they’ve been doing really good at the tournaments we entered this year,” Tuni said. “Clayton has put on a good show and I’m expecting something from him. Our 215 (Jayden), should make the podium.”

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