MV wrestler wins back-to-back section crowns

WINSLOW – With a sense of self-belief, Monument Valley sophomore Nannabah Haskan won her second consecutive sectional title on Saturday afternoon.

Haskan, who dropped two weight classes for the state qualifying meet, pinned top-seeded Emily Perez of Snowflake in the 120-pound title match at Winslow High School.

“I was really determined because I wanted to win sections again,” Haskan said. “I told myself that I needed to do this again, so I wanted to push myself harder than last year.”

En route to the sectional title, Haskan pinned three consecutive opponents and helped MV to a fourth-place finish at the 19-team sectional meet.

The Mustangs racked up 103 points behind meet winner Snowflake (169), second-place finisher Round Valley (119.5) and third-place team Show Low (115.5).

“We were in second for a while, but the semifinals kind of hurt us a little bit,” longtime MV wrestling coach Clyde McBride said. “But I would take fourth any day with the quality of teams that we had today.

“You know, girls wrestling has really improved,” he added. “You’re seeing more girls out, and you’re seeing higher quality girls wrestlers. They’re starting younger and it’s probably the best thing we can get for our young ladies, which is promoting women’s wrestling.”

The Mustangs entered eight wrestlers at Saturday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Division II, Section III meet. Seven of those wrestlers earned points with Haskan being top point earner with 18 points.

Of the eight wrestlers, MV qualified six for state with sophomore Emily Curley (107) and juniors Hazel Shortman (114) and Cheyenne Kescoli (152) placing third.

Senior McKayla Rock (132) and junior Peyton Holmes (165) placed fourth overall.

“You now, that was our goal for the year,” McBride said of the number of state qualifiers. “We set that goal at the beginning of the year, which was to get at least six in. I’m so proud that we accomplished our goal.

“We had one wrestler with asthma and that kind of cost her a couple of matches today,” McBride added. Otherwise, “she would have been there.”

The MV coach also praised junior Nizhoni Clitso, who came up one win shy of making state.

“My 138 was wrestling up a weight class,” McBride said. “She gave herself a chance, but she fell short.”

As for Haskan, McBride was very pleased with how she handled herself after dropping from 132 at the start of the season to 120 pounds for the sectional meet.

“She’s worked hard, and she knew where she needed to be,” McBride said. “She probably didn’t wrestle as good as she had the ability to all season, but she’s finishing strong. And that is what you want, she’s peaking at the right time.”

At last year’s state meet, Haskan placed fifth while wrestling at 126. With another year under her belt, the MV wrestler is aiming for a higher finish at this year’s state meet, which will be held Feb. 21-22 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

“For the state tournament, I’m going to work hard,” Haskan said. “I want to do well. I’m going to put in all the things I learned throughout my whole life and try got place higher than fifth.”

With the girls already qualified, McBride will be back in Winslow on Saturday to try and get six more wrestler to state as the boys will have its sectionals. McBride is going to fill 14 weight classes, and he’s hoping to get six qualified.

“My goal is six (girls) and six (boys),” the MV coach said. “They put Mogollon in our section this year and it’s going to be really tough to get state qualifiers because Mogollon was last year’s state champions. They’re always just rock solid.”

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