Red Mesa wrestler earns first state qualification bid

WINSLOW

A season-ending injury cost Chadley Sagg at chance at glory last year.

Sagg dislocated his shoulder and every time the Red Mesa wrestler tried to come back his nagging injury sidelined him.

That affliction has not bothered him this past wrestling season as he pushed his overall record to 38-2 after winning last weekend’s Division IV, Section I wrestling meet in the heavy weight division.

“With me being out last year it made me push myself even harder this year,” said Sagg, who earned the No. 3 seed for this year’s Arizona Division IV state wrestling tournament, which is scheduled to take place at the Prescott Valley Events Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz. on Friday.

“I had a good year wrestling against some of the big schools so I feel like I can place at state,” he said.

For the most part, Sagg has been winning his matches by pins and it was no different in last Saturday’s meet as he pinned two opponents in the opening period.

“I just try to be more dominant and more aggressive,” Sagg said on how he approaches each match.

Earlier this year, Sagg lost to Jesus Curiel of Camp Verde and Window Rock’s 220-pounder Emmanuel Slinkey at the Veterans Memorial wrestling tournament that was hosted by Window Rock last December.

“I made a mistake and it cost me,” said Sagg of his match with Curiel. “I beat pinned him in 30 seconds and I won the tournament.”

Since then Sagg has been on a winning streak and in the process he earned his first qualification for state.

Red Mesa coach Calbert Lameman said Sagg has the potential to place at state but he wants his pupil to take it one match at a time.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Lameman said. “I don’t want him to get too far ahead but he wrestled pretty well this season.”

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