Sectional champs: Alchesay, Blue Ridge, Red Mesa grapplers capture titles

WINSLOW, Ariz.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association crowned 12 champions during the Division II, Section III girls wrestling tournament on Saturday at Winslow High School.

Among the winners included Alchesay’s Caddo Nanibaa, Blue Ridge’s Eliyah Pete, and Red Mesa’s Rheanna Tree.

Tree won the 132-pound weight division as she earned a major 11-1 decision over Chinle’s Raidanna Sutton.

This was Tree’s first sectional championship as the Red Mesa wrestler placed third last year and second her freshman and sophomore seasons.

“I just feel really happy,” said Tree, who improved to 28-3 overall. “I’m proud of myself that I made it this far.”

With a business-like mentality, Tree dominated all her matches on Saturday. She pinned her first two opponents in Show Low’s Teagan Trujillo and Ganado’s Tomeka King to reach the finals.

“I was just focused on my match, trying to get points and trying to stay on top,” Tree said.

In the finals, Sutton stayed on even playing ground with Tree in the opening period as neither wrestler gained any points. But in the second period, Tree showed her dominance. She escaped Sutton’s grasp after starting the period on the bottom. Tree followed that up with a takedown and she earned a couple of near fall points for an 11-0 advantage.

“I tried to get points, so that we don’t have to go to overtime,” Tree said of her strategy.

The Red Mesa senior believes this was the sixth time she’s faced Sutton, winning all her matches with five of those wins by falls.

With her first-place finish, Tree will be seeded in the top four for the AIA Division II state tournament, which is slated for Feb. 20-21 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

In her sophomore year she went 4-0 and won the Division II state crown at 126. In her final two matches, Tree beat the second and third seeded wrestlers win pins and finished her season at 24-4 overall. She went 1-2 at last year’s state meet, capping her season at 24-6.

“Last year, I was injured,” Tree said. “I had some knee issues, and I only went to like three tournaments, which was Page, sectional and state.”

With it being her final year, she’s aiming to win gold again.

“I want to try to get my school on the map again,” Tree said of what it would mean to win another state crown.

Alchesay wrestler

At 152 pounds, Nanibaa (10-2) earned a fall over Round Valley’s Carly Parnell (14-11) in the finale.

“This is a huge success,” Nanibaa said of winning the sectional title. “I’m proud of myself, and I really hope that I inspire other Apache girls. At the beginning of the season, we had eight girls and now we’re down to two.”

Nanibaa, who has Navajo roots in the Kayenta area, is looking for her first state medal as she 1-2 last season while wrestling for Blue Ridge High School.

“I think I have a chance of making the podium,” Nanibaa said.

She will be joined by teammate Ruth Yazzie at the state meet as the Alchesay freshman placed fourth at 120 pounds. Yazzie (22-9) lost the third-place match to Monument Valley’s Nannabah Haskan by a fall.

Blue Ridge wrestler

For Pahe, Saturday’s sectional win in the 185-pound weight class became an emotional one for the Blue Ridge senior.

“This means so much because I didn’t place at sectionals last year, and this year I placed first,” Pahe said. “This is my first time in my wrestling career getting first place and it means so much to me.

“I’m just so grateful right now, and this is all of God’s doing,” she added. “So, I give God all the praises for everything that I do because God’s always right there with me.”

Pahe, who’s a quarter Navajo and three-fourths White Mountain Apache, beat Window Rock sophomore Gracey Brave-Rock Morris (9-9) in a fall for the 185-pound crown.

“I put her in a half (nelson), and I already knew that I was going to pin her,” Pahe said. “And when I pinned her, I started crying because I was so emotional and so happy at the same time.”

Pahe is looking forward to the state tournament and she’s expecting to get everyone’s best shot.

“I know that it’s not going to be easy,” she said. “You know, nothing’s ever easy, especially in wrestling. I know that I’m going to have to really work my butt off because I know that there’s going to be good girls at state. I really hope in the next two weeks that I’ll work my butt off and try to place at state.”

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