The phrase “state qualifier” has taken on a truer meaning in Class 5A wrestling.
After several years of having everyone automatically qualify for the individual state tournament, the coaches association finally voted to have a sectional put in place and the Arizona Interscholastic Association approved it, confirmed Chandler school district athletic director John Carlson on Friday.
There will be four eight-team sectional tournaments with the top four in each weight class advancing to the state tournament for a true 16-man bracket.
“It’s back to the way it should have always been,” Chandler Basha wrestling coach Mike Garcia said. “This is a great thing for our sport. This way you have to earn your way to being called a state qualifier like it always used to be instead of just having to make weight.”
The sectionals are already determined based on last year’s team tournament.
The top-seeded team and the eighth seeded team are in the same sectional and the second seeded team and seventh team make up the foundation for another and so on. The other six teams were picked by a random draw.
Here are what some of the sectionals look like (the first team list is the host school, along with six other schools):
Class 5A Division I
Section I
Tempe Corona del Sol (host); Chandler Basha; Chandler; Laveen Cesar Chavez; San Luis; Phoenix Trevor Browne; Phoenix Mountain Pointe.
Section II at Corona del Sol
Mesa; Mesa Mountain View; Chandler Hamilton; Mesa Dobson; Phoenix Alhambra; Glendale Mountain Ridge; Mesa Skyline
Section III
Gilbert Highland (host); Gilbert Mesquite; Mesa Red Mountain; Gilbert; Phoenix Maryvale; Casa Grande; Mesa Westwood; Tucson Salpointe
Section IV
Phoenix Desert Vista (host); Phoenix Brophy; Phoenix North Canyon; Yuma Kofa; Phoenix North; Mesa Desert Ridge; Sierra Vista Buena; Tucson
Class 5A Division II
Section I
Tucson Ironwood Ridge (host); Tucson Sunnyside; Yuma Cibola; Marana Mountain View; Yuma Gila Ridge; Tucson Rincon; Gilbert Perry; Yuma
Section II
Glendale Deer Valley (host); Anthem Boulder Creek; Phoenix Barry Goldwater; Kingman; Lake Havasu; Glendale Sandra Day O'Connor; Surprise Valley Vista; Surprise Willow Canyon
Section III
Tempe Marcos de Niza (host); Scottsdale Chaparral; Phoenix Horizon; Laveen Betty Fairfax; Phoenix Central; Phoenix South Mountain; Phoenix Pinnacle; Phoenix South Mountain
Section IV
Glendale Ironwood (host); Phoenix Camelback; Phoenix Carl Hayden; Avondale Westview; Avondale La Joya; Peoria Centennial; Goodyear Millennium; Tolleson
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