The Fountain Hills wrestling team had another overnight stay in Heber last week. This time, the Falcons were wrestling in the sectional tournament, which meant the grapplers were only a few wins away from a state championship appearance.

Wrestlers must finish in the top four of their weight class to advance to state. The Falcons took 13 wrestlers to sectionals, and nine of them qualified. The Falcons also finished in third place as a team.

Seniors Stephen Broetsky (144), Travis Trapani (150) and JT Despain (190) led the way and all finished section runner ups. Broetsky came to sectionals with a 14-9 record, Trapani was 27-11, and Despain was 32-12. Their second-place finish in sectionals will set the three up with good bracket spots in state.

After going 27-10 in the season, junior Ty Jablonsky took third (120), and junior Wyatt Mowers (285) placed third after going 19-17 throughout the season.

Sophomores like Tyler Flynn had an incredible season, Flynn going 43-8, and finishing in fourth place for the 132-weight class. Fellow sophomore Tyler Langer went 28-15 this season, and he finished in third place (165), and Lucas Phillips went 25-18 and finished third at sectionals (215).

Freshman Rylan Schmidt only went 3-2 before the section tournament, but he placed fourth (113) and qualified for state, too.

The Falcons will compete for state titles this weekend in Phoenix. The tournament will be held on Friday, Feb. 18, and Saturday, Feb. 19, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“It’s great to be able to bring so many guys to state and represent Fountain Hills High School,” head coach Luke Salzman said. “[We’re] excited to see the new venue at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.”