The Fountain Hills High School wrestling team beat 12 other teams and finished sixth at the Wickenburg tournament this past weekend. Six Falcons placed in the tournament, with senior JP Cahill taking first place in the 120-pound weight class.

Fellow seniors Ty Jablonsky (126), Cy Dethlefs (144) and Wyatt Mowers (heavy weight) also placed, and all three took fourth place. Juniors Tyler Flynn (132) and Ty Langer (175) each placed third.

Some of the new freshmen wrestlers competed at the varsity level, and they all watched their team and soaked in the tournament. The wrestlers had six matches on Friday, Dec. 1, and only the wrestlers with positive records advanced to the second day.

According to Flynn, Cahill had a “crazy” finals match. The senior went 9-0 over the weekend, and everyone watched his close finish.

“JP was down going into the third period,” Flynn said. “With like 11 seconds left, he was able to reverse the kid and put him to his back to tie it…and there was a bunch of confusion. The other coach didn’t think that there was enough time to get the swipes, and then our coach battled for JP, and they ended up calling it eight-eight and it went to overtime. With like four seconds left, JP got the take down and beat him.”

The first person to score in overtime wins, and overtime is one minute instead of a normal two-minute period. Cahill finished the weekend undefeated and helped the Falcons place in the top half of teams.

“Everyone seemed to be working hard at practice and it paid off for the tournament,” Flynn said. “We did a lot better than I thought because there was a lot of [Division 1] and [Division II] schools there that have really good teams and we competed really good with them.”

Flynn was impressed by his sophomore teammate, Yahshua Harris (138), and said he’d give Harris the award for most improved from last season. Another standout was Cy Dethlefs, who competed as a Falcon for the first time. The senior came to Fountain Hills with three years of experience from out of state, and he will continue to be a nice addition to the team.

The Falcons hit the road again today, Wednesday, Dec. 7. They will travel to Round Valley high school to face Alchesay, Blue Ridge and Mogollon. All three of these schools and Fountain Hills are in Division IV, meaning the Falcons will see these schools later at sectionals and potentially state.

The Falcons will travel to Mogollon high school on Tuesday, Dec. 13, for another multi-dual competition. Then, they’ll have winter break to prepare for the next two-day tournament, the 26th annual Coolidge Lion’s Club Wrestling Invitational. The Coolidge tournament starts on Friday, Jan. 6.