Trinity Clark
Editor-In-Chief
Winter Sports were not guaranteed a season this year due to the pandemic, but despite this Ironwood’s basketball, wrestling and soccer teams have done well this season.
Coach Beck reported that an impressive 10 game winning streak this season for boys’ soccer, with their finishing record being 11 wins and 2 loses. Playing during the pandemic required the boys to play while wearing masks, which felt restricting for the athletes. Furthermore, the abrupt pause to their season was not easy, however, the team made it through quite well. Boys’ soccer ended up being runners-up in state and while Coach Beck stated he would have preferred to win, but, overall, he said it was a “great season, [that] exceeded my expectations.” Of the player on the team, Coach Beck wanted to commemorate team captains Charlie Wingfield, Sebastian Pippins and Esteban Ardon.
Girls’ soccer dealt with the pandemic using their family orientated attitude to keep them motivated. Coach Huerta stated that the team was on their way to a game against Yuma when Ironwood High School was officially closed down. “We were just down the road from the other school when we got the phone call with the bad news and had to turn around and come back home”, said the varsity coach when asked about the challenges this season presented. Having team members being quarantined without warning made creating line-ups an unpredictable process as well.
Coach Huerta also stated, “We had a pretty rough season this season and it’s always difficult when the other side of your program (the boys’ soccer) is successful, and we aren’t. But I love that the girls always found the joy in the game, the joy in being a family and the joy in just making memories.” Two members the coach believed should be mentioned were Emma Campion and Christyna Armijo. Next year, Coach Huerta plans to focus on fundamentals that will help the girls succeed and keep having fun.
This season boys’ wrestling finished 5th in state and claimed their 6th Sectional Team Title for the players of Gavin Gonzales Section Champion (113 lbs.), Xavier Lerma Section Champion (126lbs.), Jordan Beauvais Section Champion (132lbs.), Ethan Campos Section Champion (160lbs.), Markell Rivera Section Champion (170lbs.) On top of this, Pablo Macias Section Runner-Up (145lbs.) and Adrian Ucelo got 3rd place (152lbs.). Coach Flannigan reported that “We would like to get back to more student participation on the squad. The pandemic really reduced the number of kids participating in the sport.”
Even still, the team ended with 3 state champions (Gavin Gonzales, Xavier Lerma and Markell Rivera) and Coach Flannigan stated, “wrestlers did a great job slogging through the challenges and finishing on a positive note.” Perhaps most notably, Gavin Gonzales wrestled in an exciting match where he scored 4 points in the last 6 seconds of his match against a returning state champion. Gonzales was the varsity 115 pounder on his team and in an interview reflected on the season by saying this, “I got to do what I love with other people who take the sport just as serious and are just as passionate.”
The boys’ basketball team made it to the final four teams after they defeated Desert Mountain High School 75-60 to make it to the state semi-championships but lost to Catalina Foothills this season. Coach Augustine made a statement that “They are tremendous young men… They are highly competitive and love to compete with each other. I will miss the wide range of personalities that were on this team.” While there are those who have struggled more through this pandemic, boys’ basketball certainly had their challenges to work through and thanks to the amazing players and coaches present, they did well. Some of the players who deserve highlights are JJ White who was the All-Time Leader in Steals, Bailon Black who was the All-Time Leader in Assists, Steinar Christianson, Connor Oless and Alex Elam.
It cannot be said enough that the efforts of these athletes during the pandemic are nothing less than awesome. Ironwood’s winter sports teams have once again proven the pride held in being an Eagle.
Image Credit: ironwoodeagleshoops, ihsactivities
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