Citizen Staff Writer
THE FINAL EDITION

COMPILED by GEOFF GRAMMER

and MICHAEL SCHMELZLE

Citizen Sportswriters

Southern Arizona has produced a plethora of talented high school athletes through the years, some who went on to professional and Olympic careers. This list is the best of the best based on their dominance during their high school years.

BOYS

All-around

• Fred Enke, Tucson High, 1940s: Multitalented athlete was the brightest star of the Badgers’ glory years, starring in football, basketball and baseball and leading the Badgers to eight state team titles.

• Joe Batiste, Tucson High, 1930s: Track legend and football star set a hurdles record that stood for years.

• Michael Bates, Amphi, 1980s: Nationally ranked hurdler and sprinter and a Parade magazine All-American in football.

• Rodney Peete, Sahuaro, 1980s: Record-setting quarterback after being all-star wide receiver, point guard on state title basketball team, pitched and won state title game in baseball as sophomore.

• Dannie Jackson, Santa Rita, 1970s: Future world-class decathlete excelled in football, basketball and track for the Eagles.

Baseball

• Sam Khalifa, Sahuaro, 1980s: Picked No. 7 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1982, he is the highest local prep selection in the draft.

Basketball

• (tie) Sean Elliott, Cholla, 1980s: Two-time All-State pick averaged 24.8 points per game in his career.

• (tie) Lafayette Lever, Pueblo, 1970s: Two-time All-State pick led team to two state titles.

Cross country

• Kyle Cormier, Douglas, 2000s: Cormier won six state championships in cross country and distance events in track and won the 2004 Foot Locker National and West Regional championships before an All-American career running at the University of Arkansas.

Football

• Rodney Peete, Sahuaro, 1980s: Future Heisman Trophy runner-up was a record-setting quarterback as a junior, all-city receiver as a sophomore.

Golf

• Willie Wood, Sabino, 1970s: Future PGA Tour player competed here only briefly but dominated the local scene.

Soccer

• Luis Robles, Sierra Vista Buena, 1990s-2000s: Robles, who spurned the MLS after being drafted by D.C. United to play professionally for Germany’s FC Kaiserslauter, was Arizona’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior, a high school All-American and a member of the U.S. under-18 national team while at Buena.

Swimming

• Doug Northway, Sahuaro, 1970s: Won a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics while still in high school.

Tennis

• Bill Lenoir, Tucson High, 1950s: First Tucsonan to win a national junior title. Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith were among his victims.

Track and field

• (tie) Joe Batiste, Tucson High, 1930s: Set a national hurdles record that stood for more than 40 years.

• (tie) Michael Bates, Amphi, 1980s: Top hurdler, sprinter and football star.

Wrestling

• Eric Larkin, Sunnyside, 1990s: In the galaxy of Blue Devils stars, this three-time state champ is the only one named national high school wrestler of the year.

Boys Volleyball

> Joe Kay, Tucson High, 2000s: Kay earned a volleyball scholarship to Stanford, but he suffered a stroke after being trampled by fans storming the court after a basketball game his senior year. He recovered enough to attend Stanford, although he could no longer participate in athletics.

GIRLS

All-around

• Stacy Engel, Catalina 1980s: First girl to play boys varsity baseball here as well as being a softball, track & field and volleyball standout.

• Julie Reitan, Sahuaro, 1990s: Softball all-star, state long jump champ, cross country standout.

• Tara Erdmann, Flowing Wells, 2000s: Seven time state champion in track, cross country and soccer, including pulling off the track trifecta as a senior winning 5A-II state titles in the 3,200, 1,600 and 800 meters.

Basketball

• (tie) Paula Pyers, Santa Rita, 1980s: Led unbeaten Eagles to state title in 1984 before moving on to play at the University of Southern California.

• (tie) Sybil Dosty, Salpointe Catholic, 2000s: Dosty averaged 27 points and more than 11 rebounds per game during a four-year varsity career that included multiple All-America team selections.

Cross country

• Virginia Pedersoli, Amphi, 1990s: Won three straight Class 5A state titles.

Golf

• Cindy Flom, Sahuaro, 1970s: Future LPGA star played on boys varsity team.

Soccer

• Kelly Walbert, Salpointe Catholic, 1990s: City’s first major star, went on to play at Duke.

Softball

• Kenzie Fowler, Canyon del Oro, 2000s: The 2008 Gatorade National Player of the Year and former Junior Olympian is already a three-time All-American entering her senior season in 2009. As one of the country’s best-ever high school pitchers, the fact she was also one of the state’s best hitters often gets overlooked. Including a streak of four-straight no hitters and two perfect games, Fowler closed out her senior season by leading the Dorados to their fourth-straight state championship game.

Swimming

• Caitlin Leverenz, Sahuaro, 2000s: State record holder in multiple events. Missed qualifying for 2008 U.S. Olympic team by a fraction of a second after a junior year that including winning gold medals at multiple international events.

Tennis

• (tie) Kendra Strohm, Salpointe Catholic, 1990s-2000s: Lost one set in four-year career in which she became Arizona’s first girl to win four-consecutive singles state championships.

• (tie) Kirsten and Tristany Leikem, Flowing Wells, 2000s: Twin terrors became state’s first-ever four-time state doubles champions from 2005-2008.

Track and field

• Carolyn Jackson, Salpointe Catholic, 1990s: Showed tremendous range in the sprints from the 100 to the 400.

Girls Volleyball

• Bre Ladd, Canyon del Oro, 1990s-2000s: The 2001 Gatorade National Player of the Year was also a member of U.S. Junior National team. Selected by Volleyball Magazine as the No. 1 recruit in the nation for class of 2002.

COACHES

Great coaching goes well beyond wins and losses, but trying to list all the Tucson-area coaches who have touched the lives of area youths through the years would be a futile effort. Albeit not all-inclusive, here are some of the area’s most successful coaches through the years:

(* active)

• Sue Clark, Tucson High, girls tennis: From 1959 to 1972, Clark’s teams set a national record, going 213-0 in dual matches, and won 10 state titles.

• Bobby DeBerry, Sunnyside, wrestling: From 1996 to this past winter, DeBerry oversaw 13 state wrestling championship teams, including the past 12 straight.

• Bud Doolen, Tucson High, basketball: Won four 5A boys basketball championships between 1943 and 1949 and was runner up in 1940.

• Mike Dyer, Marana, girls basketball: Dyer not only won four state titles at Marana in the 1980s, he initiating a federal lawsuit against the Arizona Interscholastic Association to have the girls basketball season moved from the spring to winter, helping, among other things, spring softball blossom in southern Arizona.

• Hal Eustice, Sahuaro, baseball: Eustice brought three state titles and two runner-up trophies back to Sahuaro in the 1970s and ’80s and also won a baseball championship at San Manuel in 1963.

• Vern Friedli, Amphi, football: Still going strong, Friedli is Arizona’s all-time wins leader with 309 career coaching victories.

• Rollin T. Gridley, Tucson High, football: From 1935-47, Gridley won five state football championships and posted an 88-29-8 record.

• Mary Hines, Catalina, girls volleyball: Her 215-27 career record in 28 years at Catalina, including her 1985 national coach of the year award, are just part of the story. Her coaching tree of former players and assistants branched out across Tucson.

• Juanita Kingston, Rincon/University, volleyball: Her 34-year coaching career, which included an undefeated girls volleyball state championship season at Rincon in 1993, included coaching boys and girls volleyball, softball, basketball and track.

• Don Klostreich, Sunnyside, wrestling: From 1979-88, Klostreich’s Blue Devils squads won nine of 10 state titles, laying the foundation of the state’s greatest wrestling dynasty.

• Roland LaVetter, Pueblo, boys basketball: Coached Pueblo’s great state championship teams in 1977 and 1978 as well as having several coaching disciples move on to coaching success.

• Jeff Lockwood, Sahuaro, cross country: Under Lockwood’s guidance, Sahuaro won four girls and one boys state title between 1980 and 1990.

• Dick McConnell, Sahuaro, boys basketball: Retired in 2007 as Arizona’s winningest boys basketball coach with 714 career victories, 670 of which came at Sahuaro.

• Richard Sanchez, Sunnyside, wrestling/football: Sanchez won five straight state wrestling titles from 1990-94 and has built Sunnyside football into one of Tucson’s best since 1993, winning two titles. He currently has a 10-year streak of at least one playoff win, unmatched by any area coach or program.

• Jeff Scurran, CDO/Sabino/Santa Rita, football: Built Sabino into a decade-long dynasty with three state championships in the 1990s. Upon his return to high school football in 2007, Santa Rita went from 0-11 in 2006 to 23-4 in two seasons with semifinal and championship game appearances.

• Hank Slagle, Tucson High, baseball: Won 10 of Tucson High’s national-record 29 state baseball championships and coached the Badgers to two more title games between 1942 and 1954. Tucson High’s 52-game win streak spanning the 1942-46 seasons still stands as Arizona’s longest.

• Andy Tolson, Tucson High, baseball: Won six of Tucson High’s national-record 29 state baseball championships and coached the Badgers to four more title games between 1930 and 1941.

• “Doc” Van Horne, Tucson High, boys track & field: Van Horne was head coach for 13 state championships form 1927-1953.

• Wolfgang Weber, Salpointe Catholic, boys soccer: The dean of boys soccer in Tucson, Weber is approaching the unprecedented 500 career wins plateau in Arizona, has four state championships, three runner-up finishes and was also one of the founders of the successful Tucson Soccer Academy.

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

By the time the scoreboard clock at the University of Arizona’s Hillenbrand Stadium flipped to 7:04 p.m., just 34 minutes into the Class 4A Division I softball semifinal game between Cienega and Catalina Foothills, the game appeared over.

So much so that the outfield sprinklers came on.

With top-seeded Cienega up 7-1 in the bottom of the second inning, the resulting five-minute delay in play merely put off the inevitable Thursday night.

Despite No. 12 Foothills’ scrappy effort, Cienega won 11-4 to advance to Saturday’s championship game against Canyon del Oro.

“I expected us to come out strong on offense and I know we were ready,” said junior pitcher Alexa Cash. “I know we’re ready to face anybody.”

The win sets up a highly-anticipated championship showdown at Hillenbrand between No. 1 Cienega (27-6) and No. 2 CDO (32-2) at 6 p.m.

CDO, the two-time defending state champion ranked No. 5 in nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, lost to Cienega on March 30, 1-0.

It is Cienega’s first softball title game. CDO has played in seven, winning five, including the past two.

Despite Cienega earning the tournament’s No. 1 seed, the Bobcats know that as long as the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, Kenzie Fowler, is pitching for CDO, the Dorados are the favorite.

“Everybody is an underdog with CDO,” Tatham said. “We have much respect for CDO . . . but we don’t care who the opponent is. We always talk about if we play our game, we can get the job done. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.”

Cash had an uncharacteristically average pitching performance, but she still did most of the damage for the Bobcats on Thursday.

Cash allowed a season-high eight hits, but didn’t walk anyone and struck out 10.

And Cash had three of her team’s 16 hits: an RBI double in the first inning, a solo home run over the left field wall in the second and an RBI single in the fourth.

Cienega led 11-1 at one stage.

“I just came out trying to do what was best for the team and get us a bigger lead,” Cash said.

Foothills put a first-inning scare into Cienega when a leadoff double by Elise Samoy-Alvarado set up Stephanie Carramusa’s RBI single to center field, giving the upset-minded Falcons a 1-0 lead.

“I wouldn’t be a coach if my heart didn’t go in my throat,” said Tatham of Foothills’ early lead, the first time Cienega had trailed this postseason.

The threat was quickly erased in the bottom of the first when Cienega batted around and took a 6-1 lead off six hits and a pair of Foothills’ errors.

Trailing 11-1 with two outs in the top of the fifth, Carramusa extended the game, and avoided the five-inning, 10-run mercy rule, with a two-RBI single. Foothills scored again later in the inning to pull within 11-4, a more respectable score than the 20-2 loss it suffered to Cienega on April 2.

“Coming off those two (playoff upset) wins to get us to this point, the girls were flying high and we just ran into a buzz saw those first couple innings,” said Foothills coach Mark Brunenkant.

Locals win track titles

Lee Gundy’s first win in the 800-meter run was memorable. The Mountain View runner won a Class 5A-II state championship in the event Thursday at Chandler High School.

Ironwood Ridge’s Sarah Miville won the girls 3,200-meter race and will look to do the same Saturday in the 1,600.

Go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/tcvarsity for more from Thursday’s 5A-II state track meet.

Citizen Staff Writer
TRACK ROUNDUP

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

University of Arizona football signee Ryan Milus tied a 31-year-old state record in the boys 100 meters on Wednesday in a preliminary heat on Day 1 of the Class 5A Division I track championship at Chandler High School

Milus, a senior at Chandler Hamilton who will play cornerback for the Wildcats, finished in 10.33 seconds, the sixth fastest high school time in the country this year, according to the track and field Web site Dyestat.com.

He tied the record set in 1978 by El Mirage Dysart High School sprinter LaNoris Marshall.

The championship heats for most events, including the 100 meters, are Saturday at Chandler High School.

In the five events that crowned state champions Wednesday, the best southern Arizona result was by Sierra Vista Buena’s Jeremy Tuttle, whose discus toss of 169 feet, 7 inches was good for second place.

Class 4A Division I and II

Sabino’s Alex Evans won 4A-I state championships in the boys 1,600 meters (4:19.61) and the 800 meters (1:54.72) at Mesa Community College, giving his team 20 points in the meet’s first of two days.

Daniel McIver’s high jump of 6-feet, 6-inches was good for the 4A-II title for the Catalina senior.

In girls competition, Canyon del Oro senior hurdler Kala Stepter posted the top preliminary times in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.

Citizen Staff Writer

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

As the state’s all-time winningest high school football coach, Amphi’s Vern Friedli has plenty of victories he can look back on fondly.

To be precise, he has 309.

“But there isn’t a sweeter feeling we ever had than those bus rides down Oracle Road after upsetting CDO,” said Friedli, whose Panthers beat Canyon del Oro 22 times in Friedli’s 33 seasons of coaching at Amphi.

CDO has won the last five games between the two schools, including the past three in lopsided fashion, but it was still one of Tucson’s longest standing football rivalries.

That ended Tuesday when the 2009 football schedule was released. For the first time since 1968, Amphi and CDO won’t play football against each other.

“It’s a shame,” Friedli said.

While Amphi’s enrollment, and in turn student participation in football, has plummeted since Ironwood Ridge High opened earlier this decade, CDO has developed into one of the state’s top Class 4A programs.

“It was pretty heated my first couple years and Amphi just completely dominated the rivalry,” said former CDO coach Pat Nugent, who now coaches Pima Community College.

“I know that Ironwood Ridge opening really hurt Amphi and the fact of the matter is it just hasn’t been that much of a rivalry recently.”

Friedli acknowledges his program’s drop in numbers in recent years has hurt the program, pointing out there were eight starters on either Ironwood Ridge or CDO who attended middle school within Amphi High’s boundaries. That was before open enrollment allowed students to go to any one of the three schools in the Amphi district.

“You give us back eight starters last year and we’re a hell of a lot more competitive,” said Friedli, whose team went 6-5 and qualified for the 4A Division II playoffs. “But that’s not how it is anymore. Now, like we’ve always done, we’ll play the hand we’re dealt.”

Amphi returned to the playoffs in 2008, but its less-than-typical record in previous years began hurting CDO’s power ranking points, the system used to seed the state tournament that rewards teams for playing tough opponents.

The more wins your opponents have, the higher your power ranking.

In place of the annual CDO/Amphi game, CDO will play Ironwood Ridge. The two teams have only played three times, but it is one of the area’s best budding rivalries.

“Getting them to open things up, I can tell you the kids are already excited about that game,” CDO first-year coach Dustin Peace said.

While CDO/Amphi is no more for the season, that doesn’t mean there will be a shortage of strong matchups for the 2009 season among Tucson-area teams.

Here is a look at 15 games with intriguing storylines this fall:

Sabino at Sahuaro (Aug. 27)

Scott McKee’s first game as Sahuaro head coach will be tough. He faces a powerful Sabino team he starred for in the 1990s. Of course, that was long before Sabino beat Sahuaro by a combined 143-19 the past three seasons.

Ironwood Ridge at CDO (Aug. 28)

Ironwood Ridge and CDO are two of the best teams in Tucson and will be breaking in new head coaches in the season opener with Matt Johnson (Ironwood Ridge) and Dustin Peace (CDO). The teams have only played three times, but it’s hard not to call this one of the area’s best rivalries and the Dorados are still looking for payback for the Nighthawks beating them twice in 2006, including in the state playoffs.

CDO at Santa Rita (Sept. 4)

Two of Tucson’s best teams over the past two years go at it. Santa Rita coach Jeff Scurran coached at CDO from 1984-86.

Santa Rita at Sabino (Sept. 11)

Scurran returns as opposing coach at Sabino, where he was one of the state’s most dominant coaches in the 1990s, winning three state championships.

Salpointe at Ironwood Ridge (Sept. 25)

Salpointe took a perfect record into the Ironwood Ridge game in 2008 before the Nighthawks thumped the Lancers 41-14.

Scottsdale Saguaro at CDO (Oct. 2)

A rematch of the 2007 4A-I state title thriller. Saguaro has been as dominant as anyone in Arizona for three years, going 41-1 with three state titles. In its current 33-game win streak, nobody put a scare into Saguaro quite like CDO did at University of Phoenix Stadium in 2007, when Saguaro hit a game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining.

Salpointe at Chandler Hamilton (Oct. 9)

Salpointe trades in a series with one 5A-I powerhouse, Phoenix Brophy, for one with Chandler Hamilton, the state’s top college recruiting factory.

Amphi at Santa Rita (Oct. 16)

Anytime Friedli and Scurran go at it, it’s fun to watch. Amphi put one heck of a scare into the Eagles in 2008 and, short of a win, it’s hard to imagine anything that makes Friedli more happy than making Scurran sweat.

Cholla at Rio Rico (Oct. 16)

Both teams struggled through 0-10 seasons in 2008. While I don’t think it will happen again, it’s nice to know winless seasons for both won’t happen again in 2009.

Ironwood Ridge at Sunnyside (Oct. 23)

The two teams have played four times the past two seasons, splitting 2-2 and not having a game determined by more than a touchdown in the span. Sunnyside ended the Nighthawks’ season in the 2007 5A-II playoffs. Ironwood Ridge returned the favor in 2008.

Flowing Wells at Catalina Foothills (Oct. 23)

First-year Flowing Wells coach Mark Brunenkant returns to Foothills, where he coached the Falcons for nine of the program’s 15 seasons.

Sunnyside at Salpointe (Nov. 6)

With Salpointe slapped with a postseason ban next year because of recruiting violations, this will be the Lancers’ final game of the season, but it isn’t as if added motivation is needed.

Cienega at Sahuaro (Nov. 6)

Former Sahuaro coaches Nemer Hassey, the head coach at Cienega, and Chuck McCollum, an offensive line coach at Cienega, return to play the Cougars.

Palo Verde at Santa Rita (Nov. 6)

This game has determined the 4A Gila Region title the past two seasons. Even without Adam Hall at Palo Verde, it could be a big test for Santa Rita.

Sabino at CDO (Nov. 6)

In its first year in the 4A Sonoran Region, the Sabercats could be playing CDO for the region title. Aside from the region implications, sought-after college recruits Sabino’s Keanu Nelson and CDO’s Josh Robbins will be winding down their senior seasons.

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Maybe the four years Kenzie Fowler spent at Canyon del Oro High School are, to many people in Tucson, a mere prelude to her impending pitching career at the University of Arizona.

But the final chapter Fowler is writing for her storybook prep career might make whatever she does at the next level pale in comparison to what is arguably the greatest high school sports career in Tucson history.

It’s certainly the most dominant among those playing a team sport.

The reigning Gatorade national softball player of the year has thrown three straight no-hitters, including two perfect games, all against teams qualifying for the Class 4A Division I playoffs.

Saturday, she led CDO to a 10-0 win over Desert View in the first round of the 4A-I playoffs.

In addition to her pitching, she hit a first-inning home run easily clearing the center field wall (her seventh homer of the season), had a two-run single and was hit by a pitch.

Against Desert View, as she did April 30 against Marana, Fowler struck out 14 of the 15 batters she faced, as both games were called after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

In the three-game streak, Fowler has struck out 43 hitters and dropped her ERA to 0.06 (one run allowed in 125 innings).

And how does Fowler feel about the recent stretch of domination?

“I have a streak?” she asked, genuinely unaware what reporters were asking her about.

When told she had just tossed her third-straight no-hitter, Fowler quickly jumped into safety mode – never saying something that would come across as arrogant or self-serving and certainly never one to offer up bulletin board material.

“Oh, yeah that’s great,” Fowler said. “You know I try to do my best and all that.”

Fowler then went on to talk about how easy it is to pitch knowing the defense behind her will “get to any ball” hit into play – even if she’s rarely giving them a chance to prove that lately – and about how emotional senior day was with her teammates.

Never once would she take the bait put in front of her to give a me-first answer, only further leading to the reason so many in Tucson seem to be pulling for her.

“Tucson is fortunate to have great softball and you’re going to come across (some great) players,” said Desert View coach Bert Otero, whose team’s season had just come to an end at the hands of Fowler. “But Kenzie Fowler is a special kid.

“It’s not all about softball. It’s about how she carries herself. It’s about being a classy young lady and that’s what you really have to appreciate.”

As much as it may seem like a distant memory now, and as much as us annoying media types repeated the story over and over, it can’t be ignored that the life-threatening medical scare forcing Fowler off the U.S. Junior Olympic team two summers ago that left her hospitalized for nearly two weeks.

After dominating the 4A-I playoffs as a sophomore in 2007 – CDO won four playoff games and a state title by outscoring opponents 14-0 with Fowler throwing every inning – seven inches of blood clots that had formed in her powerful right pitching arm had worked their way toward her heart, only being discovered after her arm began turning purple in a summer workout.

Multiple surgeries later, it appeared Fowler’s life would be saved, but her pitching career was doubtful at best.

Instead, she went on to be named the best pitcher in the country as a junior and only got more dominant as a senior, when she got to finally sign her scholarship papers to play for UA and officially become a Wildcat.

She’s pitched every playoff inning for CDO since she’s been in high school, leading the Dorados to three straight state championship games, including winning the past two titles.

She’s struck out 298 batters and walked 14 this season and has a 22-2 record with both losses coming in 1-0 games.

Her career numbers are equally hard to fathom.

In four years, Fowler has a 102-8 record with 1,403 strikeouts. She’s gone 12-1 in state playoff games with her only loss coming to Glendale Cactus in the 2006 state championship game when she was a freshman.

Cactus, coincidentally, is the team traveling to Tucson on Tuesday to face Fowler in the 4A-I quarterfinals, the final time she’ll pitch at CDO.

Should CDO win the 4 p.m. game, the 4A-I semifinals are Thursday and the state title game is Saturday.

Both games are scheduled to be played in Phoenix, but if both teams are Tucson-area teams, they could be moved to a neutral location in southern Arizona.

How cool would it be if the game was at UA’s Hillenbrand Stadium?

Fowler long ago etched her name atop the list of Tucson’s great prep softball players.

And while the argument can be made some multisport stars of yesteryear did more in multiple sports or stars who went on to storied collegiate and professional careers like Sean Elliott and Fat Lever became more well known, it’s hard to argue anyone ever dominated a team sport quite like Fowler has done.

And with one week left of her high school career, Fowler has every intention of writing the perfect ending.

Geoff Grammer’s e-mail:

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Fowler dominates her sport

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Grammer

NEARLY PERFECT

Kenzie’s Fowler season stats for CDO:

ERA: 0.06

Innings: 125

Earned runs: 1

Strikeouts: 298

Walks: 14

Record: 22-2

> Last three games: 17 IP, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 43 Ks, 1 walk

> Career record: 102-8

Continued from 1C

FOWLER’S FINAL ACT

Canyon del Oro High School pitcher Kenzie Fowler has saved her best for last. Her stats during her last three games:

No-hitters 3

Perfect games 2

Record 3-0

IP 17

Ks 43

BB 1

ERA 0.00

Citizen Staff Writer
Grammer School

The 2008-09 wrestling season has been over for awhile, but the awards keep rolling in for Tucson Citizen Wrestler of the Year Kory DeBerry.

Wrestling USA Magazine this week named DeBerry the No. 1-ranked sophomore/freshman wrestler in the nation at 140 pounds.

DeBerry, who won the Class 5A Division II state championship this past season to help lead Sunnyside to its 12th-straight state team title and 28th overall, was one of five southern Arizona wrestlers to find their way into the magazine’s national rankings.

Those wrestlers include (wrestlers were ranked in one of three classes – freshman/sophomore, junior or senior):

• DeBerry, Sunnyside, 140 pounds – No. 1 (freshman/sophomore)

• Ryak Finch, Safford, 112 pounds – No. 3 (junior)

• Scott Filbert, Ironwood Ridge, 119 pounds – No. 24 (junior)

• Diego Bravo, Sunnyside, 215 pounds – No. 20 (junior)

• Anthony Pike, Sunnyside, 189 pounds – No. 15 (senior)

Citizen Staff Writer
TC Varsity

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

When longtime Palo Verde boys basketball coach David Gin stepped down after the 2008-09 season, there was no doubt in his mind who should be his successor.

Gin got his wish.

Chris Klassen, 28, who has been Gin’s top assistant the past three years and who also played for Gin, has been hired to build on what Gin has been accomplished for the past 19 seasons.

“He’s the perfect guy for the job,” said Gin. “He bleeds Palo Verde.”

Klassen does seem to have a bit of the East Side school in his blood. His father, Michael, swam at the school; his aunt, Sharon, played softball there for current athletic director Peggy Baker; and three younger siblings have followed him as Palo Verde since he graduated in 1999.

“This is a dream come true,” said Klassen, who followed his Palo Verde playing career by playing college basketball at Iowa’s William Penn University.

Upon returning to Tucson after college, Klassen worked for two years as a volunteer assistant at Palo Verde.

Three years ago, he was hired to coach the Titans freshman team and led them to a 14-3 record. The past two years as the junior varsity coach, Palo Verde has gone 30-6.

And as he began showing he, indeed, was a quality coach himself, Klassen was being encouraged by Gin to take the leap and pursue varsity head coaching vacancies.

“There were a couple of jobs opened he said I should go for,” Klassen said. “But I told him I’d rather wait it out here and maybe one day prove to him I should be the guy to take over for him when he stepped down. There wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to coach.”

Klassen is optimistic about the 2009-10 season, including coaching the class he first coached when they were freshmen three years ago.

He plans to use an up-tempo offense with aggressive, man-to-man defense “probably 80 percent” of the time.

Rodriguez having big year

Is any baseball player in southern Arizona having a better spring than Sahuaro junior Chris Rodriguez?

Voted by league coaches last week as the 4A Kino Region Player of the Year, Rodriguez is among the state leaders in several hitting categories.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound outfielder has a .523 batting average, a .889 slugging percentage, three home runs, six triples, 26 RBIs, 12 walks, been hit by a pitch six times, has struck out just nine times and has stolen 26 bases in 30 attempts.

Rodriguez takes his eye-popping numbers with him into Saturday’s Class 4A Division I state tournament opener as No. 14 Sahuaro plays at No. 3 Canyon del Oro at 11 a.m.

Watkins to play in Tenn.

Mountain View senior volleyball player Cassidy Watkins has signed to play collegiately at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn.

Have news for the prep notebook? E-mail ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

High profile Tucson-area football stars Adam Hall and Jake Fischer signed letters of intent in February to play at the University of Arizona this fall.

If UA coach Mike Stoops has his way, at least two more Tucson football players will be part of the team in fall 2010.

Sabino High School’s Keanu Nelson, a receiver/corner-back/return specialist, and Canyon del Oro’s Josh Robbins, a safety/wide receiver, have received scholarship offers from the hometown Wildcats in the past couple of weeks.

“It was pretty exciting to get an offer from the school my dad played for,” said Robbins, whose father is former UA and NFL defensive back Randy Robbins and is the cousin of former UA defensive back Mike Scurlock.

“They’re one of my favorite schools and I could see myself playing there.”

In February, Ironwood Ridge linebacker Fischer and Palo Verde receiver/defensive back Hall both signed with the Wildcats.

Robbins, who said Wednesday he is 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, first announced his presence on the high school football stage when he caught a key fourth-quarter touchdown as a sophomore in the 2007 Class 4A Division I state championship game, which CDO lost 23-21 to Scottsdale Saguaro on a field goal with two seconds remaining.

CDO coach Dustin Peace, who was defensive coordinator the past two seasons, said he tells recruiters Robbins has developed into “a phenomenal free safety.”

Robbins said he loves playing safety, but is open to playing receiver in college.

Former CDO head coach Pat Nugent, now head coach at Pima Community College, said Robbins, who high-jumped 6-6 as a sophomore in 2008, is one of the best athletes he’s ever coached.

“At CDO, he is not going to put up the kind of numbers like the Palo Verde kid (Hall, who scored 38 touchdowns last fall) and others,” Nugent said. “The numbers are not going to stack up, but physically I would put him up there with anybody. He has great speed and can jump out of the gym.”

Peace said he’s been bombarded in recent weeks by college recruiters inquiring about the senior-to-be.

While UA is the only one to formally give Robbins an offer so far, the others expected to in the coming weeks after reviewing game film are Utah, Colorado, California and Kansas State.

The list is even longer for Nelson.

The 5-11, 165-pound “Mr. Versatility” for Sabino has already had 10 scholarship offers according to coach Jay Campos. They are UA, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Nebraska, San Diego State, Stanford, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Washington State.

“His greatest asset is his ability to start and stop on a dime,” Campos said of Nelson, who has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. “There are guys who might beat him in a 100 or maybe a 40, but nobody starts and stops as quick as he does.”

Nelson scored touchdowns in 2008 by rushing, receiving, punt return, interception return and fumble return.

He had 1,051 yards from scrimmage (571 rushing, 480 receiving) and 443 in punt returns.

“Everyone likes him as a punt returner,” Campos said. “Some recruiters we’ve talked with like him as an inside receiver, some as a cornerback, but all love him as a punt returner.”

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Catalina High School’s pursuit of its first baseball state championship in more than four decades is alive.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association board on Monday reversed course on a decision last week forcing the program to forfeit 19 wins this season for using ineligible players.

The forfeits, stemming from alleged use of ineligible transfers, dropped Catalina’s record from 21-7 to 2-26, giving the Trojans no chance of being in the Class 4A Division II state tournament.

Catalina had the option of asking the schools they played to rescind the forfeits, but at least four schools declined, according to AIA Chief Operations Officer Chuck Schmidt.

Catalina’s second option was to appeal to the AIA.

The board’s decision came too late for Catalina to participate in the 4A Gila Region tournament, which concludes Tuesday night at Cherry Field, but the team’s power rankings points will be enough to qualify the Trojans for an at-large berth in the state tournament.

The top two finishers from the region tournament automatically qualify for the state playoffs, as do any remaining teams ranked in the top 16 of the power rankings.

Catalina athletic director Ken Harcus said Friday the school discovered April 24 it violated an association bylaw on the eligibility of transferring students.

When a student-athlete transfers, there is a one-year waiting period before the athlete can compete, unless certain criteria are met.

The two players in question met the criteria, but the proper paperwork documenting that was not turned in to the association until last week.

Due to the time-sensitive nature of the state tournament beginning later this week, the board ruled only on the baseball team’s eligibility for postseason play.

At a May 18 meeting, the board will review information that one or both players in question also played for the school’s football team last fall without the proper paperwork.

Catalina’s football team went 4-6 last year.

The Catalina baseball team, coached by Tony Gabusi, is after its first state championship since 1967, when coach Cliff Myrick’s Trojans beat Mesa Westwood 6-4 for the title.

The last championship game for Catalina was in 1977, when the Myrick-led Trojans lost 2-0 to Phoenix Trevor Browne.

Apaches can still compete

Nogales Unified School District decided to close schools this week because of swine flu concerns, but the games will go on, just not at the school.

The Nogales High girls tennis team, seeded No. 3 in the 4A Division I state playoffs, will still be considered the host team when it plays No. 6 Phoenix Sunnyslope at 3 p.m. Tuesday, but the match was moved from Nogales to Rio Rico’s Esplendor Resort.

Finding practice locations and facilities is challenging, Nogales athletic director Tim Colgate said, but it is nothing that will affect the school’s participation in state and regional playoff games.

The AIA has said it has no plans to cancel or postpone state tournament events because of flu concerns.

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Last month, the Catalina Foothills High School football program lost its coach to Ironwood Ridge.

This weekend, Foothills replaced ex-coach Matt Johnson with the man who played a key role in making the Ironwood Ridge job so desirable.

“The expectations at Ironwood Ridge were high and I know they’ll be high at Foothills, too,” said the 46-year-old Cortese, who teaches in the Amphitheater School District at Painted Sky Elementary.

” . . . That school is so successful in so many sports, they’re hungry for success with the football program and I’m excited about that.”

Foothills is one of nine southern Arizona Class 4A or 5A schools making football coaching changes this offseason. Only Douglas, which hired a replacement for ex-coach John Necas only to see him resign a month later, has yet to name a football coach for the 2009 season.

Cortese takes over a Foothills program that appeared on the right track after one year under Johnson.

The Falcons went 6-5 and advanced to the 4A Division I playoffs.

Under Cortese and then-Ironwood Ridge head coach Gary Minor, the Ironwood Ridge defense developed into arguably the best in southern Arizona over the past two seasons.

Last year, the defense led the Nighthawks to the Class 5A Division II semifinals, the furthest the program has advanced since opening less than a decade ago.

• High school state roundup, 3C

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

The Catalina High School baseball team was in cruise control the last several weeks, comfortable enough in the Class 4A Gila Region and state Power Ranking standings to know it could focus on preparing for the state tournament.

Now, its postseason fate lies in the hands of the Arizona Interscholastic Association after a paperwork mix-up regarding two players who transferred to the school this season has left the team having to forfeit all games prior to April 28.

Catalina athletic director Ken Harcus said Friday the school discovered April 24 it had been in violation of AIA bylaw 15.10 regarding the eligibility of transferring students.

When a student-athlete transfers to a new school, there is a one-year waiting period before the athlete can compete in athletics, unless certain criteria are met.

The two players in question met the criteria, but the proper paperwork documenting that was not turned into the AIA until last week.

“Catalina has forfeited all games up to April 28 when the players were cleared by AIA before the Sahuarita game,” Harcus wrote in an e-mail.

The forfeits drop Catalina’s record from 21-7 overall and 9-3 in league play to 2-26 overall and 2-10 in region games – the team went 2-1 this past week since the players’ eligibility was restored.

Catalina also has been eliminated from the top four spots of the Gila Region standings, eliminating it from the region tournament, which begins Saturday at Cherry Field.

The top two finishers from the region tournament automatically qualify for the state playoffs, as do any remaining teams ranked in the top 16 of the state’s Power Rankings formula.

The state tournament begins May 9.

Catalina can’t do anything about the Gila Region tournament, but it hopes to get the forfeited games restored to wins when it appeals to the AIA’s Executive Board on Monday in Phoenix.

The board could uphold the forfeits, ending Catalina’s season.

Or, because the players were ultimately ruled eligible transfers and the situation arose from not submitting the paperwork in time, the board could decide to restore the results of forfeited games and instead place sanctions of some kind on the school’s athletic department.

Should the game results be restored, Catalina’s Power Ranking position – the Trojans were the No. 4-ranked 4A-II team as of Friday – would likely be high enough for the team to qualify for the state tournament.

Citizen Staff Writer
Grammer School

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Canyon del Oro sophomore Gentry Hicks might want to play at The Pines Golf Club at Marana more often.

The 15-year-old, who won the Class 4A Sonoran Region boys golf championship in the fall, fired a hole-in-one Thursday, using a 6 iron on the 200-yard par-3 sixth hole. Hicks and his foursome played from the gold tees. The ace, his first, was witnessed by his dad, Murray, and friends Derek Metz and Tom Olla.

In November, Hicks won the Sonoran Region individual championship in a playoff against teammate Ryan Klump. Hicks posted a two-day score of 145 (75-70) at Torres Blancas for the region title. He helped CDO to a second-place finish in the region behind Catalina Foothills.

A week later, he was one of three CDO golfers with top-20 showings in the 4A-I state championship in Buckeye at the Sundance Golf Course, leading the Dorados to a fourth-place finish.

For more sports musings, check out the Grammer School sports blog at www.tucsoncitizen.com/blog.

Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP

GEOFF GRAMMER

sports@tucsoncitizen.com

Douglas used a 16-run second inning in a 24-4, five inning win over 4A Gila Region foe Catalina, putting the exclamation point on the school’s first region title.

Douglas, which has had a softball team since the 1979-80 season, clinched the championship Tuesday. Thursday’s win completed a 12-0 region schedule and improved the Bulldogs overall record to 27-3.

Pitcher Erika Tapia improved to 23-1 and Douglas won its 18th-straight game. Douglas outfielder Victoria Mariscal had two doubles and a first-inning grand slam against Catalina.

Canyon del Oro 12, Marana 0 (5 innings): At Canyon del Oro, seniors Kenzie Fowler and Katie Asher finished the regular season in style.

Fowler, the future University of Arizona pitcher, threw a perfect game, striking out 14 of the 15 she faced in the five-inning, run-rule game. The win pushed her season record to 20-2.

Asher, the power-hitting third baseman going to Oklahoma State next year, hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Baseball

The season hasn’t gone the way the Palo Verde baseball team would have liked.

But Thursday did as the Titans beat 4A Gila Region regular season champion Sahuarita 6-5 in nine innings.

With the Titans trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Palo Verde’s Cameron Gause, who was 4 for 4 on the day, hit a two-RBI, bases-loaded single to pull his team within 5-3.

After a double steal, Sahuarita intentionally walked a Palo Verde hitter to face Zach Moreno with two outs and the bases loaded.

“I told him to take that personally,” said Palo Verde coach Jim Mentz.

Moreno, a sophomore third baseman, responded with “a bullet to right centerfield” that scored two and tied the game at 5, Mentz said.

Moreno, who also hit the game-winner with the bases loaded earlier this season against then first-place Douglas, wasn’t done.

With the bases loaded again in the bottom of the ninth, Moreno laid down a suicide squeeze bunt between the pitcher and first baseman. Gause scored from third base for the game-winning run.

Palo Verde pitcher Charlie Causbie (6-1) threw 138 pitches to pick up the complete-game victory in nine innings. He struck out nine and allowed seven hits.

Sahuarita senior Tony Hilderbrand hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

Tennis

Desert Christian’s Josh Gleason (singles) and the doubles team of Scott Waller and Caleb Steele won 2A/3A South Region championships Thursday at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort.

Pusch ridge senior Tanya Hettlinger won the singles title in the girls tournament.

Citizen Staff Writer
TC Varsity

GEOFF GRAMMER

ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Some high schools have a good coach or two. Sunnyside high school is loaded with them.

The latest achievement for the South Side school that boasts the likes of Bobby DeBerry (wrestling), Richard Sanchez (football) and Pete Palomarez (softball) was the recent milestone coaching victory for longtime baseball coach Ernie Palomarez.

The 28-year Sunnyside coach won his 500th career game in the past week.

Technically, win No. 500 will go in the books as having occurred in the team’s April 24, 6-2 win over Ironwood Ridge.

The celebration for the achievement, however, was delayed because Sunnyside and Mountain View’s April 23 game was suspended due to darkness and not concluded until Tuesday afternoon. So, even though the game concluded Tuesday, it is still considered win No. 499.

To Ernie Palomarez, not big on such records, win 499 over Mountain View was more significant. It clinched for Sunnyside the Class 5A-II Southern Region championship.

A 1973 graduate of Sunnyside, Ernie Palomarez led the Blue Devils to two runner-up finishes in the 1990s.

The team begins this year’s 5A-II playoffs on Saturday, although tournament brackets have not yet been released.

St. Augustine softball shines

While most attention is paid to the softball teams at Canyon del Oro, Cienega, Sahuaro and Sunnyside, it shouldn’t be overlooked what tiny St. Augustine has accomplished.

In just its third season with a varsity team, St. Augustine beat St. David 5-1 on Tuesday, completing a 16-0 Class 1A South Region schedule and ending the regular season 23-4-1.

And don’t think it padded that record with only 1A foes. Coach Bill Molten’s squad has a pair of wins over Class 4A schools when they competed in the Tucson High Badger Invitational, which featured mostly 5A and 4A schools.

They aren’t going anywhere, either. Star pitcher Jessica Brink (16-2-1) is only a sophomore and has 31 wins in two high school seasons. And rifle-armed catcher Marissa Romero, just a freshman, is hitting .685 this year.

The 1A softball tournament begins May 8 at Phoenix’s Rose Mofford Park.

AIA to play on despite flu

The Arizona Interscholastic Association on Wednesday said it has no plans on suspending or canceling state tournament events in the coming weeks due to the swine flu scare, according to Director of Media Marketing Brian Bolitho.

Texas on Wednesday decided to postpone all high school sporting events until May 11 due to the outbreak. Charles Breithaupt, director of the University Interscholastic League, said the move came at the urging of public heath officials.

Have some news or notes that belongs in the Prep Notebook? E-mail ggrammer@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Grammer School

GEOFF GRAMMER

The Pima Community College football coaching staff is stacked with Tucson ties that all bring something valuable to the table in the program’s effort to transform from laughingstock to winners.

Former Canyon del Oro High School coach Pat Nugent has surrounded himself with a staff of ex-head coaches that will undoubtedly make the Aztecs competitive. But as key to the transformation as any just might be the youngest of his assistants coaches, one of the few who has never been a head coach.

Former Sunnyside and Northern Arizona University star running back Philo Sanchez, the son of highly successful Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez, has taken on the duties of instructing the Pima running backs, at least until he hears back from some law schools he has applied to in California.

“If I don’t happen to get in (to law school) this year,” Sanchez said, “then being a part of this is going to be a great opportunity. Coach Nugent has brought together a lot good coaches here and it’s something that I think is going to work for this team.”

Sanchez, a teacher at Sunnyside who has helped coach his dad’s team the past several seasons, graduated in 2002 from Sunnyside after rushing for 3,984 yards in his junior and senior seasons and went on to have a successful career at NAU.

But his role as a potential liaison between Pima and the pipeline of talent the Sunnyside program puts out each year will be vital. The Blue Devils consistently place a handful of players on junior college football rosters each year. There is no reason those contributors won’t have every reason to stay in Tucson now.

Sanchez was also the 2002 Tucson Citizen Student Athlete of the Year. Academics always have been a strong point for Sanchez. And if he doesn’t get into law school this summer, he likely will soon, so his tenure at Pima may be short-lived.

Still, as long as he’s there now, it won’t hurt the rebuilding project going on for the Aztecs.

• Check out more sports musings at the Grammer School Sports blog at www.tucsoncitizen.com/blog