Last Thursday afternoon the Sand Devils wrestling team carried four wrestling mats from the wrestling room and into the main gym, where they rolled them out and taped them down in preparation for the 27^th annual Sand Devil Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious wrestling tournaments of the year.

This year the Sand Devils Classic brought in 23 teams from four/five states. When the teams arrived for weigh-in Friday morning they found hand-painted signs with their team’s name and mascot hanging on the walls of the gym, welcoming them to the Classic.

The Sand Devil Classic is one of the biggest wrestling tournaments of the year and the Sand Devil coaches, wrestlers and volunteers put in a lot of long hours to make it one of the greatest wrestling events of the year.

The hand-painted banners welcoming the visiting teams is merely the most visible part of what happens behind the scenes to put on a great Sand Devil Classic. Most of the effort goes into providing an excellent hospitality room, which provides food, drinks, snacks for coaches, officials and staff.

“It’s open to anyone at the tournament who is too involved or too busy to leave,” said Tyana Specht, the wrestling team’s Booster President.

And the amount and variety of food is staggering to behold. Visitors found Navajo tacos, pizza, and sandwiches ready to go. Soups, chili and stew bubbled in a row of crock pots. Pasta dishes and baked goods waited inside Tupperware containers. The food covered  ix tables. Coffee and soft drinks filled another table. Behind the serving tables more tables were piled with still more food, that helpers set out as soon as one of the other containers or crockpots run empty. 

Properly hosting such a large event is a massive undertaking, the bulk of which was coordinated by Tyana Spect.

Specht began organizing the volunteers back in early December. She coordinated the donations from local businesses, the shopping, the cooking and baking, the poster making and the final preparations.

“Our number one priority is making sure the coaches and officials are happy, fed and feel welcome, so they want to keep coming back,” said Specht.

She said the main reason she helps is to give back to coaches Kyran Keisling and Matt Penrod who have been coaching her kids for the past 22 years. Specht first volunteered at the Sand Devil Classic 22 years ago when her daughter, Logan, and her son Sean, were enrolled in the Dust Devils wrestling program. Logan was six-years-old and Sean was four-years-old at the time. As they moved up through the ranks from Dust Devils to Sand Devils Specht advanced with them.

Sean went on to take state his senior year. Her son Dante Gracia was the runner up at state last year, and her son Hayden Gracia, wrestling in the 145 pound category, was runner-up at this year’s Sand Devils Classic.

“Kyran and Matt work so hard and give so much to this program,” said Specht. “We consider them members of our family. For them wrestling is so much more than just wrestling. The boys that come through their program take valuable lessons into the future and into manhood.”

Specht certainly wasn’t the only one working hard to make the Classic an outstanding event. Oliver Nez and Charisse Cantrell, parents of Sand Devils wrestlers Wynette and Taylor Nez, manned the tables in the hospitality room, making sure the crockpots and Tupperware stayed filled. They had help from Vennie Gracia and Logan and Christian Franklin.

Out at the entranceway Justin and Shandiin Begay, parents of wrestler Kimball Begay, manned the concession stand.

Their work and preparation was greatly appreciated by the visiting coaches and officials.

“It’s been great,” said Chase Richmond, head wrestling coach from San Juan High School, who was enjoying a plate of hot food with his assistant coach Sterling Black.  “They’ve kept us well fed.”

They ranked the Winslow’s Doc Wright tournament as having the best hospitality room, but said the Sand Devils was a close second.

“The Sand Devil Classic is one of favorite tournaments to attend,” said Richmond, “and the amazing way they treat the visiting coaches is a big reason for that.”

Everywhere you looked, from the hospitality room to the concession stand to the scorer’s table, you found long-time, dedicated Sand Devils wrestling fans helping out.

Robin Sciaramazo, a retired Page teacher who now lives in the Phoenix area,  traveled to Page just to help at the scorer’s table.

“I’ve been doing this every year since its first year,” she said. Like many others, she became involved because her son was a wrestler. David Sciaramazo took fourth place in state in 1996, and took first at the Sand Devil Classic his senior year.

Sitting next to Sciaramazo is Connie Tkalcevic who has been volunteering at the Sand Devil Classic since its inception.Her husband, John Tkalcevic, was Page High School’s first wrestling coach.

“Back when I started everything used to be done on paper,” she said. “It was a lot of work. It’s still a lot of work, but I enjoy doing it. Wrestling just gets in your blood.”

Coach Keisling is well-aware of the time and effort that goes on behind the scenes to make the Sand Devil Classic the legendary event that it is.

“It means everything,” he said. “What they’re doing is continuing the community and tradition of Page wrestling. It’s always been this way. The teams and coaches that compete at the Sand Devil Classic hold the even in high regard. I’m very proud to be a part of it.”