The wrestling team returned to competition last week, their first tournament in nearly a month, traveling to Winslow for the Doc Wright Invitational.

The Doc Wright Invite is one of the biggest wrestling events of the season with 43 teams from five states. Because of its size and intensity, wrestlers and coaches refer to it as The Meat Grinder.

“It’s a tough tourney that chews you up and spits you out,” said wrestling head coach Kyran Keisling. “Doc Wright is loaded with tough teams and tough kids. The teams that trophy at Doc will most likely trophy at state. It’s a legendary tournament that is held in high regard in the wrestling community. There is some very special about a medal from Doc so tensions run high and the lights are bright.”

Sometimes you’re the meat; sometimes you’re the grinder.

Page’s Kamron Whitewater, wrestling at the 106 pound category, and Taylor Nez, wrestling at the 195 pound category, were the grinders in last week’s competition. Both men stood on the podium’s top step and received the championship trophy. Both Whitewater and Nez are seniors, and both wrestlers pinned all their opponents on their way to the championship, and they both did it in the first or second round of the match.

Page’s Dorian Daw finished fifth in his weight category.

As a team the Sand Devils finished in seventh place, just a half point behind the sixth place team.

“We finished seventh out of 43 teams and scored 140 points with only three medals, which means we had a fantastic performance from the rest of the team,” said Coach Keisling. “All eleven wrestlers scored points for the team and many of our guys went deep into the tournament.  Just making it to Saturday is a big deal at this tournament for many varsity wrestlers and we had 8 of our 11 accomplish this and were still alive and in the mix on the second day.”

The wrestling team now turns their attention to the Sand Devil Classic which takes place in Page this Friday and Saturday.

The Sand Devil Classic is another large tournament, featuring 25 teams from four states. It’s known throughout the wrestling community as an upper-tier tournament and brings a lot of money and pride to Page.

The event was cancelled last year due to a large snowstorm that blocked road travel for the visiting teams.

Coach Keisling is looking forward to his team’s performance this weekend, and for the duration of the season.

“The cool thing is that we still haven’t reached our potential,’ said Coach Keisling. “We learned some really important lessons this weekend. Our kids will be going into the Sand Devil Classic more savvy than they went into this tourney.

“Lessons come at a high price and this is something that only being in the matches can teach them.”

The Sand Devil Classic kicks off this Friday at 1 p.m.. It continues Saturday at 9 a.m.