Denair High wrestling head coach Bryan Herrington has taken his fair share of glances at the championship banners that are hanging on the walls of the school’s gymnasium. In his eighth year at the helm, he knows of the program’s storied history very well, including its most recent title drought.
The Coyotes on Thursday flipped the script that had been unfolding for more than four decades, with its girls claiming a 42-30 dual win over Delhi to finish the regular season at 5-0 and clinch the Southern Athletic League championship. It is the first conference title in wrestling the school has won since its lone banner in 1984.
“It stared me in the face every single day I walked into the gym, because we have this huge banner and there’s only one date on there, and it was the year after I was born,” Herrington joked. “It’s been my mission to get another date on there, and it’s been driving me nuts. But we finally did it.
“There were a lot of tears from the kids and their parents. The girls wanted this bad because I mentioned it all the time. It was a box that needed to be checked off. It’s just an awesome experience for all of us. We’re so ecstatic.”
The Lady Coyotes received pins from freshman Zoey Vrioni at 105 pounds, freshman Natalia Rosales at 120 pounds, junior Makenzie Miguel at 125 pounds, freshman Kioni Ayala at 140 pounds and freshman Faith Blevins at 193 pounds. Junior Brianna Thomas and freshman Bailey Hoover also won the 155 and 170 pound matches, respectively, by forfeit. Meanwhile, the Coyotes forfeited the 100, 110, 115, 145 and 235 matches.
“Having nine wrestlers in our lineup is huge,” Herrington said. “We have a shot at winning every dual we’re in.”
Just a year ago, the wrestling room had 30 total grapplers, with only two girls — Miguel and Thomas. The two took it upon themselves to recruit the hallways, urging underclassmen to try the sport. Now, there are nine girls competing.
“Those two girls are the leaders of this team, because they are the reasons why we have such a big wrestling room now,” Herrington said. “Almost all of our wrestlers are freshmen, so they are helping build for the future. And, of course, those two girls also lead by example on the mats.”
Thomas currently sports a 21-6 record on the season, which has included an eighth-place finish at the Apache Tournament. Miguel is 19-6 on the year.
“I want both of them to qualify for Masters,” Herrington said. “I'm really excited to see how far Brianna can go in the Master's tournament this year after she went 2-2 last year. She's a completely different wrestler than she was. She's down a full weight class. She wrestled 170 last year, and is down to 155 this year. And Makenzie competed real well at the Apache, which I think of as a Masters equivalent, so I have high hopes for each.”
The ultimate goal for Herrington is to have one of the two become the school’s first state wrestling qualifier since 125-pounder Eddie Fuentes in 1996.
The boys team also pulled out a 44-31 win over Delhi on Thursday, marking the first time the Coyotes have taken down the Hawks in Herrington’s coaching tenure. It clinched a second place Southern League finish, behind undefeated Waterford.
“There are a lot of small schools, but people forget just how small Denair really is,” Herrington said. “We’re a school of about 300 kids, while Delhi has over 700. To do what we’ve done this year is incredible, and I just know we’re going to keep growing and getting better.”
The Southern Athletic League Individual Championships take place later this week.
