Yuma County Sets Record with 49 Wrestlers Qualifying for State Tournament

Yuma Union High School District sent a district-record 49 boys and girls to the Arizona Interscholastic Association state wrestling tournament at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, with the event beginning February 19 and champions crowned on Saturday, February 21. The district’s contingent produced five individual state champions and placed nearly half of its qualifiers in the top six, district officials and local reporting show.

The 49 qualifiers top the previous district high of 48 set in 2016 and continue a decade-long pattern: Yuma schools have sent at least 30 wrestlers to state every year dating back to at least 2011. Of the 49 qualifiers, 35 were boys, the most boys from the district since 2019, when 36 boys and eight girls advanced to state.

Gila Ridge High School sent 11 boys to the Division I bracket and finished sixth in Division I team points. Individual Gila Ridge results included Cannon Farrar winning the 120-pound Division I title, Ayden Sevilla placing second at 106, Raidyn Tanaka taking third at 150, and Diesel Labady finishing sixth at 132. Gila Ridge girls qualifier Georgia Barron placed sixth at 120.

Kofa High School’s Division I roster included Dylan Rush at 113, Roman Jaimes at 126, David Elias at 132, Emitt Merrill at 138, Isaac Paxton at 190, Logan Whitacre at 215, and Gerardo Anaya at 285. David Elias captured a Division I individual title at 132, Logan Whitacre finished third at 215, and Roman Jaimes placed fifth at 126; Kofa boys finished 10th in Division I team points.

Somerton High School, in its third year as a school, was credited with 11 boys qualifying for Division IV and seven girls qualifying for Division II. Somerton’s boys placed sixth in Division IV team points. Named Somerton champions and placers included Jayden Preston (113) and Kenneth Garcia (120), both first-place winners; Aztlan Raya (106) fifth; Diego Felix (126) fifth; Jose Perez (138) sixth; and Peter Rivas (285) sixth. Somerton girls produced multiple top finishers including Annette Preston, who won the 185-pound Division II title, and Jordyn Isla (114), Breilla Reynoso (120), and Gianna Anaya (235), who each placed third, while Ariana Villafana finished fifth at 107. Somerton girls finished second in Division II team points.

Other YUHSD placers included Jayden Espinoza of Yuma High School, who finished second at 126 in Division III, and Cibola qualifier Isyael Ibarra at 285. San Luis High School qualifier Ivan Ortiz represented the district at 165. Overall, reporting from YUHSD and KYMA shows that “nearly half of the district-record 49 wrestlers who qualified for state placed in the top six.”

Community reaction to the district’s showing appeared on social media after YUHSD’s announcement, with local supporters posting messages such as “Awesome job to all and best of luck! Prayers for an awesome injury free weekend!” and “Awesome! YES, Yuma is known for successful wrestlers. Congratulations to everyone going to State & Good luck there! Especially our Yuma Crims!”

YUHSD’s published lists state the numeric totals by school but do not print every individual name implied by those totals; the district and the AIA maintain official brackets and final results that will confirm the complete roster and team point totals. Local programs produced multiple champions and deep finishes across divisions, marking 2026 as one of the strongest state weekends for Yuma County wrestling in recent memory.