Arizona's Best Incoming Freshman

Young Guns-

Every year one of the most intriguing aspects of any State’s high-school wrestling is the incoming freshman. I chose not to add freshman into the rankings yet as I just don’t have enough information as to who’s going to what school and at what weight, or who may be taking the “8th grade redshirt”, but the questions are out there…Who will carve out a name for themselves as a force to be reckoned with for years to come. What underdog Freshman might come in and shock a well-established name at the State Tournament. What school has an incoming “Bumper Crop” that will sustain them and be the backbone of their program for the foreseeable future.

It’s not irregular to see freshmen compete for, and win, State Titles out of the gate in Arizona. In 2025 there were 5:

Ryder Schulte- 175 Liberty DI Breidyn Ralls- 120 Canyon View DII James Pahl- 126 ALA-Gilbert North DIII Marcus Killgore- 138 Sahuarita DIII Gavin Palace- 113 Payson DIV

Last year Arizona featured 4 Freshman State Champions: Jack Thrush- 106 Sunnyside DI Alejandro De la Rosa- 106 Flowing Wells DII Jacob Goodwin- 157 Morenci DIV Caden Woodall- 165 Morenci DIV

While it’s an impressive feat for any Freshman to pull off, if you had been paying attention to the youth/JH circuit none of these were incredibly shocking. So who’s next? I will try to provide some names to keep an eye on. I'm not sure who’s at what schools yet so I’ll list the ones that I know (or think I know) and if I leave somebody out or make a mistake please feel free to let me know in the comments.

These are not in any particular order, just some names that I’ll throw out as Freshman who I think will have an immediate impact.

Ernie Perez- Sunnyside Perez has been on the youth scene for as long as I can remember and his resume is daunting. He has racked up several age-level National Championships and All-American honors. He is going to be an immediate impact for Sunnyside, the only question I have is what weight. Wherever he’s at…pencil him in as an immediate State Title contender.

Patrick Pina- Sunnyside Pina won a 16u Folkstyle National Title last year and has shown tremendous growth in the last couple years, training out of RBY Wrestling Club bodes well for his future and I project him to be a future star. Again, Sunnyside has a full cupboard so I’m not sure what weight he ends up at but he’ll be an immediate threat as well. Sunnyside has a ton of young talent right now and these two only add to the embarrassment of riches.

Miller Williams- Morenci Morenci projects 2 incoming star Freshman this year, the first of which is Miller Williams. Williams is a 2x NHSCA JH All-American placing 3rd last year. I’d project him as either 106 or 113 and will be an instant contender at either weight.

Noah Jurado- Safford While Jurado’s National resume is limited, (just doesn’t appear to have wrestled much outside of Az) his in-state resume is as good as you can get. Multiple time State Champion, undefeated season last year. Pair that with the fact he’ll be rolling with 2x State Champion Alex Chacon all year…and he projects as the Bulldog’s next big thing.

Gunner Barron- Morenci The second of the pair of hammer Freshman for Morenci. Barron is a 2x JH State Champion, undefeated as an 8th grader and 3rd at JH NHSCA’s. Throw him into Morenci’s room and he’s only going to get better, which is bad news for DIV.

Austin Pahl- ALA-Gilbert North Pahl went 60-0 last year en-route to his Junior High State Title. His older brother is a 2x State Finalist and 1x Champ headed into his Junior year and all signs point to Austin following in his footsteps. Like many of the aforementioned I have no idea what weight he goes but expect him to be a contender out of the gate.

Broxton Hopson- Liberty? I’m assuming Liberty here because I haven’t heard otherwise. Hopson went undefeated on the way to his JH State Title and while sometimes at the upper-weights there is a steep transition from wrestling JH kids to grown men, the family name means he will probably be pretty good as well.

Willie Dunklin- Thatcher Again, have to be cautious of the dangers of projecting HS success when you go from wrestling 180 lbs. JH kids to full grown men, but Dunklin looks like a grown man himself. He was undefeated last year in route to pinning his way through both JH State Tournaments. Thatcher is moving up to D3 this year and Dunklin will look to have immediate impact in the upper weights.

I’m sure I missed some big names out there and there are probably more than a few under the radar kids that have been busting it all summer and fall looking to make a big impact. Please know it wasn’t intentional and feel free to let me know where I went wrong in the comments!