The sporting world knows all about brackets and how it works.

Advancing in the quarterfinals leads to semifinals and possibly a championship.

Then there's the blood round.

It's not as well known, but it's probably the most cruel, emotional and/or satisfying round of any when a consolation bracket is included in the event.

Welcome to postseason wrestling.

The blood round is THE round; the separator, the one that haunts or defines.

Especially when a berth to the state championship tournament is on the line.

“There is no grey area in the blood round,” Red Mountain girls coach Nick Karantinos said. “There is no better embodiment of learning some life skills right there. We talk to about fighting through it and finding a way to rebound.”

There were 12 individual champions Saturday at the Division I Section III girls wrestling sectionals at Mesa and they will be set up as a top seed at the state tournament in two weeks.

But there were 48 other wrestlers - four per weight class - who had to take on the blood round, which comes with the magnitude of making state or not: earning the team placement points that may make the difference in a team title or not.

The individuals had different routes into the all or nothing round.

Some have battled all day since losing in the first round to rebound and win three matches to be on the precipice of finding a way on to the podium and earning a trip to the Memorial Coliseum by finishing in the top four.

Others had to recalibrate. And quickly. No time to dwell.

Red Mountain freshman Layla Hartman advanced to the semifinals at 100 pounds. She was one win from making the finals but was pinned in the semis. The mindset of winning it all and being crowned the champ at the end of the tournament had to change.

It ended with one slap of the mat.

Instead? One more slip up in the blood round and she was going to be a spectator at state.

It's that fine of a line. It's the blood round.

And Hartman was losing 7-3 in the third period of her blood round match. She was less than two minutes from going from the semifinalist to riding back to Red Mountain without a medal or her name on the bracket at the state meet.

She managed to get a third period pin against Williams Field’s Peighton Eda to qualify for state.

“I had to reset mentally,” Hartman said. “If I let the (semifinal) loss bother me, I wouldn’t be ready to wrestle the next match. You have to find a way. I wanted to go to state so there’s no way I was going to let myself lose the match.”

And yet she was down in the third period after giving up two takedowns. The season was on the line. Win and move on. Lose and turn in the singlet.

“I knew was I was losing because of what happened but I didn’t know the score,” she said about heading into the third period. “I wasn’t like ‘I’m going to lose. I’m going to lose.’ It was 'I have more time to go win it.'

“I felt amazing and all my hard work paid off.”

It may take giving some actual blood and just about anything else just for the chance to call themselves a state qualifier after losing in the first like Boulder Creek senior Aryana Howard at 120 pounds.

She came in as the fourth seed by was caught off guard with a takedown straight her back and was pinned in the first round by Williams Field’s Mallika Grewal.

“I wasn’t ready mentally for that match,” she said. “She caught me and it was over before I knew it.”

It could have ended her career if she let it.

It was sudden death in the consolations bracket at that point. Instead, she won by a technical fall, an 8-4 decision, and a pin in the blood round to make sure she made it all way back to earn a spot on the podium, finishing third with another pin the placement round.

“Once I lost that first match, I realized I was thinking way too much,” Howard said. “I was putting all my effort into trying to think my way though my matches instead of relying on what I’ve learned in all my years of wrestling and practicing.

"Once I just started wrestling instinctively it came easier.”

The blood round didn’t come easy even though it ended in a pin. The match was 0-0 in the third period. Her opponent – North Canyon’s Rosa Avendano – decided at a restart to go neutral to give Howard a 1-0 lead with just over a minute to go.

Whoever secured the first takedown was probably going to survive the blood round.

“When I stepped on the line, I was like this girl may have nothing on me, but she definitely doesn’t have anything on me,” she said. “I knew I had to exploit that, and I had to get something on her.”

And after getting the pin she is headed to state just like the 23 other wrestlers who made it through the blood round.

“I’m so proud of myself,” said Howard, who is 32-16 on the season. “I never thought I’d make it this far. My first year (in the seventh grade) I won like two matches total, so this is a big step for me.”

Team standings

1. Red Mountain 146.5, 2. Campo Verde 133, 3. Boulder Creek 87.5, 4. Perry 83.5, 5. Casteel 74.5, 6. Mesa Mountain View 70, 7. Higley 69, 8. Mesa 64, 9. Cactus 62, 10. Williams Field 47,

      11. Westwood 43.5, 12. Paradise Valley 29, 13. Tempe 28, 14. Highland 27, 15. Dobson 21, 16. North Canyon 16, 17. Arcadia 2.5, 18. (tie) Camelback, Horizon, Pinnacle, Skyline 0.

Individuals results

100

1st Place Match

• Addison Palmer (Perry) 29-2, Sr. over Lillia Ramos (Casteel High School) 21-9, Jr. (Fall 2:59)

3rd Place Match

• Katie McCann (Campo Verde High School) 34-8, Sr. over Layla Hartman (Red Mountain High School) 25-11, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:32 (16-1))

107

1st Place Match

• Mia Pietryka (Campo Verde High School) 33-4, Jr. over Madi Behmer (Cactus Shadows High School) 21-6, Sr. (Fall 1:57)

3rd Place Match

• Keirah Reese (Williams Field HS, AZ) 37-3, Jr. over Samantha Cornfield (Mesa High School) 35-8, Sr. (Fall 2:27)

114

1st Place Match

• Ameerah Colon (Tempe High) 42-3, Sr. over Annabelle Kaufmann (Mountain View (Mesa) High School) 35-4, So. (Fall 1:36)

3rd Place Match

• Roxanne Gibson (Highland) 34-3, So. over Layla Parsons (Red Mountain High School) 20-4, Fr. (TF-1.5 3:27 (17-2))

120

1st Place Match

• Apphia Gutierrez (Perry) 32-2, So. over Ella Ferrin (Red Mountain High School) 27-7, Jr. (Fall 0:51)

3rd Place Match

• Aryana Howard (Boulder Creek High School) 28-15, Sr. over raygen johnson (Higley High School) 12-4, Fr. (Fall 2:26)

126

1st Place Match

• Braylin Hermes (Campo Verde High School) 31-6, So. over Sade Peters (Cactus Shadows High School) 15-9, Sr. (TF-1.5 4:13 (17-1))

3rd Place Match

• Luna Leon Mange (Mesa High School) 31-9, Sr. over Samantha Done (Casteel High School) 33-15, Jr. (Fall 1:39)

132

1st Place Match

• Rebekah Hodges (Campo Verde High School) 36-0, Sr. over summer hockett (Higley High School) 25-4, Sr. (Fall 3:00)

3rd Place Match

• Paige Hedeen (Perry) 23-8, Sr. over Annie Jarman (Mesa High School) 17-8, Sr. (Fall 2:45)

138

1st Place Match

• Nyla Naugle (Red Mountain High School) 30-6, So. over Monalisa Flores (Boulder Creek High School) 30-13, Jr. (Fall 3:59)

3rd Place Match

• Abigail Bordonaro (Higley High School) 13-6, Jr. over Jazzylin Pascacio (Dobson) 16-10, Jr. (Fall 1:47)

145

1st Place Match

• Emma Corley (Boulder Creek High School) 39-1, Sr. over Isabella Martinez (Mountain View (Mesa) High School) 19-6, So. (Dec 9-6)

3rd Place Match

• Mia Johnson (Casteel High School) 21-3, Sr. over Lola Terraza (Campo Verde High School) 27-11, So. (Fall 3:21)

152

1st Place Match

• Kaiya Johnston (Casteel High School) 35-0, Jr. over Lilah Williamson (Westwood High School) 21-10, So. (M. For.)

3rd Place Match

• Emma Vickery (Red Mountain High School) 28-7, So. over Wakley Quinlan (Boulder Creek High School) 34-15, Fr. (Fall 4:08)

165

1st Place Match

• Leila Millanes (Red Mountain High School) 28-4, So. over Eliza Anderson (Westwood High School) 34-6, Jr. (Fall 2:19)

3rd Place Match

• Ella Westbrook (Higley High School) 23-4, Jr. over Nevaeh Smith (Mesa High School) 22-12, Sr. (Fall 0:51)

 

185

1st Place Match

• Kateri FireThunder (Mountain View (Mesa) High School) 20-4, Sr. over Jalysa Berry (Red Mountain High School) 24-10, Fr. (MD 9-1)

3rd Place Match

• Danna Caraveo (North Canyon High School) 6-9, Jr. over Natailia Cuen Enreiquez (Westwood High School) 5-26, Fr. (Fall 2:24)

 

235

1st Place Match

• Sophia Bell (Paradise Valley High School) 2-0, Jr. over Mosi Vaomotou (Campo Verde High School) 18-17, Jr. (Fall 2:57)

3rd Place Match

• Sawyer Bauer (Red Mountain High School) 15-8, So. over Chloe Begay (Dobson) 11-4, Jr. (Dec 7-0)