Teams adopt slogans that end up on shirts, become a mantra for the season and most of the time #TrustTheProcess or #WhyNotUs? works fine, but there’s not a ton of sentiment about it.

It just serves a touchstone for the coaching staff to refer at times when the team needs to be refocused after sloppy tournament or seen as an underdog.

Then there’s something like “Do it For Darrin” and it instantly oozes of sentimentality rather some type of hokey coach gimmick.

That was clear Saturday during the Division IV state wrestling championships at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Payson’s Gage Palace finished off an undefeated season by winning the 138-pound state title and instead of getting emotionally caught up and doing something that might draw attention to himself, he ran to the coaches’ chairs and grabbed a t-shirt.

He went back to the middle of the mat and flashed it as he had his hand raised after winning his second state title. It was to honor Darrin Prock, a Payson state champion in 1993 and assistant coach.

“Darrin passed away unexpectedly this past summer,” Payson coach Chris Harold said. Prock’s son Garrett was a state qualifier at 165 this year as sophomore and won 50 matches.

The Longhorns had two of the 14 state champions this year and continue to be one of top programs, but Morenci was the top team this year as the Wildcats finished with 214.5 points on the strength of a young lineup.

Morenci had three state champions and six wrestlers who finished third or fourth place. It was the program's 11th state title to tie Holbrook and Winslow for the second most in Arizona history.

Junior Emerson Montes (152), freshman Jacob Goodwin, and freshman Caden Woodall all won state titles.

The Wildcats outpaced St. Johns (169.5), Eloy Santa Cruz (163.5), Mogollon (150.5), and Yuma Catholic (119).

Joining the Morenci trio as state champions were Yuma Catholic’s Skyler Bialecki (106), Somerton’s Jayden Preston (113) and Kenneth Garcia (120), Payson’s Gavin Palace (126), Santa Cruz’s Romeo Chavez (132),  Payson’s Gage Palace (138), St. Johns’ Reese Crosby (144), Santa Cruz’s Diego Ibarra (175), St. Johns’ Trace Nielsen (190), Santa Cruz’s Robert Ibarra (215) and Layne James (HVY).

While there are several familiar names among the list there is one last name that has become synonymous with excellence and St. Johns.      

When it is hard to remember exactly how many individual state titles are connected to one family, it is easier to focus on the most recent one to have their hand raised.

St. Johns junior Reese Crosby won his second state title on Saturday night to keep the legacy as one of the most distinguished names in the history of Arizona wrestling.

While it is clear he was one of 14 state champions in Division IV on Saturday, the coaches from the Redskins were unsure of exactly how many state titles the Crosbys have won for the program.

Reese has two, and he is the first to do it among his siblings, but it takes more than two hands to count how many it has been when counting cousins, uncles and anyone else who put on the red and white singlet for the Crosby family.

After contemplating and trying to count them all (it took most of the night), St. Johns coach Brandon Crosby came up with the official count: 12 different Crosbys have a total of 19 state titles.

“There is a lot of hard work and dedication from my cousins and uncles that came before me,” said Reese, who is Brandon’s second cousin. “It’s an honor to wrestle for the Crosbys and St. Johns. At the end of the day, though, it is just you out there and you have to do it yourself.”

Reese, who tore up his shoulder his freshman year and missed state, will have a chance to win his third next year.

“Winning last year took some of the pressure off to win one. I was pretty nervous last year,” he said. “This year I was pretty confident, and I knew I was going to get it done. I’ll start thinking about next year. You gotta know you can do it and then you put in the work.”

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