East Valley notebook: Breakdown of state wrestling tournament as spring season starts
February 26, 2026 by Jason P. Skoda, AZPreps365
The night ended with an example of exactly why it is sometimes better to be a confident, and hot wrestler compared to a great defending champion.
Two-time defending champ, even.
The state wrestling tournament ended on Saturday with what might have been the most improbable of the 80 individual champions.
Brophy heavyweight Joshua Finch Logan closed out the Division I state tournament with a powerful toss that caught Sunnyside’s Zayne Candelaria off guard.
Logan, a senior who finished 27-6 for the season, pinned the two-time state champion at one minute and 22 second mark of the first period that led to a great celebratory dance and huge volume spike in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Logan’s run to the state title was pretty hard to beat. He finished third at sectionals the week before, so he had to take out some sectional champs to find the top of podium.
He did so and did it convincingly with four overall pins including a pin in 1:13 against sectional runner-up and seventh seed in the first round.
In the second round, Logan pinned the second seed (Chandler’s Preston Shorter) in 1:02, the third seed and previously undefeated Lincoln Smith of Sandra Day O’Connor in the semifinals in 58 seconds and the top seed in Candeleria in winning the state title.
WRESTLING / Josh Finch-Logan just won the heavyweight state championship, become the third individual state champion in wrestling and first since 2010. He upset the No. 2, 7, 3 and 1 seeds all I the first period via pin. pic.twitter.com/ssRRKTtsfR
— Brophy Athletics (@BrophyAthletics) February 22, 2026
“That’s your story of the night right there,” one of the Brophy coaches yelled to anyone who was in earshot.
It was definitely one of them. Check out the 10 plus stories on the wrestling page on AzPreps365.com for coverage from last week.
State wrestling by the numbers.
One of our favorite things to do once the last hand raised, is to dive in the numbers to see what sectional the state placers came from and if one sectional was tougher than the other ones along with other nuggets.
Without further ado here some of the things that were unearthed after the ink dried on the brackets.
Boys
Division I
Total placers (84): Section IV 27, Section I 24, Section III 21, Section II 12.
State champions (14): Section I 5, Section IV 5, Section II 2, Section III 2.
State finalists (28): Section IV 11, Section I 9, Section II 4, Section III 4.
Double finalists (first and second from same section): Section IV 3, Section I 2, Section III 1, Section II 0.
Top four in one weight class: Section IV 17, Section I 16, Section III 16, Section II 7.
Three or more placers in one weight class: Section IV 3, Section I 2, Section III 2, Section II 0.
No placers at a particular weight class: Section II 4, Section III 2.
Division II
Total placers: Section III 29, Section IV, Section I 17, Section II 11.
State champions: Section I 4, Section IV 4, Section II 3, Section III 3.
State finalists: Section IV 10, Section II 7, Section I 6, Section III 5.
Double finalists: Section IV 1.
Top four: Section IV 21. Section III 16, Section I 11, Section II 8.
Three or more placers: Section III 4 (including all four at 157).
No placers: Section II 4, Section I 2, Section III 1.
Division III
Total placers: Section III 27, Section IV 22, Section II 20, Section I 15.
State champions: Section IV 7, Section III 4, Section II 2, Section 1.
State finalists: Section IV 9, Section III 8, Section II 6, Section I 5.
Double finalists: All sections had 1.
Top four: Section III 21, Section IV 16, Section II 12, Section I 7.
Three or more: Section III 4, Section II 1, Section IV 1.
No placers: Section I 3, Section II 2, Section III 2.
Division IV
Total placers: Section I 24, Section III 23, Section III 19, Section IV 18.
State champions: Section III 6, Section I 3, Section IV 3, Section II 2.
State finalists: Section III 12, Section II 7, Section I 5, Section IV 4.
Double finalists: Section III 3, Section II 1.
Top four: Division III 16, Section II 15, Section IV 12, Section I 11.
Three or more: Section I 2, Section III 2, Section II 1.
No placers: Section III 2, Section I 1, Section IV 1.
Girls
Division I
Total placers (72): Section III 23, Section IV 18, Section 17, Section 14.
State champions (12): Section II 4, Section IV 4, Section III 3, Section I 1.
State finalists (24): Section III 8, Section IV 7, Section II 6, Section I 3.
Double finalists: Section III 1, Section IV 1.
Top four: Section III 15, Section II 13, Section IV 13, Section I 7.
Three or more: Section II 2, Section III 2 (including four at 145), Section I 1, Section IV 1.
No placers: Section I 3, Section II 2, Section III 1.
Division II
Total placers: Section I 27, Section I 19, Section II 19, Section III 7.
State champions: Section IV 5, Section II 3, Section I 2, Section III 2.
Finalists: Section IV 10, Section I 7, Section II 4, Section III 3.
Double finalists: Section IV 3.
Top four: Section IV 18, Section I 13, Section II 12, Section III 5.
Three or more: Section IV 6, Section I 1, Section II 1, Section III 1.
No placers: Section III 6, Section I 1, Section II 1, Section IV 1.
Spring season underway
Each of the spring sports have already started playing with the regular season kicking off on Wednesday.
Softball, baseball, boys volleyball, girls beach volleyball, boys and girls tennis, coed golf and track and field.
Many of the sports are playing in preseason tournaments this week. It is busy weekend.
Check out the schedules here: 6A Varsity Softball Schedules | AZPreps365
