Former Mingus (Cottonwood, Ariz.) wrestling coach Tom Wokasch, who retired this season after leading the Marauders to their fifth straight state championship, is being investigated for possible embezzling of funds.
Mingus schools superintendent Tim Foist told the Verde Independent that the district had collected enough information to decide that Wokasch won't be asked to return next year to teach.
According to the newspaper, the discrepancies were discovered during the school's annual audit, specifically that money from the school's wrestling tournaments was not being deposited in an auxiliary account. Foist told the newspaper that Wokasch admitted putting the money into his personal account --- an average of $30,000 a year for five or six years.
Other top storylines from the week
2. More changes: The coaching carousel claimed another high profile victim this week when Valley Christian (Chandler, Ariz.) football coach Bill Morgan abruptly resigned, citing personal reasons.
The Trojans, led by Morgan’s son, junior quarterback and safety Jordan Morgan, won the Class 2A championship last season and were poised for a repeat. Jordan Morgan has not yet decided whether he will remain at Valley Christian for his senior season without his father.
Bill Morgan has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the vacant Chandler Basha position, after Tim McBurney was fired for undisclosed reasons this winter.
3. Streak busters: Nogales (Nogales, Ariz.) right-hander Keith Zuniga held Tucson Canyon del Oro scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings and the Apaches pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth to post a 5-4 victory and snap the Dorados’ 18-game winning streak.
4. One more year: St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) senior forward George Matthews, who averaged 18.6 points per game last season for the Class 5A-I state runners-up, will play an additional year of prep ball at Phoenix Westwind Prep International (Phoenix, Ariz.) before attending college. The 6-foot-6 Matthews received offers from Division I colleges this year but wants another year to develop and see if more offers come in.
5. USA! USA!: Team Stars & Stripes, comprised of 36 high school football players, including nine from the Tucson area, defeated the Brussels All-Stars 82-2 in Amiens, France. The team was coached by former Tucson Santa Rita coach Jeff Scurran.
Top performers
1. John DeVito, O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz.), Jr., 171: DeVito is probably tired of runner-up finishes, but placing second at the Rocky Mountain Nationals (March 20-22) was an impressive accomplishment. DeVito lost a heartbreaker in the title match in the Class 5A-II state tournament this season, falling to Anthem Boulder Creek’s Stephen Lynch, 4-3 in overtime. It marked the second straight season DeVito had fallen in the finals by one point.
2. Luke Parish-Ward, Canyon del Oro (Tucson, Ariz.), Sr., LHP: Threw a complete-game three-hitter against California’s Yucaipa in the finals of the Conquistadores Lancer Baseball Classic. Parish-Ward had a no-hitter through five innings and finished with nine strikeouts, three walks and three unearned runs allowed.
3. Jeremy Tuttle, Buena (Sierra Vista, Ariz.), Jr.: Tuttle won the shot put and the discus at the Willie Williams meet with tosses of 51 feet, 2¾ inches and a school-record 180-4. He then won the non-high school sanctioned javelin competition against college athletes with a throw of 198-3.
On deck
The championship and third-place games of the power-packed Desert Mountain Invitational softball tournament are set for set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Desert Mountain. The tournament is widely recognized as the state’s best event prior to the state tournament…
Eighty-eight schools (74 from Arizona) will compete in the annual Chandler Rotary Invitational track and field meet, arguably the state’s most prestigious event. The meet runs Friday through Saturday…
The finals of the Coach Bob Invitational baseball tournament, sponsored by MaxPreps, are set for Friday at 3 p.m. at Anthem Boulder Creek…
The Arizona High School Hockey Association state semifinals are set for Saturday when Phoenix Brophy plays Phoenix Pinnacle (3:40 p.m.) and Phoenix Desert Vista Thunder meets Scottsdale Notre Dame (5:20 p.m.) at the Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. The championship game is Sunday at 7 p.m. at Polar Ice in Chandler.
Recruiting news
The Arizona Republic reported that Texas Tech has offered multi-faceted Chandler QB Brett Hundley, one of the nation's top junior quarterbacks, a football scholarship offer. Hundley will attend the Aggies' spring game on April 10…
Scottsdale Saguaro offensive lineman Cyrus Hobbi told the Republic that Southern California will be offering him a scholarship. He also received an offer from Oklahoma this week, the same day he was invited to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-American Game…
Mesa senior kicker Tyler Ryan will play college football at the University of Mary, a Division II school in Bismarck, N.D. Ryan averaged 40 yards a punt with nine inside the 20-yard line last season. He put 38 of his kickoffs in the end zone and made five field goals.
Craig’s cranium
When 48 players take the court for the McDonald’s All-American girls and boys basketball games in Columbus, Ohio, on March 31, none will call Arizona home.
There’s no great shame in that when you consider that 28 other states will also go unrepresented. But of those 28 states, none has a population greater than Arizona’s approximately 6.5 million residents. It’s even more confounding when nearby states such as Nevada (2.6 million) and Oregon (3.8 million) are well represented.
You won’t hear the coaches of the state’s major universities say it publicly, but there has long been the private perception that Arizona does not produce great basketball talent, particularly on the girls side. The McDonald’s rosters are merely another example of this unpopular fact.
The Grand Canyon State holds its own in sports such as baseball and softball, and it has certainly produced a handful of blue chip basketball players, but it has yet to make significant strides on the hardwood despite a population that now ranks among the nation’s top 15 states.
Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns and other pro and college teams in Arizona. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craig@thewordsmithonline.com.
