Ironwood Ridge, Berrier win fourth state title
Tim Berrier coached Ironwood Ridge to its fourth state wrestling championship in six years Friday. It was probably the most impressive of the group, given that it came in Division I, against the big Phoenix schools.
He has done so even though numbers have diminished at Ironwood Ridge. At times, the Nighthawks have no more than 20 to 25 wrestlers on the team.
“You have to be ready for some struggles in wrestling,” he said. “A lot of parents don’t want their kids to have to struggle with anything.
“A few years ago, someone at our practice asked me if it was hard to be a wrestler. At the time, we had three state champions, and all three were getting their faces rubbed into the mats, or their shoulders stretched out by another guy. I told him: ‘All of those guys on the bottom are state champions. Yes, it’s hard.’
“I’m not sure if our success has scared kids away, or if the reputation for hard work scared them off. You’d think that our success would help, but it’s not always that way.”
Wrestling is a dying, almost dead sport in many states. But Tucson remains a stronghold of high school wrestling because of men like Berrier.
