For the second time in Fountain Hills High School history, a Falcon wrestler has taking the title of state champion for his weight class.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, and Friday, Feb. 8, Leyton Kauffman, the only Falcon to qualify for state, traveled to Prescott Valley to wrestle at the state tournament in the 182 weight class.

Going into his third state tournament Kauffman, who was the number two seed, wasn’t letting nerves get to him.

“I feel like I kind of went into it without any nerves,” Kauffman said. “It was my last [tournament] so I wanted to enjoy it. I still had the mindset of going out on top but I didn’t feel any pressure.”

On the first day of the tournament Kauffman wrestled three matches with his last match against Thatcher wrestler, Brik Skousen, coming down to the final seconds.

Kauffman’s win against Skousen put him in the finals the next day against Michael Densmore from Winslow.

“These two wrestled two weeks prior and Densmore won 9-1,” said head coach Luke Salzman. “There was a lot of energy when the whistle blew to start this match; both seniors and both wanting to go out as state champion.”

Kauffman tried to go into his final high school wrestling match with a clear mind.

“I went into the match knowing that, yeah, it is going to be a battle,” Kauffman said. “But before the match I was just talking with my dad and my brothers, not about the match but just chitchatting. It helped keep my mind off the match.”

Kauffman was right, the match was a battle.

“Densmore took a 3-0 lead on Kauffman in the first period,” Salzman said. “The second period was all Densmore, as he controlled Kauffman the entire period. In the third, Kauffman let Densmore up knowing he had to hit a big move, now down 4-0 with 1:30 left in the match. He didn't hesitate and hit a monster of a headlock, sending Densmore over his back and down to the mat.”

Salzman described the crowd as “going crazy” when Kauffman had Densmore down on the mat and went crazier when the referee slapped the mat signaling Kauffman’s victory with a fall.

“When I let him up I knew I needed to do something big,” Kauffman said. “I was shocked when the ref hit the mat.”

The last Falcon to take home a state championship was Jake Vaught nine years ago.

“This is a big deal,” Salzman said. “Leyton is the hardest working, most determined kid I have coached and it paid off. It was a great night.”