The Falcons wrestling team isn’t afraid to take on squads from bigger schools – and the grapplers are more than holding their own.

The team traveled Dec. 3 to Cactus Shadows High School to face two Division II schools.

The meet didn’t start out too well – the Falcons were done 0-36 after the first several matches – but then they bounced back with several individual wins, ultimately losing as a team 36-48.

“It was a good, exciting dual against a good team,” said Coach Luke Salzman.

The Falcons then faced Sunrise Mountain.

After losing the first dual, the boys got fired up against Sunrise Mountain and went out with a chip on their shoulder, beating them 37-39.

The grappler gang didn’t have too much time to rest, hopping on the bus Friday to travel to the 43rd annual Jerry Benson Invitational at Buckeye Union High School.

This giant invitational consisted of 26 schools, all larger than Fountain Hills.

The boys in blue wrestled well that first day, and all of them survived to the second day, temporarily putting Fountain Hills in fifth place among all those Division I and II schools.

Day two of competition was no different, as the Falcons wrestled tough and had five men place high in their 32-man brackets.

Kainoa Reid placed sixth overall in a tough 152-pound weight class.

Tony Boulanger took fifth place in the 120-pound class. After losing to the runner-up from Kingman 6-7, Daniel Butler won his next seven matches to place third in a very competitive 145-pound bracket.

Two local wrestlers made it all the way to the finals on Saturday evening.

Senior Max Jordan placed second in the 170-pound class, dominating his way through the bracket but eventually falling to Pedro Medina of Horizon High School.

Parker Kauffman, a junior, won the heavyweight division, knocking off tough opponents and finally pinning Storm Downing from Marana in the final in 3:16.

“Parker is really wrestling tough with a lot of confidence lately,” Salzman said.

“This was a big win for him, as this is a very difficult tournament to win.”

The Falcons finished in sixth place overall out of 26 teams.

Looking ahead, the Falcons have one more meet this month.

They will travel to cold country today, Dec. 9, to take on Snowflake High School at 1 p.m.

It will then be a long holiday break for the Falcons, since they don’t return to competition until Wednesday, Jan. 6, at Arizona College Preparatory.