Pima County Sports Hall of Famer Ed Nymeyer coached Flowing Wells to a state championship in basketball over Santa Cruz in 1963. Nymeyer competed in basketball, golf and track at the University of Arizona.
Here is the actual hand-written bracket from the 1963 championship played at Flowing Wells:
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THE REFEREES
You might notice some important names on the document. Legendary football coach Ollie Mayfield was one of six referees in the tournament as was another legend in Augie Acuña. A Tucson High legend, Acuña played semi-pro baseball and he brought the Colorado Rockies to Tucson through his stint with the Parks Department. Acuña passed away in 2005. John Griste was a football coach at Pueblo, Catalina and Santa Rita. Griste also passed away in 2005. Mayfield passed away in 2013.
Bob Rauh was an All-State basketball player at Tucson High and he was a ref for everything from Pop Warner, the Rose Bowl and the USFL. Rauh passed away in 2016. Ron Paisola passed away in 2006 and he was a longtime educator and principal (Marshall, Lineweaver and Borman). Cliff Myrick played baseball at Tucson High and Arizona. He coach softball and volleyball at Catalina.
THE TABLE
Dick Griesser ran the scoreboard and he played baseball for the University of Arizona and he played in the Olympics. He was a longtime coach and teacher at Flowing Wells. Griesser passed away in 2009. Roy Claridge was a multi-sport athlete at Safford, earning ten varsity letters. He coached track, tennis and football at Flowing Wells and he became an Associate Dean of Education at Arizona. Claridge passed away in 2019.
THE CONFERENCE
Former ASU and Baltimore Bullets basketball player Chet McNabb was the “A” Conference President at the time. McNabb passed away in 1990. William D. Lovett was the principal of Flowing Wells at the time and he served on the AIA Executive Board.
THE GAME
Flowing Wells beat Santa Cruz 58-47 with former Grand Canyon baseball and basketball standout Howard Dean coaching Eloy. Dean (85) resides in Wickenburg.
Santa Cruz led 29-25 at the half but the Caballeros led 40-39 after three. John Newsome was too much to handle in the fourth quarter and he finished with 19 points and Pat McAndrew had 9. Rick Gates scored 12 and Don Brown also scored 9 points. Joe Pennington had 16 for Santa Cruz. Newsome and McAndrew made the All-Tournament First Team.
Eloy won the Class A South title over Flowing Wells 50-49 a couple weeks prior.
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee and he earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
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