For much of the last decade the boys winter sports teams at Ironwood High School have been in the hunt for state titles.

Boys wrestling won Division II last year to claim the first state title in program history. Boys basketball won its first 5A title in 2020 - and we'll have more on the basketball Eagles next week.

But there is no sports program at Ironwood with the history of success of boys soccer. The Eagles sport six state titles, the last four under longtime coach Tim Beck.

"There's a lot of winning programs in the state who expect to get to the playoffs or win their play-in game. We're not just a winning program. We're a championship program," senior defender Ben Rouse said. "And anything short of a championship ring is a disappointment in everyone's eyes, coaches and players. We humbly take a step forward knowing there's other programs like us. But that's the goal."

Once again Ironwood (15-3-1, 11-0-1 regular season) is the No. 1 seed in 5A, but the Eagles' last state title was in 2011. Current seniors will remember the finals losses in 2021 and 2023, and probably heard about the near misses in the 2017, 2018 and 2020 semifinals.

Fourteen seniors are determined  to erase the feeling the emember after last season's 4-1 loss to Phoenix Horizon in the final

"It left a bitter taste in our mouths. We did learn that though we were unbeaten and thought we couldn't be beaten, everyone can be beaten. The biggest empires fall and we did last year. That makes us put our heads down, stay humble and work harder on and off the field," senior goalkeeper Roberto Picos said.

This team's experience helped it maintain its focus while waiting for the playoffs. A 4-1 victory over Horizon Dec. 14 and if both teams win their first round matchup, the Eagles will play the No. 9 Huskies again.

However, single-elimination soccer tournaments are more prone to upsets, since scoring is relatively rare and sometimes a team dominates possession and scoring chances and remains tied to or falls behind a team that scored on one of its two chances.

Tonight provides another example. No. 16 seed  Desert Mountain (14-8) doesn't have the record or pedigree of the Eagles, but stayed in its 1-0 loss to Ironwood Jan. 8 in Scottsdale all night.

"Every game is a different step ad you've got to learn how to play a different way. Sometimes you have to grind out a win, like last week at Centennial. We had  a terrible game but if you can play aterrible game and win, that says a lot about your team. We learned throughout the season how we have to execute when we get to playoff time," Rouse said. "There's a lot of moments that reminded us of that. We played Desert Mountain and scraped a 1-0 win. It could have been 6-1 but it comes down to putting the ball in the net. You can outplay someone  and still go home."

That's where this team's experience comes in. Being the No. 1 seed almost all of the last two seasons.

Eight seniors started as juniors last year. Rouse said that experience allows everyone to weant to win for each other and give each other constructive criticism.

"The whoile time we've been the favorites, and that puts a lot of pressure on you," Pico said. "We've played through that pressure all season and in the playoffs last year," Picos said.

Picos is in his second year after transferring in from district rival Kellis.

The Ironwood soccer mindset is completely different.

"We were just trying to get into the play-in game. When I came here the competition definitely raised. It helped me become a better player and person. It helped m learn from my mistakes. That helps you learn and get better one player at a time," Picos said.

Wrestling looks to send off seniors

Defending the Division II title was going to be very difficult this year at full strength, after the Eaglesheld off a young and growing Canyon View program 191 points to 189.5.

Injuries crused any dreams of a repeat. Sophomore Julian Macias, state champ at 126 pounds as a freshman, tore his ACL. Senior Jordan Beauvais, third place last year, was lost to a shoulder injury.

"We lost a lot of points and declined," said senior Pablo Macias. "It's hard to put everyone together."

Pablo Macias won at 150 pounds and is the undefeated favorite at 157 this year.

Fellow senior Shawn Bamba is the favorite at 150 pounds. He was second at 138 pounds in Division II for Peoria in 2022, then transferred to Ironwood but missed state with an injury last season.

"My goals are on my mirror and the big one left was just to win state. My other big goal this year was to not lose and I've done that," Macias said. "The toughest match I had this year was against a California kid from Rancho Bernardo. It was a 13-minute match."