FARMINGTON – The Aztec High School boys wrestling team claimed first place at the Clash at the Coliseum duals held at the McGee Park Coliseum Saturday afternoon, defeating West Las Vegas 37-33 in the championship dual.
Aztec won 7 out of the 13 matches in the championship meet with three victories coming via fall points.
“It’s great for us, we won’t see West Las Vegas until regionals, they’re super tough and well coached, so it was excellent for us to see them at this point in the season,” Aztec head coach Levi Stout said.
Aztec’s Cayden Nevarez overcame an early deficit in the 172 lb. match, pinning Patrick Rodriguez 1:23 into the second round.
In the 139 lb. match, Aztec’s Cory Douglas controlled Xavier Vallejos with a takedown and near fall points before pinning Vallejos 27 seconds into the second round.
Aztec’s Delano Black followed up Douglas’s victory with a pin of his own in the 145 lb. match after dominating Nico Ulibarri for most of the match.
West Las Vegas claimed the next two matches coming in the form of fall points, including what could be a state championship matchup in the 160 lb. class featuring Aztec’s Zach Sanders and West Las Vegas’s Cruz Martinez.
Sanders took control early in the matchup earning a takedown, but Martinez quickly took the lead with an escape and takedown of his own. Martinez extended his lead with near fall points and a key reverse after Sanders came close to pinning Martinez in the second round.
About a minute into the third round, Martinez got the best of Sanders, pinning the Tiger. In 2024 during the Class 4A 152 lb. state championship match, Martinez defeated Sanders in a 10-6 decision.
The 12 fall points were not enough for West Las Vegas to close out the dual thanks to key decision victories by Ethan Vigil (121) and Ian Vigil (127), giving Aztec the points it needed to remain in front of West Las Vegas.
“They’re coming together as a team; there’s a lot of camaraderie and I like to see that. If we want to get better, we will probably condition a little bit and work our way to the end goal,” Stout said. “We’re young and got a lot of first year varsity guys and it’s good to see them getting a lot of quality mat time.”
Farmington finished second in Pool A behind Aztec, earning the Scorpions a chance to wrestle for third place against St. Pius.
Farmington pushed St. Pius early, keeping the dual close but a fall victory by Mycah Gachupin over Farmington’s Landon Boyd in the 139 lb. match paired with a decision win by Zachary Katz over Farmington’s Asher Gallegos was just enough for St. Pius to win 35-33.
The girls team for Aztec claimed the tournament bracket with a total of 138.5 points, defeating Farmington by 3.5 points.
Cheyenne Yellow earned the victory in the 126 division for the Tigers while Kayci Phillips took the 145 division. Farmington scored a pair of division victories behind Alissa Deyapp (185) and Anaya Lee (235).
For more information on the Clash at the Coliseum, log on to the official results page at trackwrestling.com.
The Bloomfield High School boys wrestling team took part in one of the most prestigious events in the southwest, competing in the 60th annual Doc Wright Invitational in Winslow, Ariz.
Bloomfield, the defending NMAA Class 4A state champions, finished 12th overall out of 44 teams assembled from across the southwest. The top five teams, all from Arizona, were led by Sahuarita High School, which defeated Casteel High by a score of 239-209.
The Bobcats scored a pair of top five wrestlers, with Bryce Lance of Bloomfield securing a fifth place position at the 113-lb. weight class and Elias Johnson finishing third at the 138-lb. division.
Miyamura’s Austin Lopez won the 113-lb. division, beating Alex Chacon from Safford, Ariz. in an 8-7 decision.
Ryan Dugan of Durango High finished third overall in the 126-lb. division, besting Alexander Bermudez of Desert Ridge High School in a 6-4 decision.
Miyamura and Bloomfield High Schools girls teams each wound up in the top 10 at the Doc Wright Girls Invitational.
The Miyamura girls squad, third overall behind Campo Verde (Ariz.) and Mica Mountain (Ariz.), were led by Shudean Halkini, who finished second overall at the 185-lb. division, losing the championship bout by pinfall to Sydnee Finch of Round Valley.
Bloomfield, which finished sixth overall, were led by a pair of division champions, including Caylee Miller (Bloomfield), with a record of 26-1 coming into the meet, beating Snowflake High’s Ellie Bryant by pinfall.
Maliah Goins also brought a first place trophy, topping Syria Smith from Barry Goldwater High School via disqualification.