Jesse Jones| News-Bulletin photos
Edward Freeman, of Belen, in maroon, pinned Ayden Cordova, of Los Lunas, at 139 pounds Friday during the Conflict at Cleveland wrestling tournament.
Rio Rancho
In just over six weeks, Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia will return to the Rio Rancho Events Center for the New Mexico Wrestling Championships.
While the competition starting Feb. 23 will certainly be more important, the state meet won’t have the caliber of competition Eagles, Tigers and Jaguars faced last weekend at the Conflict at Cleveland tournament.
“This is probably the most competitive tournament in the history of our wrestling program,” said LLHS coach Steve Chavez, which says a great deal considering the Tigers’ impressive history.
“Conflict” featured 1,100 wrestlers — boys and girls — representing 48 schools from New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Still, the results for the Los Lunas and Belen boys, along with the Valencia girls, were solid.
Belen’s Joshua Jaramillo took third place at 107 pounds Saturday at the Conflict at Cleveland, considered by many to be the best wrestling tournament in New Mexico.
Belen was the top finisher among 4A boys’ teams, 13th overall, with 104.5 points. Joshua Jaramillo (20-1) brought home third place at 107 pounds, with Eagles’ 145 pounder Diego Avila (17-1) sixth after losing to a two-time Arizona state champion.
BHS coach Nick Sanchez set a team goal of a Top 10 finish for the defending 4A state champions, which was realistic after moving into eighth place on Friday.
“Saturday was a rough, rough day for us,” according to Sanchez, who says the Eagles need to work on “mat awareness” to take the next step.
“When we met the high-caliber opponents, we kind of forgot how to set up moves.” However, overall, “I was happy with our results. We lost to a lot of kids that placed.”
Just ahead of BHS in 12th place with 113.5 points was Los Lunas. Both 107 pounder Matthew Valdez (14-6) and Ernie Gonzales (10-5) at 133 pounds came in sixth in their weight classes. LLHS coach Chavez was pleased with his entire lineup.
“All of my kids really battled through the end, showed a lot of heart and spirit,” Chavez said. “This event was great experience for these athletes.”
Valencia’s boys scored 38 points for 34th place, led by Elijah Duran (19-2) who took home fifth at 215 pounds. Host Cleveland, the defending 5A champion, captured the team title with 256 points.
Zipporah Heneghan, in black with red and turquoise, was one of four female Valencia wrestlers who placed Saturday at the Conflict at Cleveland wrestling tournament.
The big story for VHS was in the girls’ bracket, with Valencia posting a 10th place finish with 85 points. Four Jaguars placed: Alexis Avis-Labus (17-4) was fifth at 107 pounds, while Abigail Vigil (10-5) at 120 pounds, Zipporah Heneghan (17-5) at 132 pounds, and 138-pounder Katie Booth (14-3) each came in sixth place in their weight classes.
Jags’ coach Emanuel Aragon was happy with his entire roster.
“The girls and boys competed tough,” Aragon said.
Eaglecrest, Colo., took the girls’ championship with 144.5 points. Belen was 22nd, Los Lunas 40th.
Mike Powers spent more than 40 years as a television news and sports anchor, mostly in the Albuquerque market. He has won numerous awards including New Mexico Sportscaster of the Year. He covers a wide range of sports, including the Valencia County prep scene.
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April 25, 2024
