Tigers, Eagles impress at Vivian Classic

Over a stretch of a few days, Los Lunas and Belen showed their elite status among New Mexico boys wrestling teams, while Valencia continues to improve in the girls ranks.  

Last Wednesday, the Eagles and Tigers went head-to-head in a spirited dual meet, won by LLHS.  

Two days later, each was impressive in the prestigious Joe Vivian Classic, while the VHS girls had an excellent run at the Sartan Scuffle.  

  

Albuquerque  

Los Lunas finished third with 164 points, Belen fourth with 149 points Saturday in the long-running Joe Vivian Classic at Cibola High School.  

Cleveland and La Cueva were first and second with 218 and 188 points, respectively.  

BHS had three individual champions, with Joshua Jaramillo winning at 107 pounds, Diego Avila at 145 and, at 189, Augustine Lopez earned a 3-2 decision over LLHS rival Logan Talley in the final.  

Other placers for the Eagles include Manny Vardez, fourth at 114; Derian Rodriguez, third at 127; Edward Freeman, third at 139; and Joshua Hayes, fourth at 285.   

Noah Gurule was the lone LLHS individual titlist, winning at 121 pounds, however, the Tigers finished in the top three on the strength of six other wrestlers placing: Ernie Gonzales, third at 133; Aaron Pyle, third at 152; James Bachicha, fourth at 160; Jonathan Trujillo, third at 172; Talley, second at 189; and Josiah Baca, second at 285.   

At the same time as the Vivian Classic, the Sartan Scuffle was held at St. Pius. The Valencia girls took sixth in the field of 24 teams, with two individual champions; Zipporah Heneghan was at 132 pounds and Katie Booth at 138. Two other wrestlers placed for the Jaguars with Alexis Avis-Labus, second at 107; and Chiara Perez, fifth at 114.  

Mia Carbajal-Hartog, of Los Lunas, was third in the 138-pound weight class.   

In the boys’ bracket, Valencia had a solid showing in ninth place. Elijah Duran of VHS was the individual champion at 215 pounds, winning by fall. The Jags’ Omar Estrada was third at 285; Yovan Suarez, sixth at 107; and Aiden Farless fifth at 106.  

Los Lunas was among several schools sending wrestlers to both the Scuffle and Vivian Classic. As a team, the Tiger boys were 14th in the St. Pius event. Aaron Rameriz was sixth individually at 114; Ezekial Sisneros, fifth at 133 and Grant Baltazar, sixth at 160.