Among eight teams in their district, including historic wrestling programs, the Española Sundevils sent the most wrestlers to state.
In all, eight of the Sundevils’ nine team members qualified for state, including strong placers at the regional individual tournament.
The regional format was new for this year, as A-3A combined with 4A. The top seven placers from each of the two regions automatically qualified for state. The Sundevils and Pojoaque competed at Kirtland Central on Feb. 10-11.
“We had some disappointments, and some highlights,” Española coach Emilio Atencio said.
Kyle Coffeen led the team by taking the championship at 152 pounds, and he defeated the top seed in the final, Adrian Rivera from Robertson, the defending A-3A state champion. Rivera had topped him a week earlier with a second-round pin at the district duals. This time, Coffeen won with a third-round pin, and was leading 11-6 on points at the time after nearfalls in both the first and second period.
“He wrestled well,” Atencio said. “We had a plan going in.” He added that they worked all week on moves against the Robertson opponent.
Coffeen enters the state tournament as the No. 2 seed at 152 pounds after he finished the season with a 36-5 record. Cobre’s Niko Trujillo (40-2) is the top seed.
Cruz Sandoval finished second at 139 pounds. As the top seed at the regional, he won a tight 4-2 decision in the semifinal with a three-point nearfall with one minute remaining in the match. In the final, he rematched with Cruz Martinez from West Las Vegas for the third time this season, and Martinez won the grudge match with a 4-1 points match that Martinez led most of the time. Sandoval is the No. 3 seed for state at 33-6.
Landon Atencio took third place at 114 pounds, losing in the semifinal to James Romero-Montoya from Robertson, the defending 3A state champion at 106 pounds. He is the No. 4 seed at the state tournament with a 39-6 record.
Chiro Barrita finished in fifth place at 121 pounds, and Noah Maez took seventh at 145.
Juanito Mondragon, Attilio Winn and Alejandro Valdez all qualified for state as wildcards.
“Its a really good feeling,” Emilio Atencio said. “I’m proud of those boys”
For Pojoaque, senior Adryan Triana had the best day with a second-place finish at 172 pounds. After a first-round bye, he won two matches easily with first-period pins, but lost in the final in the second period. Triana goes into the state tournament at 33-3 on the season, and is the No. 3 seed.
Eighth-grader Ben Duran matched Triana in finishing second at the regional at 133 pounds. He won a semifinal over Moriarty’s Jonathan Valdez, the higher seed, on injury time, though he held the lead in points at the time. And in the final, Duran lost to defending state champion Adan Benavidez from Bloomfield, who is undefeated this season. Duran is the No. 4 seed at the state tournament with a 25-5 record.
Sophomore Alan Padilla qualified for state with a sixth-place finish at 160 pounds, winning a first-round matchup in 20 seconds and then winning two matches in the consolation tournament within 75 seconds. Erik Hansen was Pojoaque’s other qualifier as a wildcard. He won one match at 215 pounds but then lost to the top seed, then lost in his first consolation game.
Emilio Atencio said the seeding makes a difference in the tournament, and better seeding helps wrestlers’ path to the finals.
The state tournament is on Friday and Saturday, and Landon Atencio, Cruz Sandoval and Kyle Coffeen will all look to improve on their 2022 second-place finish.