Natalie Romero lost much of her first year of wrestling to an injury.
Now in her second season, she is seeking to capitalize. And she has already established herself as one of the state’s best. As just a freshman.
Romero is one of two female wrestlers from Pojoaque who will compete at the state tournament after placing at the individual regionals at Capital High School on Feb. 9 and 10. Freshman Natalie Romero took third place in the 132-pound weight class, and senior Alexis Archuleta placed seventh in 126 pounds.
“I could finally prove to myself that I was good enough to get to state,” Archuleta said. “For any sport.”
The top seven from each weight class in both regionals (the other was held at Cobre) receive automatic berths to the state tournament.
“I’m a proud girls coach, and we’re going to state,” said Pojoaque Girls Wrestling Coach Richard Padilla. Padilla started as an assistant with the team last season, and took over as a full-time girls-exclusive coach.
Freshman Natalie Romero entered the regional as the No. 4 seed after an impressive season.
She won her first match with a pin in 68 seconds, then beat a West Las Vegas competitor with a 7-2 decision, scoring in all three rounds. That advanced her to the semifinals on the second day.
In her semifinal, Romero faced Cleveland’s Heaven Guevara, the state’s top seed. Guevara’s only two losses on the year have come from out of state. Romero held out in the first period, but fell shortly into the second period, sending her to the consolation round.
In a consolation match, Romero faced the No. 2 seed from Santa Fe High. Undeterred, the freshman scored two points in the first period on a late takedown. She survived a nearfall in the second period. Down 6-4, Romero fought quickly in the third period and secured a pin to advance.
In the third place match, it took Romero two minutes and 50 seconds to pin an opponent from Moriarty and take a bronze medal.
“To me, if she keeps it up, she’s going to be a state champion for Pojoaque Valley High School,” Padilla said.
Romero started wrestling after being recruited by teammate Izabela Lujan, who in many ways started or restarted the girls wrestling team. Archuleta is in her second year wrestling, and she was inspired by her older sister, Leah, who wrestled in 2017.
Archuleta entered the day unseeded in her weight class, outside of the top eight. In her first match, she lost to the No. 3 seed, Farmington’s Brielle Lucero, in an 11-2 decision, making her have to work through the consolation bracket.
She won her first consolation match with a first-period pin, then won another. In her fourth match of the day, Archuleta fought to overtime with the bracket’s No. 8 seed, and won 8-6, advancing her to the next day’s placement rounds.
First, she faced a wrestler from Santa Fe, the eventual third place finisher, and lost 14-5. That put her in the seventh-place match, with a rematch against Lucero. She said in that first match, she was fatigued.
Archuleta fell behind 2-0 in the first round. But she scored a reversal in the second round, then three points for a nearfall, and soon after secured a pin in the second round.
“I just really wanted to work for it,” Archuleta said. “Get the pin and advance to state with Natalie. That meant a lot to me.”
In a show of sportsmanship, Archuleta immediately after the whistle, was checking in on her competitor who was injured on the mat. She removed her opponent’s headgear as the coach and trainer were on the way over, before even the official awarded the victory.
The two competitors have two weeks to rest before competing at state.
“It just means a lot for Natalie and me to both make it to state,” Archuleta said. “She’s such a good partner, and she works really hard. It’s really nice to see that we both made it.”
Pojoaque had seven wrestlers compete in total.
Merlyssa Mondragon lost both of her matches in 114 pounds. Alaiyah Vigil lost her two matches in 152 pounds. In 120 pounds, Adaya Garcia won a first-round matchup with a 9-7 decision before losing in the second, and she lost her first consolation opportunity.
In the 145-pound class, senior Stephanie Romero lost to the top seed in the first round. She won a consolation match with a pin, but could advance no further, losing in a second-round pin. And Lujan, seeking a return to state while now competing in the 165-pound category, lost her first match, won with a forfeit, and then lost in a second-period pin.
Española Valley’s two female wrestlers fell short of qualifying, with some bad bracket luck possibly contributing, and will hope they can get a wildcard berth to the state tournament.
In 126 pounds, junior Allysandra Sanchez lost her first matchup to the No. 2 seed and regional runner-up. In the consolation bracket, she won one match, then lost a 10-1 decision to a Santa Fe wrestler who finished third in the regional.
Sophomore Kianna Moreland lost 3-0 in her first-round matchup to the fifth-place. In the consolation bracket, she lost a 6-5 decision to the sixth-place finisher.