Times honors winter sports teams, athletes

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Apr 25, 2024 | Sports |

WINDOW ROCK – It began in mid-February with four individual state champions emerging from the Arizona Interscholastic Association state wrestling tournament.

Meanwhile in the Land of Enchantment, six athletes won their respective weight classes while the Bloomfield Bobcats captured the Class 4A team title at the conclusion of the New Mexico state wrestling tournament.

Times honors winter sports teams, athletes

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Aztec’s Bryson Valdez reacts after winning his fifth consecutive state crown at the New Mexico Class 4A state wrestling tournament on Feb. 24 in Rio Rancho, N.M. Valdez was selected as wrestler of the year.

The area hoops teams also had a banner year with the Page girls, Navajo Prep girls, Kirtland Central girls and Navajo Prep boys winning state titles.

And, although this is long overdue, the Navajo Times would like to highlight these accomplishments with the paper’s annual postseason recognition for the winter sports season.

Behind nine individual state placers, the Bloomfield wrestling team racked up 187 points in late February as the Bobcats captured the school’s third state crown under the direction of head coach Jason Luster, who was tabbed the coach of the year.

Luster shares that honor with Monument Valley’s Clyde McBride. The longtime MV coach guided three wrestlers onto the podium, with senior Joseph Rodriguez ending a 23-year individual state title drought for the Mustang wrestling program.

Rodriguez is one of eight boys wrestlers to be recognized as the Times’ Wrestler of the Year. The MV grappler captured his first state crown, winning the 126-pound weight class at the Arizona Division IV state tournament. In his previous two tries, the MV wrestler came up short with a second- and third-place finish.

“I just really worked hard for this,” Rodriguez told the Navajo Times. “You know when I lost my sophomore year it really hurt. Last year I got really close to winning it, so this year I made a huge commitment to my wrestling, and it all worked out.”

Rodriguez finished with a 41-4 record.

At the Division III state meet, Snowflake had an impressive haul with the Kinclicheenie brothers – Devin and Troy – winning their respective weight classes.

Devin repeated as champion at 210 pounds as he capped his junior season with an immaculate 55-0 record, which included 53 pins.

At the state tournament, Devin recorded three pins in his early matches and in the final, he earned an 8-0 major decision.

He earned his first state title by a default in 2023 when his opponent was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Monument Valley senior Joseph Rodriguez gets his hand raised after winning the 126-pound weight class at the Arizona Division IV state tournament. Rodriguez was named the wrestler of the year.

“This means a lot because last year’s win wasn’t a fluke,” Devin said. “Some people have said that I would have lost that match, but I believe in my heart that I would have won that match.”

At 138, Troy secured his first state title after placing fifth the previous season.

“I’m just grateful for this opportunity,” said Troy, who finished the season at 52-1 overall. “There was some pressure to win it, but I just tried to have fun.”

In New Mexico, Aztec senior Bryson Valdez left his mark as one of New Mexico’s all-time greats.

Valdez netted his fifth straight title, becoming only the eighth wrestler to do so according to the New Mexico Activities Association, after winning the 121-pound weight class.

“It’s just unreal,” Valdez said of winning his fifth state title. “It’s just so cool to be in the history books for the state and my high school.”

Valdez finished the 2023 season with a 36-1 mark. Through five seasons he compiled a mind-boggling 168-2 record.

In addition to Valdez, the Aztec Tigers also received a pair of first-place finishes from Tony Thompson and Jaylen Ignacio.

Ignacio became a three-time champion as he battled back from a 2-1 deficit late in the match. The Aztec senior came up with a timely reversal to successfully defend his 215-pound crown.

“Honestly, I had to keep wrestling and just dig deeper,” Ignacio said. “I knew that I could do it. I just had to wrestle up to my potential. Before the match, I kept telling myself that I’m the toughest man in this bracket and nobody could stop me.

“That mindset transferred over to the mat, and that is how I pushed it,” he added.

Thompson, meanwhile, won his second state title at 145 pounds.

“This one means more to me than the first one,” said Thompson, who pinned Belen’s Diego Avila in the first period.

“I have a pretty nasty move that I use on people, and it works,” the Aztec grappler said.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Snowflake’s Troy Kinlicheenie shows his emotions after winning the 138-pound state title at the Arizona Division III state wrestling tournament on Feb. 17 in Phoenix. Kinlicheenie was tabbed wrestler of the year.

Bloomfield had two state champions, with juniors Hunter Samora and Elias Johnson capturing gold.

Samora won the 127-pound crown, scoring a 13-1 major decision in the finals.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Samora said of winning his second state title. “Not a lot of us are able to get opportunities like this, but to go out and fulfill your dreams and goals is one hell of a feeling.”

Samora capped his season record at 37-1.

Johnson, meanwhile, improved his season record toat 39-2 overall after winning the 133-weight class.

“This means a lot,” Johnson said. “This is my second (state title), and I’m really looking to get my third one next year. I’m happy that I got the second one out of the way.”

Girls wrestling

Red Mesa sophomore Rheanna Tree recorded a historic first for the Red Mesa girls wrestling program.

Tree won the Division II crown at the Arizona state wrestling meet. The Red Mesa sophomore wasn’t the only one to win a state crown as Miyamura’s Lorianna Piestewa set a new standard for the Patriot girls wrestling program. The two grapplers earned co-wrestler of the year in the girls division.

Tree raised a few eyebrows at the state championships even though she was not seeded for the tournament.

“She wrestled with pure emotion,” Red Mesa coach Frederick Boone said. “As her coach, I’m very proud of her. She had me in tears and what she did was fantastic.

“I don’t know how to explain the feeling, but that was a proud moment for all of us,” he said.

Piestewa won her fourth consecutive state crown, this time at 114-pounds at the New Mexico state wrestling tournament.

“This has definitely been one of my goals,” Piestewa said. “As soon as I lost my eighth-grade year, I told myself that I never want to lose another state championship again.”

Farmington coach Jaime Morales and Red Mesa’s Boone were selected as coach of the year.

Morales coached the Farmington girls to a third-place finish at the all-girls state wrestling tournament. Five girls medaled with the Lady Scorps finishing with 89 points behind Cleveland (102.5) and Atrisco Heritage Academy (95).

“The girls had a strong season, and we had a really tough schedule so we always thought we would be ready for state,” Farmington coach Jaime Morales said. “We had a few setbacks at the beginning, but we’re happy with the third-place finish.

“We definitely wanted to finish first, but we’re happy to bring home some hardware,” he added. “The girls worked hard, they earned it and it’s all on them.”

Boone had two girls in the state finals with Rheanna’s older sister, Lyla, placing second in the 185-pound weight class.

Girls basketball

As in previous years there were no clear-cut frontrunners for the paper’s player of the year award for girls basketball.

Special to the Times | Lee Begaye
Page senior Alyssa Harris (5) pulls up for a jump shot over Window Rock’s Jada Brown during the AIA 3A girls state championship game on Feb. 22 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Harris was selected as player of the year.

Eleven athletes were nominated for this award from area coaches, with half of the nominees earning multiple nods.

Of those athletes, the Times selected Page senior Alyssa Harris and Sandia junior Sydney Benally for this prestigious award.

Harris led the Lady Sand Devils to a 3A state title championship. The athletic shooting guard was selected as the 3A North Region Offensive Player of the Year. She also earned the 3A Conference Player of the Year award at the state level. Harris finished the season with 372 points, which comes out to 12.7 points per game. She also averaged 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Benally also led her team to a state title as she scored a game-high 35 points in Sandia’s 49-45 win over Volcano Vista.

Benally led her team in three categories: 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, as she was named the New Mexico Gatorade Player of Year.

Three area coaches – Page’s Celeste Claw, Kirtland Central’s Devon Manning and Navajo Prep’s Rainy Crisp – guided their respective teams to a state title.

Claw steered the Lady Sand Devils to a low-scoring 35-29 win over archrival Window Rock in the 3A tournament finale. The win was the school’s eighth state crown in program history.

“It’s well-earned,” Claw said. “… It warms my heart that they were able to fulfill a goal that they’ve been dreaming about since they were little girls.”

The Sand Devils finished with a 23-5 record.

The Kirtland Central girls clinched the program’s 21st state title, which is the most in New Mexico. Under the guidance of Manning, the Lady Broncos erased an eight-point first-quarter deficit and won 45-33 over St. Pius X.

KC finished the season at 29-3 overall, which tied a school record for the most wins in a season. The Broncos first set that mark during last season’s state runner-up finish to Gallup.

“It’s hard to win that many ball games in a season,” said Manning, who has coached KC to two state titles. “And to have some of these girls to be a part of both teams and be able to do that two years in a row is a pretty remarkable feat.

“It takes a lot of spirit, a lot of heart, a lot of dedication,” he added. “These girls just have that go-win attitude. They’re just very hard to beat.”

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Kirtland Central head coach Devon Manning huddles with his players in the Class 4A state title game. Manning was named coach of the year.

Navajo Prep beat district rival Tohatchi for this year’s 3A state crown as the Lady Eagles won the season series at 3-2.

In the championship game, Navajo Prep held Tohatchi to nine points in the second half to score a 41-26 win under Crisp.

The 15-point win was Prep’s eighth state title with the last one coming during the 2021 pandemic-shortened season.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Crisp said of winning the state crown with a veteran team that consisted of six seniors. “We felt the heartache of losing to Santa Fe Indian in the semifinal round. That was a really tough loss for us last year. We made a goal of not letting that happen again.”

Boys basketball

Navajo Prep left no stone unturned in its quest for its first state crown. In the 3A title game, the Eagles used a momentum-changing third quarter to stun Las Vegas Robertson..

Prep outscored Robertson 23-2 in said quarter and pulled away with a 60-50 win.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Sandia’s Sydney Benally (24) looks to score on the Farmington Lady Scorpions in the Class 5A state semifinal game on Mar. 14. Benally was named player of the year.

“It’s amazing,” Navajo Prep coach Matt Melvin said of his team’s state tournament run. “I’m just so proud of this group of guys. This means a ton. The first one is always special, right?

“With this group, just the season that we’ve had, the stuff that we’ve gone through,” he added. “The journey is just amazing, and this caps it off.”

Melvin was the unanimous choice as coach of the year from his peers and the Times. Under Melvin’s direction, the Eagles finished the season at 26-4 which included wins over a few 4A and 5A programs.

The Eagles were led by Jude Thomas, as the senior guard was tabbed the player of the year. Thomas averaged 17.2 points, 5.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game.

In Arizona, Page junior Tyree Stingley was also selected as the player of the year while the coaching honors went to longtime Hopi coach Rick Baker.

Stingley was named the 3A North Player of the Year and Second-Team All-Conference. The junior hit a milestone by scoring over 1,000 points this past season.

Baker guided the Bruins to a 24-7 mark, which included a second-round appearance in the 2A playoffs. Hopi was the 2A North regular season champ under Baker.

“This is probably one of the best teams Hopi has ever had,” Baker told the Times as the Bruins ended a four-year playoff drought.

Utah scoring sensation Lyric Phillips is also being recognized as the player of the year. Phillips led Whitehorse at 26.9 ppg, which is third best at the 1A level in Utah. He led the state with the most made threes in one season with 130 treys, including 14 in an 81-77 double OT win over Pinnacle High on Jan. 5.