Times releases Winter Sports All-Stars

WINDOW ROCK

The prep wrestling scene had an unprecedented year for the 2025-26 winter sports season.

A total of 25 wrestlers made the state finals in their respective weight classes with nine emerging as state champions. A handful of those grapplers were named the Times’ Wrestlers of the Year.

In girls basketball, the Tuba City, Page, Kirtland Central and Santa Fe Indian teams were crowned state champions. In boys basketball, Diné brothers John and Grant Mattingly led the Phoenix Central Bobcats to an AIA 5A state crown while Spirit Penn-Cook, who is Navajo, Omaha, Muscogee Creek, and Pawnee, helped the Volcano Vista Hawks to its fifth consecutive state title.

Boys wrestling

Under the direction of Levi Stout, the Aztec Tigers defended its New Mexico Class 1A-4A crown by putting 10 wrestlers on the podium with five winning individual crowns.

“This team came together and they just united,” said Stout, who was tabbed the coach of the year. “They decided to get each other’s back and really embrace the family atmosphere that we’re pushing.”

Of the five state champions, two Aztec wrestlers were named wrestlers of the year with Ethan Vigil winning the 120-pound weight class while Aiden Trujillo took the 215 state crown.

Vigil went 38-5 overall as all his losses were against out-of-state competition.

Trujillo, meanwhile, capped his season with a 36-9 mark as he was the only heavyweight in New Mexico to win a state crown.

At 138 pounds, Miyamura’s Gage Sellers joined the two Aztec wrestlers as one of the WOY recipients in the middle weight division. Sellers upset the No. 1 and 2 seeds and captured the state crown at 127 pounds.

In Arizona, Tuba City’s Kaeden Adson-White, Page’s Connor Peterson and Piñon’s Jobryant Charley earned WOY status.

Adison-White finished the year at 24-5 overall, earning a fourth-place finish at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division IV state wrestling meet in the 108-pound division.

Peterson finished as the state runner-up at 140 pounds despite being sidelined for most of the year due to an ankle injury as he went 12-2 for the season. This is Peterson’s second WOY award as he captured the 2025 state crown at 132 pounds.

At 192 pounds, Charley was one match away from making the 287 state championship bout as the Piñon wrestler took fourth.

Girls wrestling

Red Mesa senior Rheanna Tree won her first-ever sectional championship in early February, which earned her the third seed in the 134-pound weight class at the AIA Division II state meet.

At state, Tree scored a fall over the No. 2 seed and wrestled in the state finals where she came up short. She capped her final prep season at 31-4 overall.

That top finish earned Tree a spot on the Times’ WOY team. She shares that honor with Window Rock’s Lucaira Begay, Bloomfield’s Caylee Miller and Miyamura’s Alexis Morales.

Begay wrestled at 167 pounds and placed fourth at the AIA Division IV state tournament as she finished the season at 22-12 overall.

In New Mexico, Miller dominated her peers by going 25-0 as she captured the New Mexico 235-pound state crown winning each match with a pin.

Morales, meanwhile, defeated one of her biggest adversaries when she outlasted Carlsbad junior Elliana Campos for the 125-pound state crown. In that final, the Miyamura junior produced a key takedown in overtime to secure a 6-3 win.

“Oh my gosh, I didn’t expect to win because I got fifth at regionals,” Morales told the Navajo Times. “I had a really rough regionals, so just to come back and be able to win a state title is just so crazy.”

In addition to Morales, the Lady Patriots placed five other wrestlers on the podium for a third-place finish in the team standings.

“With only seven girls, which is half a team, and win third place is a big achievement,” said Miyamura coach Nate Sellers, who was named the COY in girls wrestling. “I’m very happy and proud of them. I’m just hoping to grow women’s wrestling in our area and carry on the tradition of the success that we’ve had.”

Boys basketball

The Central boys basketball team repeated as the AIA 5A boys basketball state champion thanks to scoring prowess of John Mattingly, who earned the Times’ POY award along with Rehoboth Christian’s Trajen West

Mattingly scored a game-high 24 points in the state title game against Phoenix Mountain Pointe with the Bobcats winning 62-53.

The University of Nevada signee averaged 27.8 points per game this past season, which is second best among his Arizona peers regardless of class. His stat sheet includes 6.3 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals per contest as he helped Central to a 31-3 overall record and a perfect 12-0 in the 5A Metro region.

West was instrumental in helping the Lynx to a state runner-up finish in the New Mexico Class 2A playoffs.

In the quarterfinals, the Lynx battled back from a 22-point deficit and upended Mesa Vista 67-61. West led the charge with 26 points and 12 rebounds, including 16 points in the third stanza.

In the title game, West led all scorers with 23 points as Rehoboth fell short to top-seeded Texico 58-46 in the title game.

The coach of the year award was shared between Chinle’s CJ Wood and Rehoboth’s Kevin Zwiers.

As the tournament’s No. 6 seed, the Lynx reached the Class 2A title game before bowing out to Texico in the finals under Zwiers.

The longtime Rehoboth coach credited his team’s ability to come together as a unit for its incredible run in the playoffs.

“We’ve known we had a really good team from the very beginning,” Zwiers said. “Maybe other people haven’t been paying as much attention to where we’re at and our side of the state, but we knew we had all the pieces.”

Woods, meanwhile, coached the Wildcats to a No. 14 seed in the AIA Copper Bracket. After bowing out of that elite bracket, Woods earned his first-ever playoff win as the Chinle coach when the Wildcats pulled away with a 58-53 win over Yuma Catholic.

“We have some good momentum and have some experience now,” Woods said when asked to reflect on that milestone. “It’s a big testament to the boys who practice really hard.

Girls basketball

Among the state leaderboard for girls basketball included the scoring sensation of Tuba City’s Layla Curtis, Sandia’s Kaiyah Benally and Whitehorse’s Keiarra Martin.

Curtis averaged 20.9 points per game in helping the Lady Warriors to the state title in the AIA Copper Bracket. Her postseason accolades include being named the 3A North POY and the 3A Conference POY. She also made the Arizona Republic All-Arizona Girls Team.

Benally, meanwhile, was named the MaxPreps.com Girls Basketball Player of the Year after the sophomore guard put up 17.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.5 steals and 5.7 assists per game. Behind her play, Sandia finished the season at 25-4.

In Utah, Martin ranked fourth in scoring regardless of division as she averaged 24.0 points per game. This past season, Martin earned her 1000th career point for the Lady Raiders basketball program. She is the second player from Whitehorse to earn that distinction.

With four state championship teams, Tuba City’s Pete Butler, Page’s Celeste “Boka” Claw, Kirtland Central’s Devon Manning and Santa Fe Indian School’s Khadijha Jackson were named the coach of the year.

Butler coached the Lady Warriors to the state crown in the Copper Bracket as Tuba City defeated Snowflake 59-54. Under his direction, the Warriors finished the season at 28-3 overall.

“The girls wanted this state championship, so they put in the work,” Butler said following their state title win. “I told them that winning a state championship requires you to work twice as hard as anyone else. From day one, that is what they did.”

Claw helped earned Page (17-14 overall) the program’s ninth state crown when the Lady Sand Devils topped 3A North rival and No. 1 seed Window Rock Lady Scouts 32-30 in the AIA 3A Conference title game.

“We prepare for these moments,” Claw said. “I love seeing these girls finish the season with the satisfaction of winning a state championship.”

“Winning it as a coach is even better,” she added. “You get to share that moment with the players. It’s pretty special either way.”

In the New Mexico Class 4A state title game, top-seeded Kirtland Central throttled No. 2 Gallup in the second half to earn Manning his third state title with the KC program. With the win, the Broncos finished the season at 29-3 overall.

The Broncos overcame a slow start and won 52-33. The win carried some significance as KC had never beaten Gallup in a state championship game as Manning entered the March contest 0-2 against the Bengals.

“It’s always good to be the first to do something,” Manning said. “This is the first team to beat Gallup in the state championship. It’s difficult to beat Gallup in any game — regular season, district championship or state championship. They’re a very respectable team.”

In a game filled with twists and turns, No. 2 seed SFIS outlasted No. 1 Navajo Prep 43-35 in the 3A title game in Albuquerque, which earned Jackson her first state title as a coach.

“Our journey is something that we’ve manifested, it’s been something that we’ve talking about constantly every day,” said Jackson, whose team finished the season at 26-6.

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