N.M. 5A state wrestling: Farmington, PV grapplers capture gold

By Santiago Ramos Jr.
Special to the Times

RIO RANCHO

Farmington senior Ivan Smith and Piedra Vista senior Keenan Bejar captured state titles in their respective weight classes during the New Mexico Class 5A State Wrestling Championships that ended Saturday night at the Rio Rancho Events Center before a capacity crowd.

Smith, now a two-time state champion after placing fifth and third in his first two years, finished out his four-year prep wrestling career at 43-1 after pinning Gadsden senior and No. 4 seed Tomas Herrera (30-5) in the final seconds of the six-minute match in the 172-pound state finals.

“I wrestled him in the semifinals last year at state,” said Smith who was the top seed at 172. “I like to look at it no matter who it is. It’s always a new match. It’s never going to be the same match you wrestle. Winning state back-to-back proves how much work I put in. Nothing is ever guaranteed and nothing is ever promised.”

Smith plans to wrestle at the collegiate level at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.

“I had a verbal commit,” Smith said. “I just need to do my signing.”

Bejar overcomes injury to win title

Top seed Bejar (25-5) likewise stuck La Cueva senior Joseph Garcia (27-5) in 6:47 in the 139-pound state finals.

Bejar admitted that he was not certain that he was going to be able to finish the season after having knee surgery a month ago.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish the year because I had knee surgery about four weeks ago,” said the Panther senior who was wrestling in his first state meet. “This was the first time I wrestled him (Garcia) this season. All the matches were close and I beat him all four times but he was a tough wrestler. My brother and my dad always told me to score early, score often and score last. That’s what I tried to do.”

Bejar said that he had to overcome injuries and conflicts in the past.

“This was my first year wrestling at state,” he added. “I was injured last year and didn’t get to wrestle. During the COVID year I had to choose between baseball and wrestling. Now I’m ready to go help my baseball team do the same.”

Farmington finished sixth in the team standings with 143 points. Volcano Vista topped the team standings with 187 points to capture the 5A state championship trophy. La Cueva was second (177.5), followed by Atrisco Heritage Academy (153), Los Lunas (152) and Cleveland (148) rounding out the top five. Rio Rancho was seventh (129) with Piedra Vista eighth (82.5).

A trio of area wrestlers lost in their respective state finals matches.

Farmington freshman Brayden Harvey (35-8) lost to Cleveland freshman Roman Luttrell (42-3) by a pin in 3:37 in the 107-pound state finals.

Piedra Vista senior Zander Bahri (24-4) lost to Volcano Vista freshman Lorenzo Gallegos (40-1) by an 11-0 major decision in the 133-pound state finals.

Farmington senior Cody Billie (34-10) lost an 8-2 decision to West Mesa senior Tyler Finley (39-1) in the 285-pound state finals.

Two area wrestlers placed third in their respective weight divisions.

Piedra Vista junior Reed McCarty (37-11) decisioned Rio Rancho junior Diego Francisco (32-16) 3-1 in the third place match at 152.

Farmington junior Isaac Foutz (39-8) decisioned Volcano Vista senior Martin Gomez (22-12) 4-2 in the third place match at 189.

Farmington senior Wycott Henry (34-8) finished fourth after losing by an 8-3 decision to Manzano senior Brandon Nieto (28-6) in the third place match at 160.

Farmington senior Julian Juarez (22-6) finished fifth after pinning Manzano junior Josh Nieto (24-15) in 2:53 in the fifth place match at 133.

Farmington sophomore Logan Cambridge (35-11) finished fifth after a 7-0 decision over Rio Rancho senior Gabriel Miera (21-22) in the fifth place match at 145.

Farmington senior Daxton Allison (17-11) finished sixth after being pinned by Carlsbad senior Luke Waters (35-11) in 4:30 in the fifth place match at 152.

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