Aztec defends 1A-4A crown: Tigers gets 10 on the podium with five individual state champs

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Looking up and down his lineup, Aztec boys wrestling coach Levi Stout knows that his team has been battled-tested.

During the regular season, the Tigers made several trips to Colorado and in January they participated in a competitive tournament at the Annual Cy-Fair ISD Invitational in Cypress, Texas.

The stiff competition they faced primed the Tigers for another successful run at a state title. On Saturday, Aztec defended its Class 1A-4A crown by turning a strong performance as the Tigers put 10 wrestlers on the podium with five winning individual crowns.

“I put my guys to the test,” Stout said. “We came into state with our kids having 5, 6, 7, 8 losses and they felt that heat before, and they pushed through once we got down here.”

With six grapplers making the finals, the Tigers ran away with this year’s state crown as they racked up 241 points. Belen, the state runner-up, finished with 156 points while West Las Vegas took third with 153 markers.

“This team came together and they just united,” Stout said of their impressive showing. “They decided to get each other’s back and really embrace the family atmosphere that we’re pushing. Making sure that we bought in.”

Individual winners included senior Ethan Vigil (38-5) at 120, junior James Moore (42-6) at 126, senior Taner Olguin (39-8) at 132, junior Cory Douglas (44-5) at 165, and senior Aiden Trujillo (36-9) at 215.

Vigil wasted very little time in pinning St. Pius X wrestler Dane Padilla for the 120-pound state crown.

“I wrestled him earlier this season and he’s a former state champion (at 107) from last year,” Vigil said of Padilla. “This is my first state title, and it means everything to me. It’s all I ever wanted.”

Of his five losses, Vigil said they were from out-of-state competition when the team traveled to Colorado.

“I lost to two No. 1 kids from Colorado,” Vigil said. “But I won one of the biggest tournaments in Texas in January and they were asking, ‘Where is this kid from?’”

At 126 pounds, Moore scored a 4-0 decision over Miyamura senior Austin Lopez, who won the 114-pound state crown last year.

The match was scoreless for the first two periods before Moore produced an escape followed by a takedown in the final period. The win on Saturday was Moore’s third win over the Miyamura wrestler.

“Even though I wrestled him before, the strategy was basically to feel him out, get how he wrestled,” Moore said. “The last few times I made some bad shots on him. I’m just glad that I came out on top.”

In the next weight class, Olguin defeated the No. 1 seed with a 6-2 decision over West Las Vegas wrestler Santiago Medrano.

Olguin produced a pair of takedowns in the first and third periods for his point total while Medrano had a couple of escapes.

“His performance was amazing,” Stout said of Olguin. “He won state as an eighth-grader and it has eluded him ever since until tonight.”

Prior to the state meet, Medrano had pinned the Aztec wrestler during the regional meet at Tucumcari High School.

“I was itching to get that match back,” Olguin said of evening the score with the West Las Vegas sophomore. “I’m glad that I did.”

At 165 pounds, Douglas gained a comfortable lead over Kirtland Central senior Todd Robinson in the first period with a couple of near-falls and a takedown. In the second, Douglas ended the match with pin.

“He bonused all through the tournament,” the Aztec coach said of Douglas. “I mean, he’s a buzzsaw.”

Trujillo capped Aztec’s nearly perfect run in the championship round as he earned a 9-3 decision over Tank Rivera of Albuquerque Academy.

“I already knew that I had it, I just had to go in there and do it,” Trujillo said of winning his state crown. “I didn’t think that there was anybody that could beat me, and I believe that thoroughly.

“I worked my butt off in the room, I did the extra stuff, and I came out here and did my job,” he added. “I knew that what the outcome was going to be, and I accomplished my goal.”

At 106 pounds, junior Nathan Hare (40-9) came up short in the championship bout to Los Lunas Valencia’s Dominik Suarez. Suarez secured a takedown and pinned Hare in the opening period.

The Tigers also received third-place finishes from eighth grader Baylon Black (144) and Delano Black (157), and fourth-place efforts from junior CJ Saiz (113) and senior Ian Vigil (138).

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