Many Las Cruces-area wrestlers competed at the NMAA State Wrestling Championships from Feb. 20-21 in Rio Rancho. The boys championships had 4A and 5A schools compete separately, while the girls championships had 4A and 5A schools together in the standings.
Two Las Cruces wrestlers, Kolby Gonzales on the boys' side and Autiana Caro on the girls' side, took home individual state championships. The two helped the Bulldawgs finish top-three as a team in both the boys and girls standings (the boys standings were for 5A only).
A total of 18 Las Cruces-area wrestlers placed across the boys and girls championships, meaning they finished in the top six of their weight class.
Here are the notable results from the state wrestling championships, alongside every Las Cruces-area wrestler who took part:
Boys highlights
Las Cruces finished third as a team in the 5A standings, coming behind first-placed Cleveland and second-placed Volcano Vista. The Bulldawgs brought 12 wrestlers to the 5A state championships, and seven of them placed.
Gonzales won back-to-back individual state championships for Las Cruces in the 157-pound weight class, giving him a state title in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. The Bulldawgs earned four more podium finishes as Carlos Gamboa and Alessio Cisneros finished second in the 165-pound and 215-pound weight classes, respectively, and Mateo Montoya and Daniel Amaro finished third in the 175-pound and 190-pound weight classes, respectively.
Orbie Nabb and James Rowan Langell also placed for Las Cruces, coming in at fifth place in the 144-pound weight class and sixth in the 150-pound weight class, respectively.
Gadsden had one of its wrestlers place in the 5A championships, as Rocky Rodriguez earned fourth place in the 165-pound weight class. Jule May and Ashton Cortinas each placed for Chaparral in the 4A championships. May finished fourth in the 157-pound weight class, and Cortinas finished fifth in the 165-pound weight class.
Girls highlights
Las Cruces finished second as a team with 114.5 points, finishing behind Cleveland's 146 points. Six of the Bulldawgs' nine wrestlers placed, including an individual state championship for Caro in the 115-pound weight class.
Jazlyn Castro, Paige Atma and Jacky Castille each finished fourth for Las Cruces in the 100-pound, 140-pound and 145-pound weight classes, respectively, while Alise Eatmon finished fifth in the 105-pound weight class. Emberlyn Atma came sixth in the 110-pound weight class for the Bulldawgs.
Centennial's Paige Jorge finished second in the 170-pound weight class for the Hawks' only placement. Chaparral's Kimberly Perez-Lopez earned a fifth-place finish in the 115-pound weight class.
5A boys team scores from the Las Cruces area
- Las Cruces: 3rd with 151.5 points
- Organ Mountain: 18th with 19 points
- Gadsden: 21st with 15 points
- Centennial: 24th with 11 points
- Mayfield: 27th with zero points
4A boys team scores from the Las Cruces area
- Chaparral: 16th with 42.5 points
- Santa Teresa: 31st with 6.5 points
Girls team scores from the Las Cruces area
4A and 5A schools were placed together in the girls championships.
- Las Cruces: 2nd with 114.5 points
- Centennial: 22nd with 34 points
- Chaparral: 37th with 15 points
- Mayfield: Tied for 42nd with seven points
- Gadsden: Tied for 47th with four points
- Santa Teresa: Tied for 51st with two points
Las Cruces-area wrestlers at the state championships
This list will contain those not mentioned in the above sections.
Boys
- Atticus Morrow (Centennial, 157 pounds)
- Bryce Carillo (Centennial, 150 pounds)
- Jack Rosenbluth (Centennial, 190 pounds)
- Johnathon Valenzuela-Chaires (Centennial, 165 pounds)
- Miles Moore (Centennial, 215 pounds)
- Tristan Barrera (Centennial, 138 pounds)
- Zachary Block (Centennial, 144 pounds)
- Adan Galarza (Chaparral, 106 pounds)
- Armando Lopez (Chaparral, 215 pounds)
- Armando Quezada (Chaparral, 175 pounds)
- Demian Hernandez-Briseno (Chaparral, 113 pounds)
- Ismael Mendez (Chaparral, 150 pounds)
- Martin Morales (Chaparral, 285 pounds)
- Sebastian Ramirez (Chaparral, 144 pounds)
- Izaak Carreon (Gadsden, 144 pounds)
- Manuel Garcia (Gadsden, 215 pounds)
- Aaron Sanchez (Mayfield, 106 pounds)
- Lane Neeley (Mayfield, 132 pounds)
- Matthew Zuniga-Diaz (Mayfield, 285 pounds)
- Carlos Maldonado (Organ Mountain, 175 pounds)
- Dominic Delgado (Organ Mountain, 126 pounds)
- Jose Ortega (Organ Mountain, 138 pounds)
- Manuel Baeza (Organ Mountain, 120 pounds)
- Nathan Jackson (Organ Mountain, 106 pounds)
- Paul Sanchez (Organ Mountain, 113 pounds)
- Sam Abeyta (Organ Mountain, 144 pounds)
- Tyrell Toledo (Organ Mountain, 215 pounds)
- Adriel Vargas (Santa Teresa, 190 pounds)
- Donovan Ramirez (Santa Teresa, 285 pounds)
- Mark Alarcon (Santa Teresa, 120 pounds)
- Sergio Perez (Santa Teresa, 132 pounds)
Girls
- Aliyah Salas (Centennial, 190 pounds)
- Anahbel Padilla (Centennial, 155 pounds)
- Nissie Frazier (Centennial, 125 pounds)
- Kimberly De La Torre (Chaparral, 190 pounds)
- Alexandra Portillo (Gadsden, 100 pounds)
- Gabriella Estrada (Gadsden, 130 pounds)
- Adelynne Marquez (Mayfield, 100 pounds)
- Grayce Forsyth (Mayfield, 115 pounds)
- Abigail Banuelos (Santa Teresa, 145 pounds)
- Mia Gamez (Santa Teresa, 130 pounds)
- Ysabella Moraga (Santa Teresa, 190 pounds)
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Two Las Cruces High wrestlers win individual 2026 state titles