SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
As the wrestling season grapples along, no results have been reported by the three Santa Fe schools, Capital, St. Michael’s and Santa Fe HIgh, so here’s a reminder of how they did in last year’s state championships contested at Rio Rancho’s Santa Ana Star Center.
Of those that graduated, Demons’ Adam Pena finished first at the 120 weight, picked up 26 points and won 24 of his 26 bouts. Senior teammate, Sammy Martinez, was the runner-up at 126 that brought 23.5 points, and came away with a 38-4 record. It was the fifth year on the varsity for both, and Martinez was even the top running back and versatile player on the school’s football team.
The other Santa Fe High champion was junior Miguel Padilla at 126, and he earned 26 points and compiled a 27-6 record. His junior teammate Jaden Schliening came in sixth at 138, concluded at 25-14 and hoping for an even better senior year.
The other champion was Tayo Regenold of the Horsemen topping the field at the 285 weight, collecting 26 points, and winning 24 of 26 bouts, while junior teammate Jaden Mifsud took second place at 160, scored 23.5 points and wound up at 20-9 heading into his senior season.
Then there was Capital getting a fifth place from junior Julian Sanchez in the 220 weight, had a 34-6 campaign, and lost in the consolation semifinals on a fall at 2:22, but won his next bout via a forfeit, as he seeks to finish higher his final season.
INDIVIDUAL KUDOS: Just to spotlight former state wrestlers who won five, four and three state championships on the mat, and among the five-timers were St. Michael’s Korey Windham from 2010-2014 and Capital’s Jose Tapia from 2013-2017.
Four-time winners were St. Michael’s Jesse Martinez from 2009-2012, and Javier Tapia, Jose’s older brother who transferred from Capital to Pojoaque when his father became head coach of the Elks, and he won state from 2016-19.
Three-time champions were Javier Posa of Santa Fe High from 1988-90, Philip Valencia, who began at Taos and finished at Capital, winning from 1989-1991 after having to sit out a season after changing schools, then there was another Tapia, Jason, who accomplished this at Santa Fe High from 1996-1988, and St. Michael’s Adrian Montoya won from 2010-2012.
Only seven wrestlers turned in remarkable five championships, beginning in 1994 from Michael Scott Owen of Carlsbad, and the last being Capital’s Jose Tapia in 2017. There have been two from Robertson, Daniel Martinez and Rico Montoya. Four Cardinals won state four times. Aztec has had the most 3-time winners, five, including the first, Phil Holman, from 1960 to 1962, and the last was Andrew Trujillo of Robertson from 2017 to 2019.
SCHOOL KUDOS: The most schools to win state from A-3A has been Aztec with 13, Robertson has won 10, three as dual meet state champs, and St. Michael’s eight.The Horsemen won from 1972 to 1976 under head coach Al Salazar, in 2010 under Pat Aranda, and in 2012 and 2013 with Joaquin Garcia as head coach. Carlsbad has won nine times in 4A, two more than Belen. In 5A, it’s been Rio Rancho High with a dozen championships, two as dual meet state champs, and in the newer 6A, the Rams and city rival Cleveland have won two apiece.
