TITLE TOWN
Rio West wrestlers captured eight of the 14 weight classes at last weekend’s state championships
If you take away the wrestlers from District 1-6A, there weren’t many state championships to be had at last weekend’s state wrestling tournament.
Ten of the 14 weight divisions were gobbled up by Class 6A state champion Cleveland, plus Rio Rancho, Volcano Vista, Cibola and Piedra Vista. And eight of those 10 went to Rio West athletes.
The Storm successfully defended its 2016 title, scoring 224 points at the Santa Ana Star Center. Rio Rancho (184) placed second.
Cleveland’s individual champions were senior Mikey Mascareñas at 120 pounds where he finished the season 46-1 and won his third straight title; Noah Mirabal at 126, who overcame an injuryplagued junior season to finish his career on top; and heavyweight Daimon Altamirano, who pinned his opponent in just 40 seconds.
Rio Rancho’s Ryan Rochford, at 152 pounds, like Mascareñas, won his third consecutive individual state championship.
Also from the Rams, Orion Gutierrez claimed the 160-pound division.
Volcano Vista had two undefeated champions: Marcus Santillanes at 106 pounds and Richard Govea at 170. Govea won his third state title in a row.
And Cibola’s Loden Cain endured three close matches in his final three rounds to prevail at 182 pounds.
Runner-up finishers were: Tristan Mascareñas from Cleveland at 106, Daniel Vargas from Rio Rancho at 113, James Emmer from Rio Rancho at 132, Jacob Grobecker of Volcano Vista at 160 and Isaac Martinez of Volcano Vista at 220.
Third-place finishers from the area were: Jack Luttrell of Cleveland at 138, Shawn Nieto of Cleveland at 145, Edward Chavez of Rio Rancho at 182, Nathan Trujillo of Volcano Vista at 195 and West Mesa heavyweight Devin Gonzales.
Volcano Vista was fourth as a team. Cibola was 12th, West Mesa 14th and Valley 15th.
From Class 5A, Diego Pavia, a St. Pius freshman, was the state runner-up at 138 pounds.
Bernalillo’s Kyle Toya (126) and Shawn Mase (160) had the Spartans’ best showing; both placed fourth.
Swimming/diving
The state championships were held last weekend at the Albuquerque Academy Natatorium.
Here are some top-three finishers from Rio West schools:
Volcano Vista’s Zofia Niemczak placed second in the girls’ 200yard individual medley and was the state champion in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 56.16 seconds where she won by more than four seconds;
Cibola’s Joshua Harlan was a double state champion, capturing the boys’ 200-yard IM in a state record time of 1 minute, 51.24 seconds, and winning the 100-yard backstroke in 50.83 seconds;
Cleveland’s Jake Gatten was third in 1-meter diving;
Volcano Vista’s August Finke finished third in the boys’ 100yard freestyle;
Rio Rancho’s Jazmine Tscherne was the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke and Cleveland’s Hannah Jones was third in that same race.
Volcano Vista’s girls had the best team showing, in eighth place. Rio Rancho was 11th, Cleveland 12th, Bosque School 13th and St. Pius 14th.
Cibola’s boys, in seventh, were the best team from Rio West. Cleveland placed ninth, Volcano Vista 10th, Bosque School 17th, St. Pius 22nd, Valley 24th and Rio Rancho 26th.
Basketball
A good chunk of the boys and girls teams from Rio West will be in the playoffs, and the brackets for those tournaments will be announced on Sunday night.
BOYS: Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Cibola, Volcano Vista, Valley, St. Pius and Bernalillo are all locks to make the postseason. Bosque School will miss entirely, and West Mesa almost certainly will, too, after the Mustangs failed to win the District 4-6A tournament this week.
Rio Rancho’s boys on Friday night were hosting Cibola in the 1-6A semifinals, while Valley was hosting Albuquerque High in 4-6A. Bernalillo was playing host to the District 5-4A championship game.
GIRLS: West Mesa, Rio Rancho, Volcano Vista, Cibola and St. Pius are guaranteed to be in the playoffs, which start next Friday with the first-round games. Cleveland seems likely to get an at-large bid.
From District 5-4A, Bosque, at 14-14, has a record that should merit inclusion. However, since the Bobcats finished behind Bernalillo in the regular season standings, and because the Spartans were 5-23 going into a district semifinal at Santa Fe Indian on Friday night, Bosque very likely will miss the playoffs. As will Bernalillo, unless the Spartans somehow win the district tournament.
Valley also will miss the postseason.
Baseball
The Journal on Sunday will have its 2016 prep baseball preview, which will include capsules on each of the eight baseball-playing programs from Rio West, plus a preview story and some players to watch for the upcoming season.