Rams wrestling puts on 'Southwest Shootout', boys finish fourth

RIO RANCHO — The holidays are a time for hosting, and this past weekend, Rio Rancho wrestling became the ultimate host.

RRHS hosted the “Southwest Shootout Duals” Dec. 5-6, hosting high school teams from across the region. A field of 28 schools included squads from New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma.

“Great start to the season for the Rams,” Rio Rancho wrestling said on its Instagram page following the event. “Huge thanks to everyone who helped make the tournament run smoothly.”

The Rio Rancho boys placed fourth overall on the weekend, battling their way out of pool play to make the final four gold pool.

Volcano Vista ended up taking first with two Texas schools, El Paso Eastwood and Austin Vandegrift, filling out the rest of the podium.

The Rams went 6-0 in Pool A to earn their shot, beating El Paso Montwood, Pueblo West, El Paso Del Valle, Valley, Organ Mountain and Albuquerque Academy in the process.

Amongst their strong performances across the board, Rio’s best was found in the lower weight classes, with names like Jaxon Moralez (106), Mohammad Farah (113) and Josiah Neri (126) all posting undefeated weekends.

Rio was 7-1 in the championship pool when it came to matches within the 106-126 weight class. Outside of these matches, the Rams were 3-19.

For champion Volcano Vista, it was the opposite. The Hawks powered their way in the upper 100s/lower 200 classes, leading them to the Shootout win.

Results aside, there was an energy in the air inside the Ram Athletic Center. The packed house was excited to see the mats back down on the hardwood in a loaded weekend of wrestling, as the season has now hit the ground running.

Rio Rancho has been labeled by many as a top-notch wrestling community, also known for hosting successful tournaments. For their 2025 installment, they did not miss a beat.

“Great tournament,” Burges High School, out of El Paso, commented on RRHS’s wrestling page. “Thank you so much for sharing your mats with us.”

But even with this big event now in the books, this is just the beginning for Rams wrestling. They will now gear up for invites and tournaments in Las Cruces and Reno, Nevada, to close out the month before returning to the City of Vision for the Conflict at Cleveland in January.