Cleveland boys first, girls fourth at Conflict

RIO RANCHO – It’s the largest high school wrestling tournament in the state, so it felt great when host Cleveland High School claimed first place in the annual Conflict at Cleveland.

That said, for a while on Friday it was more like Chaos at Cleveland, as the tournament’s new venue, the Rio Rancho Events Center, posed problems in getting the event online for scoring.

The event, slated to start at 10 a.m., got the go-ahead at 11:15 and all systems were go.

A few teams from the Four Corners, plus Miyamura High School in Gallup, opted not to travel on US 550 and I-40, respectively, because of the snowfall from Thursday night.

Nonetheless, there were still more than four-dozen teams competing on a dozen mats on the Events center floor.

By the end of Saturday’s action, the Storm boys were the champs and the Storm girls had a fourth-place finish.

“We wrestled very well over the course of the tournament against some very tough competition,” said Cleveland coach Evan Copeland. “Saturday we won some very big matches and we had a lot of pins over the course of the tournament, which gives us a lot of team points. We are happy with our performance but have many things to get better at in the next few weeks.”

Leading the way for the CHS boys, with 256 points, ahead of runner-up Volcano Vista (217; last year’s Conflict team champ) and Pueblo East (186.5), was – as usual – Roman Luttrell, the 114-pound champion.

107-Izzy Guevara and 285-Robbie Sabado were runners-up. 145-J.P. Montoya, 172-Ben Valencia, 215-Micah Martinez and 285-Gabe Marquez, who lost to teammate Sabado in a semifinal match, placed third.

133-Tritsan Dodd was on the podium for his fourth-place finish, as were 127-Marcus Abeyta, 189-Nathaniel Perry and 215-Degan Baca, who each finished sixth.

Eaglecrest (Colo.) won the girls’ competition with 144.5 points; Atrisco Heritage Academy (131) and West Mesa (127) were also ahead of the Storm (122), who were 5.5 points ahead of Volcano Vista.

Heaven Guevara (132 pounds) was Cleveland’s lone female champ; 126-Ashley Smith, 138-Olivia Hovey and 145-Aaliyah Sabado were fourth, and 138-Jianna Coon was fifth.

Copeland is already looking ahead to next January.

“The tournament ran pretty smooth, besides some technical difficulties on Friday morning,” he said. “We try to run the tournament efficiently, invite great teams to compete, provide tremendous hospitality and give out excellent awards. We believe those things a key to running a successful tournament and believe that is what we have in the Conflict.

“We want to continue to make this event bigger and better. That means more teams, tougher teams, more out-of-state teams and things along those lines. We are very proud to be able to provide an event of this caliber to the New Mexico wrestling community because our kids deserve these opportunities.”

California, here they come

This weekend, the Cleveland boys and girls mat teams will be in California.

The boys will be in Fountain Valley for the 5 Counties Invitational. The girls will be participating in the Dick Morris Memorial at Huntington Beach. Both teams will arrive in Long Beach.

“The boys’ tournament will feature the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-ranked teams in the county in Buchanan, Gilroy and St John Bosco,” Copeland said, “along with several other top-ranked California teams.

“The girls’ tournament is the toughest in California and will feature many nationally ranked wrestlers. We look forward to the high level of competition, traveling as a team and maybe even getting to hit the beach while we are there,” he added.

The Storm open District 1-5A action Jan. 17 at Atrisco Heritage Academy.