Roman Empire: Storm wrestling star commits to Utah Valley

RIO RANCHO — State titles, national championships, All-American honors and countless accolades: What more can Roman Luttrell go after?

“Just to live my dream to the fullest.”

That dream is now headed to Orem, Utah.

Announced last week on Instagram, the Cleveland wrestling star announced his commitment to Utah Valley University to continue his career on the mats.

Luttrell, a four-time state champion who is currently pursuing a fifth, has been wrestling since he was just 4 years old. He comes from a long lineage of wrestlers and combat fanatics: His father was a state champion in high school before wrestling at the University of New Mexico, his uncle was a high school state champion, his brother and cousin were both state champs, along with his cousin wrestling at the collegiate level as well.

“I wouldn’t say I was forced into wrestling,” Luttrell said. “I feel like I was born into it. I was meant to wrestle.”

Destiny or not, Luttrell’s passion for the sport has led him to numerous achievements and records. On top of being New Mexico’s first junior Greco-Roman national champion since 1983 this past summer, his win last month in Las Cruces made him the all-time wins leader in Cleveland program history with 167, capping off quite the 2025 for the 120-pounder.

Most student-athletes would say making it to the collegiate level is the pinnacle of their athletic careers. For Luttrell, this is just the beginning of his journey, a journey that he plans to expand outside the traditional folkstyle wrestling category, and even off the mat as a whole.

“My dad has been in a lot of MMA fights. Ever since I was young, I always told him that I wanted to fight, and he would always tell me he didn't want me to fight because of all the head trauma,” Luttrell said. “So ever since I was young, he still kept telling me that, up until about a few years ago, he didn't want me fighting. So then it was just straight dedication to wrestling.”

While his father discouraged him, it was tough for the young Luttrell not to follow his dad’s blueprint. After being a three-time conference champion with the now-defunct Lobos wrestling program, Chris Luttrell became a key piece in developing Greg Jackson’s “Gaidojutsu” martial arts system.

His father would also venture deeper into the MMA world with Pride Fighting Championships, as he is now a co-owner of Luttrell/Yee MMA in Albuquerque.

But with MMA off the table at the time for the young wrestler, Roman looked to squeeze everything out of his time on the mat that he could.

In addition to dominating in folkstyle wrestling, Luttrell has also found success in the Greco-Roman and freestyle styles. His love for all different types of wrestling ultimately proved to be a difference-maker in the college process, as he found a coaching staff that shared the same passion.

“They're all former badass college wrestlers; they were all assistants at North Carolina, NC State, and then they all came to Utah,” Luttrell said. “Since then, the program went from good to now, they just had a guy take fifth at the NCAA's and now he's going on to win world team trials, getting on the world team. But also what drew me in more was the summer wrestling, the different styles. They train that heavy, and they love freestyle and Greco. Whenever I've had those breakout performances, most of them were in those different styles of wrestling.”

But even with his plans set to become a Wolverine next year, those fantasies of entering an MMA octagon have not wavered, even with Luttrell getting a bit “creative” with pursuing it.

“About a few years ago, I started asking, ‘Hey Dad, let's do some mitts. (fighting exercise)’, and he would hold some mitts for me.” Luttrell said. “I mean, I wouldn't tell him straight up, but people who would ask me what I want to do, I'd tell him, ‘I want to be a fighter.’ My dad would listen; sometimes he'd be like, ‘You're crazy.’”

Crazy or not, Luttrell has his future planned out more than the average high school senior. But with big plans ahead and an already-decorated high school tenure, is there anything left for the Storm star this season?

“Definitely the fifth state title,” Luttrell said. “But I’ve got some people on my hit list that I gotta go get at nationals this year. But a fifth state title, that's first; I can't look ahead of that.”

A hit list may sound extreme, but it symbolizes what keeps Luttrell going, and what he advises the next generations to follow as well.

Always finding the next opponent.

"You gotta find somebody that's gonna beat you. If you want to get better at wrestling, you've got to find somebody who's going to beat you. Not a lot of kids are willing to do that,” Luttrell said. “I had a lot of people that I could look up to, and that's some big advice that I would give to somebody who's trying to get better. You need to have somebody that you look up to.”