Mat Madness: Football standouts capture state wrestling titles

<p>The New Mexico state wrestling championships were held last Friday and Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Several football players won state championships in their respective weight classes (listed by alphabetical order):</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1118241' first='Mark' last='Handy'], La Cueva (5A, 285)</strong>: Handy capped off an undefeated junior season (28-0) by beating West Mesa's [player_tooltip player_id='615431' first='Tristan' last='Caraveo'] by major decision in the title match. Handy is our #1 ranked offensive linemen in the updated 2025 rankings. He'll take an official visit to Texas Tech in June.  </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103266' first='Cameron' last='Hernandez'], Hobbs (5A, 172)</strong>: After making 80 tackles with 21.0 TFL, 8 sacks and 20 QB hurries for Hobbs last season, Hernandez won the 5A, 172-pound state championship with a 5-2 decision in the title match. Roswell LB [player_tooltip player_id='836944' first='Keegan' last='Nichols'] finished third in the weight class and then participated in the College Football Prospect ID Showcase on Sunday.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1594644' first='Elias' last='Johnson'], Bloomfield (4A, 133)</strong>: Johnson was an outside linebacker for Bloomfield last fall and made 33 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries for the Bobcats defense. Saturday, he won the Class 4A, 133-pound title by fall 1:15 into the match.    </p>   <p><strong>Augustine Lopez, Belen (4A, 189)</strong>: Lopez made 51 tackles for the Belen defense in the fall and then captured the Class 4A, 189-pound championship with a pin just 26 seconds into the title match.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119106' first='Cruz' last='Martinez'], West Las Vegas (4A, 152)</strong>: Martinez made 59 tackles for West Las Vegas as a junior in 2023. Saturday, he won the Class 4A, 152-pound class title with a 10-6 decision in the final match. Martinez will be one of the Dons; top defensive players in 2024.     </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615425' first='Amiri' last='Mumba'], Highlands (4A, 172)</strong>: Mumba was one of the top running backs in the state last season, rushing for 1,847 yards and 16 TD. He'll be back for the Hornets in 2024. He's the first Highland male wrestler to win a state championship since 2012. His wrestling  record was an impressive 31-2.  </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611083' first='Mason' last='Posa'], La Cueva (5A, 215)</strong>: Posa three-peated as state champion in his weight class by beating Farmington's [player_tooltip player_id='590528' first='Isaac' last='Foutz'] in the title match for the 215-pound weight class. Posa is also our #1 ranked prospect for the 2025 class. Posa holds numerous offers, notably Alabama, Oregon, Arizona, Stanford and Texas Tech.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1594669' first='Hunter' last='Samora'], Bloomfield (4A, 127)</strong>: As a junior, Samora made 14 tackles for Bloomfield last fall as the Bobcats reached the Class 4A semifinals. Saturday, he won the Class 4A, 127-pound championship with a major decision (13-1) in the title match.</p>   <p><strong>Niko Trujillo, Cobre (4A, 160)</strong>: Trujillo was a running back and outside linebacker for Cobre last season and helped the Indians secure a top four seed and a semifinal appearance in the Class 3A playoffs. He's also an elite wrestler as he showed this past weekend by winning the state title in the Class 4A, 160-pound class.   </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MasonPosa/status/1761862046985908337?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MarkHandy75/status/1761814416608395459?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HobbsAthletics/status/1761618192454111246?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/hornetwrestle/status/1761608659577295246?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CHS24AD/status/1761596524080099677?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/KeeganNichols_7/status/1761625412101345290?s=20 </div></figure>

The New Mexico state wrestling championships were held last Friday and Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Several football players won state championships in their respective weight classes (listed by alphabetical order):