Rio Rancho High wrestling coach Mike Santos caught himself almost as soon as he said it.
"The kids really needed this win," Santos said.
Needed? Rio Rancho?
Seriously?
Santos laughed. He knew it probably didn't come out right.
His point was, after a pair of fifth-place showings - albeit at two high-profile tournaments, one in Nevada, the other in Oklahoma - even a juggernaut like Rio Rancho could use a boost in its confidence.
So it was that the Rams captured (again) the Joe Vivian Classic on Saturday night at Cibola, overcoming the most elite New Mexico field of the season.
Rio Rancho's 207 1/2 points provided a comfortable, if not dominating, 47 1/2-point margin over runner-up - and district rival - Volcano Vista. Cleveland (155) was third, followed by Robertson (133) and the host Cougars (128). Which meant that the top four 5A teams at the Vivian came from the same district (1-5A).
But as usual, it was Rio Rancho showing the way.
"I think our toughest critics are ourselves," said Santos, the Rams' first-year head coach. "The kids are hard on themselves. That's why we go to these out-of-state tournaments, to get better."
It certainly helped being a state champion as the individual finals played out before a large crowd Saturday night; nine of the 14 divisions were won by wrestlers who stood atop the podium last February.
And in two instances, there were head-to-head matchups of reigning state champions that illuminate the uniqueness of the Vivian.
Daniel Martinez of Robertson, a four-time state champion, beat Rio Rancho's Zack Rogers 4-1 in the 160-pound final. They have been wrestling each other since they were 5 years old.
"I think we (as wrestlers) believe this is the true state championship," said the 21-0 Martinez, who, despite his four state crowns had only one other Vivian title, as an eighth-grader. He lost in the finals the last two years.
The other match featuring state champions occurred at 215, where Rio Rancho's Shea Nolan pinned St. Michael's Michael Lamb at 3:39. Until the pin, it was scoreless.
"Me and him have been wrestling each other since our freshman year," said Nolan, a senior and two-time state champ. "He's a real tough opponent and a good guy."
Matt Nunez was the Rams' other Vivian champion, major decisioning Mayfield's Nathaniel May 11-2 at 135 pounds.
Volcano Vista had a pair of winners in Eric Montoya (119) and Lawrence Otero (130), who took out wrestlers from Las Cruces and Mayfield, respectively. Otero hasn't had a match closer than nine points all season as he improved to 23-0.
Cleveland had bookend champions. Sophomore Paul Mascarenes (28-0) beat Rio Rancho's Miguel Barreras 11-3 at 103 pounds, and senior heavyweight James Beasley edged Hobbs' Zac Rachal 3-2 in the final match of the event.
Sophomore DeShun Brown of West Mesa - who two weeks ago handed Volcano Vista's Montoya his only loss - captured the 112-pound crown, beating Albuquerque High's Dyon Santiago 6-4. And La Cueva's Nevada Posa outpointed Highland's Cody Marquez 10-5 at 189.
Other titles went to Hobbs' Alex Jackson (140), Bloomfield's Mikey Loy (145) and Jose Perez (125), St. Michael's Jesse Martinez (152) and Carlsbad's Chris Lara (171). Lara's 6-5 win over Santa Fe's Daniel Salvidrez partially avenged a loss to Salvidrez in last year's state semis at 160, a division that Salvidrez ended up winning.
WRESTLING
JOE VIVIAN CLASSIC
Saturday -- at Cibola
Team Scores
1, Rio Rancho 207½; 2, Volcano Vista 160; 3, Cleveland 155; 4, Robertson 133; 5, Cibola 128; 6, Bloomfield 124; 7, Rio Grande 112; 8, Mayfield 110½; 9, Hobbs 105½; 10, St. Michael's 99; 11, La Cueva 95; 12, Carlsbad 91; 13, Belen 80; 14, Santa Fe 78; 15, Manzano 73; 16, Moriarty 69; 17, Los Lunas 63; 18, Atrisco Heritage Academy 62; 19, Valley 59; 20, Las Cruces 58½; 21, Sandia 53; 22, AHS 49; 23, Capital 47; 24 (tie), Valencia, West Mesa 44; 26, Eldorado 43; 27, Farmington 40½; 28, Bernalillo 40; 29, Del Norte 39½; 30, West Las Vegas 37; 31, Oñate 35; 32, Gallup 33; 33, Highland 32; 34, St. Pius 18; 35, Los Alamos 17; 36, Grants 8.
Individual Finals
103: Paul Mascareñas, Cleveland, maj. dec. Miguel Barreras, Rio Rancho, 11-3; 112: DeShun Brown, West Mesa, dec. Dyon Santiago, AHS, 6-4; 119: Eric Montoya, Volcano Vista, dec. David Udero, Las Cruces, 5-0; 125: Jose Perez, Bloomfield, maj. dec. Nick Pino, Cibola, 8-0; 130: Lawrence Otero, Volcano Vista, maj. dec. Sterling Lucero, Mayfield, 14-2; 135: Matt Nuñez, Rio Rancho, maj. dec. Nathaniel May, Mayfield, 11-2; 140: Alex Jackson, Hobbs, dec. Blane Warrior, Cibola, 2-0; 145: Mikey Loy, Bloomfield, p. Thomas Barela, Cibola, 3:42; 152: Jesse Martinez, St. Michael's, dec. Steven Trujillo, Rio Grande, 3-1; 160: Daniel Martinez, Robertson, dec. Zack Rogers, Rio Rancho, 4-1; 171: Chris Lara, Carlsbad, dec. Daniel Salvidrez, Santa Fe, 6-5; 189: Nevada Posa, La Cueva, def. Cody Marquez, Highland, 10-5; 215: Shea Nolan, Rio Rancho, p. Michael Lamb, St. Michael's, 3:39; HVWT: James Beasley, Cleveland, dec. Zac Rachal, Hobbs, 3-2.
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