Santa Fe New Mexican
February 7, 2026
Region 1 Girls Wrestling Championships
Natalie Romero and Marina Martinez punched their tickets to the state girls wrestling championships in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Capital qualified four wrestlers who battled their way through the consolation bracket to finish in the top seven to earn a spot.
Martinez, a 235-pounder for Santa Fe High, reached the finals of the Region 1 Championships on Saturday at Cleveland in Rio Rancho. She was pinned by Bloomfield’s Caylee Miller midway through the second period to claim the region title.
Romero, a junior 140-pounder at Pojoaque Valley, met a similar fate in the finals, as Kirtland Central’s Hailey Robinson pinned her in the third period. Still, their placement earned them a spot in the state championships Feb. 20-21 in the Rio Rancho Events Center. The top seven finishers in each weight class advanced to state.
Martinez battled her way to the finals, overcoming a 7-3 deficit to Farmington’s Anaya Lee before scoring an escape and taking down Lee for the pin with 39 seconds left in the second period.
She couldn’t duplicate the feat in the finals as Miller scored a takedown 12 seconds into the match and controlled it the rest of the way. Santa Fe High head coach Joe Jiron said Martinez, who is in her first year wrestling, ran into a highly accomplished opponent in the finals.
“She’s a returning state champion, an All-American,” Jiron said. “She just wrestled tough. [Martinez] didn’t give up, but she just got caught.”
Romero, meanwhile, struggled from the outset as Robinson dominated the first half of the match to take a 14-0 lead. Romero turned the tables and got a takedown and near-fall to end the period. Robinson regained control of the match halfway through the third with a reversal that led to a pin to finish the match.
While those were the lone two Northern representatives in the finals, Capital made good use of the “backside” of the tournament. Four wrestlers worked their way through the consolation rounds to finish in the top seven, highlighted by Lilanie Trujillo’s match to the consolation championship and third place in the 105 division.
Trujillo won five consolation matches, capping her run with a pin of Albuquerque Volcano Vista’s Nyasia Macias in the first period. Jaguars head coach Marcos Gallegos said Trujillo’s performance will help her gain a higher seed for the state tournament, as well as give her a much-needed boost of confidence.
“She made life a little bit easier for herself for the state tournament,” Gallegos said. “You still got to go out there and battle, but confidence-wise, she’s feeling a lot better about herself.”
Capital also had Layla Madrid place fifth at 115, while Lilyana Roybal (110) and Kateri Miller (145) took seventh.
West Las Vegas qualified three wrestlers for state, with Hailey Coca securing sixth place in 120, Solis Medrano taking seventh at 125 and Ahbrianna Garcia was seventh at 100. Taos’ Theresa Valencia was seventh in the 170 weight class.