Wrestling coach James McNeil awaits a big hug from his daughter McKenzie.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

Socorro’s Wrestling Under the Stars keeps getting bigger and better, with more than 500 athletes taking part at the Rodeo and Sports Complex over the weekend.

“Our first year, we had 68 wrestlers, and about 30 of those were from Socorro,” wrestling coach Joel Partridge said. “It was great. It was better than we expected. It was bigger than we expected. We were probably a little bit unprepared for it. We didn’t think there would be many people, but we adjusted pretty well.”

There’s nothing quite like Socorro’s covered arena, which is large enough to support ten wrestling matches at a time, and all of it backdropped by the surrounding desert beauty and nearby mountains.

“It’s grown substantially. It’s only going to continue to grow. I’m not aware of anybody doing anything like that. The rodeo theme is what makes our event unique then there’s the landscape and visual part. As the sun setting, you get to see it. That’s the real upside to not having the building enclosed.”

With many athletes currently dedicated to the preseason of other sports, Socorro didn’t wrestle as full strength as a team, but that didn’t stop the Warriors from turning in some top-notch performances.

The meet was also a little bit of an announcement that incoming eighth grader Kade McNeil will be a beast on the mat. McNeil turned in a perfect 3-0 mark on Saturday.

Wrestling coach James McNeil becomes an encouraging mentor for exhausted wrestler Jayden Kayser.

McNeil topped all comers in the 149-weight class and turned in a 15-2 decision to go along with a pair of falls.

“Kade has been one of the staples of our youth wrestling program. He’s been a top scorer for us since he was a little kid when he was a six-year-old. He’s been scoring big points for our youth team, and now Kade will get the opportunity to make a spot on our team,” Partridge said. “He will be challenged for a spot, but I know he’s tough. Kade is a good kid. He knows how to wrestle. He’s one of our homegrown kids. He’s going to be a hammer.”

Those are strong words of praise from the newly minted 2023 New Mexico High School Coaches Association wrestling Coach of the Year, who also had some family-vested interest in the meet with his youngest son Kingston wrestling and his older son Trey (3-time state champion) coaching.

“Trey is learning, he’s growing, and he’s maturing. What you hear him say is weird because it’s the same thing I told him, and I looked at him like, see, remember that me telling you that?” Partridge said. “It’s cool to see Trey coaching with us. He has a ton of knowledge. He has more experience than any of us regarding high-level competition, so he gets to speak about it from a perspective many people don’t have. The kids respond well to Trey. He’s caring, loves the sport, and is starting to see how good it feels to give back.”

Iliana Perez was one of 500 wrestlers taking part in the Socorro Warriors’ Wrestling Under the Stars tournament.

Socorro Youth Wrestling

38 – Nico Chavez (SVWC) over McKenzie McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:31; 8 – Stevie Peralta (Rough Riders) over McKenzie McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:12; Stevie Peralta (Rough Riders) over McKenzie McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:12.

47 – Jose Lerma (SVWC) over Kingston Partridge (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:19; Easton Lopez (Rough Riders) over Kingston Partridge (Socorro Wrestling) Fall; Zayden Rios (NXT LVL) over Kingston Partridge (Socorro Wrestling) Maj 13-5.

55 – Anaiah Peralta (Rough Riders) over Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 3:36; Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) over Greylen Lopez (SVWC) Fall 2:12.

62 – Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) over Greylen Lopez (SVWC) Fall 2:12; Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) over Greylen Lopez (SVWC) Fall 2:12.

55 – Anaiah Peralta (Rough Riders) over Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 3:36

110 – Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Austin Toscano (NXT LVL) over Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Dec 9-4.

62 – Kashis Blank (SVWC) over Sterling Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Maj 12-2; 55 – Sadie Stephenson (NXT LVL) over Sterling Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:54.

62 – Tatum Bland (Rough Riders) over Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:57; 62 – Hisys Sanchez (NXT LVL) over Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:00; 55 – Sylas Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) over Greylen Lopez (SVWC) Fall 2:12.

73 – Silvano Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Xavier Roybal (SVWC) over Silvano Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) Dec 7-0; Chason Al-Hanfoosh (NXT LVL) over Silvano Heras-Quezada (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:39.

81 – Juardo Noah (Rough Riders) over Michael Romero (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:59; Armani Martin (SVWC) over Michael Romero (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 3:51; Hailey Stephenson (NXT LVL) over Michael Romero (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:16.

90 – Liam Smith (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Liam Smith (Socorro Wrestling) over Elijah Casaus (SVWC) TF 17-0; Liam Smith (Socorro Wrestling) over Angel Tarango (NXT LVL) Fall 1:59.

55 – Anaiah Peralta (Rough Riders) over Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 3:36; Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Austin Toscano (NXT LVL) over Tanner Winders (Socorro Wrestling) Dec 9-4.

Girls High School

110 – Arasely A (Socorro Wrestling) over Vanessa Ramos (Fearless Defenders) Dec 5-2; Arasely A (Socorro Wrestling) over Bella Chavez (Roswell Regulators) Fall 3:01; Hailey Delgado (NXT LVL) over Arasely A (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:19.

114 – Mireya Medina (Fearless Defenders) over Ili Perez (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:03; Ili Perez (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Allessandra Toscano (NXT LVL) over Ili Perez (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:38.

123 – Jayden Kayser (Socorro Wrestling) over Roselyn Mendez (Fearless Defenders) Fall 1:17; Jayden Kayser (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Daniela Hernandez (NXT LVL) over Jayden Kayser (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:19.

135 – Myra Ortega (Fearless Defenders) over Alyssa Campos (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:44; Alyssa Campos (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Paulina Butler (NXT LVL) over Alyssa Campos (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:02.

Boys High School

106 – Andres Rambo Lopez (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Andres Rambo Lopez (Socorro Wrestling) over Hector Ortiz Jr (NXT LVL) Dec 9-2.

113 – Marius Lucero (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Marius Lucero (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Dhani James (NXT LVL) over Marius Lucero (Socorro Wrestling) D 9-6.

123 – Jerome Salazar (The Boys) over Landon Kayser (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:53; Leo Fernandez (NXT LVL) over Landon Kayser (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:43.

135 – Kane Johnson (Socorro Wrestling) over Sonny Molina (The Boys) Fall 0:36; Cayden Rios (NXT LVL) over Kane Johnson (Socorro Wrestling) MFF.

149 – Kade McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) over Joseph Garza (The Boys) Maj 15-2; Kade McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) over Jerry Romero (Roswell Regulators) Fall 1:14; Kade McNeil (Socorro Wrestling) over Ethan Franklin (NXT LVL) Fall 2:23.

165 – Gavin Ramos (NXT LVL) over Patrick McBride (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:44.

185 – Michael Jaramillo (The Boys) over Shane Bustamante (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:29; Logan Martinez (Roswell Regulators) over Shane Bustamante (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 3:33; Adrian Espinoza (NXT LVL) over Shane Bustamante (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 1:15.

220 – Johnny Bazan (The Boys) over Diego Chavez (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:47; Diego Chavez (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; Diego Chavez (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit; 285 – Rodney Ward (Roswell Regulators) over Diego Chavez (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:41.

285 – Dominic Anaya (Socorro Wrestling) over Unknown (Unattached) Forfeit.

Socorro Middle School

62 – Stetson Bland (WPA) over Deshawd Doyle (Socorro Wrestling) Forfeit.

73 – Dragon Martinez (Socorro Wrestling) over Chason Al-Hanfoosh (NXT LVL) Maj 11-0; Dragon Martinez (Socorro Wrestling) over Charles Norton (WPA) Fall 2:47.

110 – Hector Ortiz Jr (NXT LVL) over Isaac Lucero Jr (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 2:25; Isaac Lucero Jr. (Socorro Wrestling) over Luke Stone (WPA) Fall 0:18.

125 – Dhani James (NXT LVL) over Reed Hopkins (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 4:02; Samuel Urioste (WPA) over Reed Hopkins (Socorro Wrestling) Fall 0:12.

138 – Jerome Salazar (WPA) over Jacob Brown (Socorro Wrestling) Dec 6-2.

Russell Huffman | Assistant Editor