By J.T. Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

Desire, dedication, determination, and discipline are the cornerstones for the six Artesia Bulldogs trying to place at the New Mexico state wrestling meet.

“With those four Ds, you can be successful in anything you do,” says third-year Artesia coach Andy Olive. “With those four Ds, you can be successful in anything you do. As long as you have the desire, dedication, determination and discipline, you can succeed in anything. Especially in wrestling.”

The state championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, at the Rio Rancho Event Center in Rio Rancho.

Olive’s message to the Bulldogs as they head to Rio Rancho is, “Don’t go in there and think about winning. You want to wrestle to win but focus on your performance. Perform at your highest level. If you perform at your highest level, the wins will come.”

City of Champions

Artesia’s reputation and self-proclaimed status as the City of Champions drew Olive to Artesia High School. He had left behind a successful career as wrestling coach at Ruidoso High School (2013-2021) to work on a master’s degree but when he learned the Bulldogs were starting a wrestling program, he was all in to become the coach.

“I was very excited,” Olive said. “I was hopeful I would get the job as their head coach. I was compelled to apply because Artesia has a great history of success. And they have great athletes and an abundance of community support, which is what you need to be successful.”

Since Olive’s arrival, the program has grown from 28 wrestlers in the first year to 48 in year three. There were four girls in the program and now there are 13. There are three assistant coaches: Cory Saxon, Phillip Herrera and T.J. Rodriguez.

Olive said Artesia wrestling has grown fast because the kids are committed to both the team and their personal goals. He expects his wrestlers to be aggressive, learn the fundamentals and take their shots.

“My expectations for the team are always to go out there and get better,” Olive said. “My rule is to focus on getting better every day. You can always improve in wrestling, even if you are a first- or second-place wrestler.”

Olive knows about coaching state champions. At Ruidoso, he guided Sharon Minnix to a first-place state title in the 138-pound weight class.

The Bulldogs are trying to build on last year’s achievement at state of having two second-place finishers and a third-place finisher.

Artesia sends six wrestlers to state

Two Bulldogs will be returning to the state meet. Senior Hagan Crockett will wrestle at 139 pounds. His season record is 16-7 and he won big at the regional tournament when he upset Ashdyn Urban of Ruidoso High School.

Crockett placed sixth in the regional tournament this year but had to medically forfeit due to a knee injury and could not wrestle in the medal round. Olive hopes the senior grappler will be ready for state.

For the second straight year, Olive will be taking one girl and five boys to the state meet.

Isabel Irvin took second place in the 100-pound weight class in 2024.

Irvin, a senior this year, has a record of 32-4 and finished second at the Region II tournament. She could enter the state tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Senior Rylee Kelley wrestles at 160 pounds and is 22-12 on the season. He has wrestled with the program for two years but did not qualify for state last year.

“He has really improved a lot with his wrestling skills,” Olive said. “This year, he made a good comeback and placed sixth in the regional tournament. We hope he can go pretty far in the tournament this weekend at state and get on the podium.”

Edel Villa wrestles in the 172-pound weight class. He is a junior who took sixth place at regionals and is 19-13 on the season. This will be his first time at state.

Alejandro Ontiveros will be wrestling at 215 pounds; the junior took seventh place in the regional tournament.

Ethan Shannon is a 285-pound sophomore who wrestles at heavyweight. Olive said Shannon is a leader on the team and has been with the program since its inception.

JT Keith can be reached at jtkeith@elritomedia.com.