Discovery Canyon tops Coronado in finals at New Mexico tournament

Two of the area’s top teams led a 23-team, multistate field at an event in Albuquerque that billed itself as “the toughest high school dual tournament in the Southwest.”

Discovery Canyon finished first, going 8-0 at the Southwest High School Duals. Coronado finished second.

Host Rio Rancho (NM) took third and defending champion El Paso (Texas) was fourth. Teams from Arizona, Oklahoma and Kansas also competed in the two-day tournament.

The Thunder had 8-0 performances from three wrestlers — senior Steve Turner (138 pounds), junior Tyler Oberg (145) and Adrian Mack (170). Freshman Sam Turner (106), junior David Traynor () and senior AJ Reese (126) finished with one loss apiece.

“I’m proud of the way we wrestled, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Thunder coach Sam Melendrez said. “Our boy wrestled tough in a long tournament.”

Coronado, the 2010 5A champion, and Discovery Canyon, the third-place finisher in 4A last year, will face each other again in the Metro Championships in January.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY JEANE TURNER