Aztec Junior Cory Douglas Wins 165-Pound NMAA State Title, Eyes Defense

Aztec High junior Cory Douglas won the NMAA Class A-4A 165-pound individual state championship at the Rio Rancho Events Center after pinning Kirtland Central’s Todd Robinson at 2:32 of the second period during the Feb. 20–21, 2026 state meet. The pin completed a 44-5 season for Douglas and helped Aztec secure a second straight Class A-4A team title.

Douglas finished the 2025–26 campaign with a 44-5 record and a career mark of 133-55. After the final he said, “We pushed each other all season long in that room to make each other better. I came into this match a little flat I thought and I didn’t take the opportunity to win as soon as I saw it, but it means a lot to be here.” Head coach Levi Stout emphasized Douglas’s rapid development, noting, “(Douglas) didn’t actually start wrestling until his eighth grade year. He absolutely fell in love with the sport’s physicality and has been on a massive curve of improvement ever since.”

Aztec dominated the Class A-4A meet, sending five individual state champions to the podium as the Tigers claimed their 22nd overall team crown. Alongside Douglas at 165 pounds, Ethan Vigil, a senior at 120 pounds, pinned St. Pius’s Dane Padilla in 0:31 to take his title; James Moore, a junior at 126, defeated Miyamura’s Austin Lopez, 4-0; Taner Olguin, a senior at 132, beat West Las Vegas’s Santiago Medrano, 6-2; and Aiden Trujillo, a senior at 215, downed Academy’s Tank Rivera, 9-3.

Olguin’s 132-pound victory added a second career state title to his résumé, after winning at 106 pounds as an eighth-grader in 2022. Stout reflected on that milestone: “Getting that second state title has eluded him ever since his eighth-grade year and it’s a long story for him but he’s such a special and deserving champion.” The Journal recorded Aztec placements beyond the five champions, including Nathan Hare taking second at 106 after falling to Valencia’s Dominik Suarez in the final.

Tri-City Record recognized Douglas in its Winter Wonders 2026 coverage, naming him the paper’s boys wrestler of the year and publishing a feature on him on March 4, 2026. Tri-City Record coverage also notes Douglas won a regional championship this season and took first at the Warrior Classic Invitational in Grand Junction, Colorado.

As a junior state champion, Douglas will be eligible to return next season to defend the 165-pound crown. Coach Stout credited small, collective gains for Aztec’s success: “It was really just small improvements from last year. They just united and decided to get each other’s backs and really embraced the family atmosphere and they really bought in.” The team’s depth and five champions leave Aztec well positioned heading into the 2026-27 season.