CHS begins first season of wrestling

CLOVIS — The inaugural Clovis High wrestling program gets on the mat for real on Monday.

Coach Eric Zottnick and assistants Liz Ledezma and Avery Rasher will lead the team into a 10 a.m. (MST) quad meet at Hereford, also including Pampa (Texas) and Estancia (N.M.).

The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats staged an exhibition on Friday at Rock Staubus Gym, and the team traveled to Goddard H.S. in Roswell on Saturday for what was essentially a preseason competition.

Not surprisingly, both CHS squads lack experience in the sport.

“We have some members on the team from Cannon Air Force Base, and have some experience,” Zottnick said. “But most of the kids have not wrestled before.”

He said there are 14 weight divisions for the boys and 12 for the girls. Currently, 31 boys are out for the sport, but just nine girls.

All but two are juniors and younger.

Clovis becomes the last Class 5A program in the state to offer wrestling. That would seem to perhaps put the Cats and Lady Cats at a significant disadvantage, but Zottnick remains optimistic.

“I’m not that worried about it,” he said. “COVID has stalled out a lot of programs (in the state).”

This is the first head coaching assignment for Zottnick, who is serving as a substitute teacher this year at Yucca Middle School. Previously, he had been an assistant coach at Artesia High, helping start the Bulldogs’ wrestling program several years ago, and lately served as a coach for Artesia’s USA wrestling program.

Among the boys wrestlers Zottnick says could do well are juniors Joey Alberts, who will compete at either 132 or 138 pounds, and Michael Tree at 170. Girls showing promise are junior Yazmean Ledezma at 138 and freshman Jordan Archuleta at 145.

Zottnick said the Cats and Lady Cats have done a lot of preparatory work to get ready for the season. He’s primarily concerned about the mental approach to the sport that his athletes take.

“We’ll see how much our training has been paying off,” he said. “The message I’m pushing this year is that wrestling is 90 percent mental and 10 percent skill. My ultimate goal right now is to get the kids to make a decision to get tough.”

CHS is scheduled to host a pair of Saturday duals in January at The Rock — against Artesia on Jan. 8 and against West Las Vegas on Jan. 15. Both are scheduled for 11 a.m. starts.