The 2014 New Mexico State Wrestling Tournament as usual was filled with drama, excitement, and top athletes from across the Land of Enchantment as usual.

More: 2014 All-Tournament Selections | 2014 Individual State Champs & Team Scores

The race for the 5A Team State Championship came down to the finals with Rio Rancho winning the eventual title with with 199.0 total points. Rio Grande finished in 2nd with 191.0 points and Volcano Vista finished finished in 3rd place with 183.0 points.

In Class 4A the Piedra Vista Panthers won yet another State Title under Head Coach Levi Stout running away with the Title racking up a total of 323.5 points in the tournament. Belen finished in 2nd with 178.5 points and Deming finished in 3rd place with 153.0 points.

The 2014 Class 3A State Champ is Bloomfield 203.0 after edging out Cobre with 191.5 points who took 2nd, followed by Robertson 167.0 who took 3rd place on the day.

Leading off with the big boys, we'll start with James Romero from Atrisco Heritage. Though he does not weigh 285 pounds, he has exceptional strength and was a pleasure to watch during the finals. Also at 285 was Jeremiah Thompson from Sandia. Thompson is a Eastern New Mexico Football Commit and really did work in the Wrestling Tournament, beat Eric Loepz of Gadsden in a semifinal battle.

Mike Budick at 220 pounds is one of the best pure wrestlers we've seen over the years, also very cool to see former Volcano Vista Hawk Eric Crum coaching him up from the sidelines (time flies). Seth Mello also at 220 did work and is a lot better than we had thought, likely has a future wrestling in college.

One sleeper prospect who emerged in the tournament was Elijah Schold out of Valley. We watched him defeat Anthony Gallegos in a semifinal upset. From the 170 pound group was a ton of talent. Logan Wolfel from Rio Grande, Corery Morrow from Manzano and Jordan Lara from Rio Rancho, three of the best pure wrestlers in New Mexico.

At 160, the talent level was very deep. Miguel Barreras who might have the comeback story of the season is just incredible and it will be great to track his senior year at full strength. Eathem Austin from Eldorado had an impressive showing as did Nathan Corrigan from Atrisco Heritage, Corrigan is a top level guy on our radar after the event winning over 30 matches this year. .

Two of our favorites from the middle weight at 152 were Kyle Snelling from La Cueva and Loren Vigil from Rio Grande, two A+ wrestlers with tons of technique and strength. At 145 Pounds was Jesse Neito from Cleveland. One a tremendous athlete Neito is, also the running back for the Storm as just a junior. Matias Sainz from Rio Grande showed well at 145 as did Gavin Davy from Eldorado. At 138 Pounds we were impressed with Orando Gutierrez from Rio Rancho and Isaiah Sedillos from Las Cruces.

At 120 Dylan Udero from Las Cruces did his yearly thing and we also were impressed with Willie Chavez from Volcano Vista. At 113 it was Treavon Nicoley who caught our eye along with Anthony Trujillo from Las Cruces.

The Piedra Vista Panthers scored an incredible 323.5 points which was 145.0 points difference from the 2nd place team Belen. The Panthers won the 120, 126, 138, 145, and 220 individual state titles and placed 10 in the finals, yes you read that right.

Phil Archuleta finished the year 50-3, Sam Sandoval finished the year 51-3, Ryan Rino finished 43-6, Anthony Juckes won a monster match up against Isiah Anaya of Capital to finish the year 39-1, and Zach Ahlgrim finished then year at 220 46-4.

To sum up the Panther's season, this particular team will go down as one of the best from San Juan County ever and that says a lot considering the long wrestling history from the region.

The Bobcats scored 203.0 points to edge out Cobre who scored 191.5 and Robertson in 3rd who scored 167.0. The Bobcats won the 113 and 145 title and placed second at 195 pounds.