Justin Wood and Adrian Flaco reach state finals

Carlsbad's Justin Wood and Adrian Flaco reached the finals Saturday at the 2016 New Mexico Activities Association 6A State Championships in Rio Rancho. Both came up short, though.

Wood, an eighth grader, lost to Las Cruces' Brandon Baeza via 3-0 decision in the 138-pound state championship match.

Flaco, a senior, lost to Rio Grande's Mark Hussey via fall with seven seconds left in round one of the match.

Other Cavemen go deep

Senior Kyle Mallett reached the 195-pound state semifinals, but lost a five-minute heartbreaker to Sandia's Mark Flores. Mallett went on to take third place, beating Eldorado's Ian Welsh via fall in 2:29.

Sophomore Cody Wood reached the 106-pound state semifinals, but lost to Cleveland's Joseph Otero via fall in 1:01. Otero went on to beat Sandia's Mark Gonzales for the 106-pound state title.

In all, 12 Cavemen wrestlers qualified for state this year after securing top-four spots in their respective weight classes during last Saturday's District 3-6A individual championships at Hobbs.

Carlsbad will say goodbye to seniors Adrian Flaco and Kyle Mallett, but will also return most of its key group next season - including sophomores Cody Wood, Mario Carrasco and Mateo Messer, juniors Christian Flaco, Kyron Dobson, Shawn Martin and Noah Leija, freshman Fabian Padilla, as well as eighth graders Justin Wood and Mason Box.