ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Volcano Vista High School won last year’s Boys and Girls 5A Team State Titles, and the program is already getting prepared for another strong showing in 2023, as they hosted their 6th annual All-American Wrestling Camp on Saturday.

This preseason camp is huge for this program, and making things even more influential, the camp featured a world-class wrestling coach. For a second consecutive year, Nebraska’s Big Ten Powerhouse Associate Head Coach Bryan Snyder was at Volcano Vista High School giving tips to the kids. Snyder is an Olympic gold medal-winning coach, and in his 20-year tenure as a wrestling coach, he has coached nearly 40 NCAA All-Americans.

Current Assistant Head Coach for Volcano Vista Wrestling, Eric Montoya is a VVHS graduate and learned under Snyder at Nebraska. Montoya is a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler himself and having him and Coach Snyder in the same wrestling room is huge for Volcano Vista wrestling.

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“Getting him in here to me is very special. The kids are very respectful. They have been attentive, and I think they understand how big of a deal it is, it’s hard to get people to come down here, much less, a Big 10 associate head coach,” said Eric Montoya.

Volcano Vista Head Coach Ahren Griego understands how influential a camp like this is, and after winning state last year, he said that camps like this help grow his program.

“We have a total of 160 kids signed up in the preseason for wrestling so, I think, I really think that this type of exposure and attention to the sport is really adding to our success and our growth,” said Griego.

The official start date for High School Wrestling in New Mexico is November 6.