Seanmatthew Garcia (Navajo): Undefeated 2021 New Mexico 4A State Individual Wrestling Champion at Miyamura HS

By Dan Ninham

Many high school athletes finish their season with a loss each year. As an underclassman, this loss may trigger the drive to finish the next season with a win.

There’s only one high school athlete that finishes their season with a win. That’s the state champion. This is a story of an undefeated state champion.

The Miyamura HS Patriots finished sixth at the 2021 New Mexico 4A State Wrestling Championships. They also celebrated an individual and undefeated champion in the 126 lb. weight class.

Seanmatthew Garcia, 18, is a graduating senior at Gallup HS in NM. 

“My tribe is Navajo and my clan is kinyaa’áanii,” said Seanmatthew.

The greatest accomplishment so far for Seanmatthew is having a 26-0 season and winning the New Mexico Class 4A state individual wrestling championship.

Seanmatthew has a relatively easy but efficient thought process during each match. “I think just about the grit of fighting and never giving up when it gets tough,” said Seanmatthew.

“I’m going to Grand Canyon University in Arizona,” said Seanmatthew. “My goal is to graduate and become a nurse. I also want to become an All-American. The things I will do is study and do anything I can do to work out and be successful.”

“My parents were big mentors in my life along with my coaches,” said Seanmatthew. 

“My parents were behind me 110% of the way to help me become successful,” said Seanmatthew. “They made sure I had a good mindset the day before matches, made sure I made it anywhere on time for weigh-ins, and helped me from getting me somewhere to just helping me get some snacks.”

“Seanmatthew is a very passionate person,” said dad Anthony Garcia. “He understands that to be great at something it’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. He was raised to live by high standards and respect.”

“This past summer he wrote ‘I’m going to be a state champion’ on a paper and placed it on his mirror that he sees every day,” added Anthony. 

“He traveled across the county to see some of the best competition,” said Anthony. “He noticed that he wasn’t quite there, and that’s when he changed his training regimen.”

“From that day he said he was going to be a state champion and no one was going to deny him that,” added Anthony.

“My coaches Nate, Oz, and West have been the biggest mentors I’ve had in my life,” said Seanmatthew. “They have made sure that I never fell into the wrong crowd, and made sure I was doing the things I need to do to become successful on and off of the mat. They would push me when I hit brick walls, or when I just wasn’t feeling good during the day and would help me push through the adversity.”

“I coached Seanmatt since the sixth grade and watching him grow into a tremendous competitor and a leader in the community has been a honor,” said Nate Sellers, Miyamura HS head wrestling coach.

“Every year goals were set and some were achieved and some weren’t. His senior year he put in a little extra time and finally earned the title of a undefeated state champion,” added Nate.

“SeanMatt had an outstanding year of wrestling,” said Ozzy Guerrero, Miyamura HS assistant wrestling coach. “He knew he could do better than last year and he committed himself to wrestling. He wrestled a lot out of state and was able to build up his wrestling. Doing this helped him build up that confidence that it takes to be a state champ.”

“He changed his mindset. He became a leader in the room and demanded more from his teammates. He knew this was his last chance at being a high school state champ and he gave it his all. His dedication to the sport earned him the title,” added Ozzy.

“It’s a hard thing to be a stare champ even harder to do it being undefeated,” said Ozzy. “We will definitely miss him in the wrestling room next year and we hope nothing but the best for this young man.”

“I believe Seanmat’s positive attributes as a state champion only come from hard work and dedication,” said Weston Sanchez, Miyamura HS assistant wrestling coach. “He led from the front every chance that was given, he never let a teammate bow their heads for a misfortune on the mat, and he had love for his teammates.”

“I’m happy to see him achieve greater goals and to move to the next level of wrestling. The coaching staff of Seanmatt Garcia believe he had the proper mindset and commitment this year that made him a state champion.”

“My coaches made me into a person that takes everything with a positive attitude and no matter what happens it helps you and not destroy you. They touched and will have a place in my heart forever for the things they would say and how they treated me as if I was their own,” added Seanmatthew. 

“I have been in sports basically my whole life and it’s the lifestyle I grew up with playing football, baseball, and wrestling all four years,” said Seanmatthew. “I fell in love with the wrestling instantly and I quickly found myself obsessed. I hold myself to a higher standard just because I wrestle. Not even because of my accomplishments or what I have done, but because of what I have been through just to compete. The sport taught me discipline, how to be mentally tough, how to figure out who I am, and showed me how to react to good or bad situations and deal with adversity.”

“I started wrestling super late in the sixth grade when our junior program started in town,” said Seanmatthew. “The town I’m from isn’t a wrestling town at all so I mean there really isn’t a community for it. When I first competed in seventh grade I would always ask myself ‘what did I get myself into?’ I never thought this is the sport that is going to take me to college. I always thought it was going to be baseball.”

“When I got to high school I wrestled with the top contenders and would always fall short,” said Seanmatthew. “Then when my junior year ended and I took third place at state I told myself to listen to the coaches and to wrestle during the summer and I did. But COVID-19 hit and forced me to stay home. I didn’t take that to be my excuse and let that stop me from being great.”

“I would work out as much as I can and would go to my coach Nate’s house and would wrestle in the shed with my partners Yele and Rhys,” said Seanmatthew. “New Mexico had an all-star team tryout to compete in Iowa for the pre-Nationals. I made the team and went to compete and had a 2-2 record. Then tournaments would pop up, but they were out of state and about six hours away. I would hit up a few.”

“There was one in December and one in March called the Terminator and I won that bracket. Winning that gave me a confidence boost for the high school season. I felt like I was more prepared than anyone in my weight class with all the work I had been doing and that helped me keep a positive mentality,” added Seanmatthew. 

“After I couple of duals I realized that I could really have a shot at winning the state title,” said Seanmatthew. “I didn’t let that go to my head and it made me work even harder for what I want,” said Seanmatthew.

“Coach Nate would have us write down goals on a sticky note, and place it on the mirror,” said Seanmatthew. “He had us look at the goals we want every day to see if we are doing the most to make those written goals a reality.”

“After the regular season ending and going into districts undefeated and taking it with ease, I realized that I was not a ‘no-body’ no more and they knew who SeanMatthew Garcia was on their bracket,” said Seanmatthew. “When I went into state as the number one seed I told myself that it is mine to lose.”

“Everything I had been doing was leading up to the state meet and leaving a legacy of being the first undefeated state champion in school history,” said Seanmatthew.

Photo Credit: http://xlsportsphotography.com/