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By Don Eskins The Carlsbad High School Cavegirls will compete at the NMAA Southern Regionals on Friday and Saturday, February 6-7, in Roswell. With the regular grappling season now behind them, the Cavegirls’ dreams of competing in this year’s state tournament will start and end at the regional meet. The top seven placers in each weight class, plus a wild card, will advance to the state tournament. For all others, the season will be over. “No doubt, this will be a tough one.

By Don Eskins The New Mexico prep swim season is winding down, but not over. On Saturday, February 7, Carlsbad High’s Cavemen and Cavegirl aquatic squads will compete at the District Championships in Artesia. It will be the final outing of the season for CHS swimmers to qualify for state. This year’s state championships will be held at Albuquerque Academy on Friday and Saturday, February 20-21. “As we head into district, our kids are looking strong and focused. However, it ha

By Don Eskins Both the Cavemen and Cavegirl wrestling teams posted victories over the Roswell Coyotes in a dual meet on Thursday, January 22, in Roswell. The Cavemen outdueled the Coyotes 34-28, while the Cavegirls downed the Lady Otes 42-30. En route to their six-point victory, Cavemen Phenyx Meier, at 113 lbs., and Francisco Calderon, at 150 lbs., won by falls. “I was really proud of the effort we got from our boys. We were without four of our starters. Justin Owens, Juan R

By Don Eskins The Cavegirl basketball team was originally scheduled to open up conference play on Tuesday, January 27, against the Clovis Wildcats. However, due to bad weather, their game was canceled. The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 3, in Clovis. The JVs will open up play vs. the Wildcats at 4 p.m., with the varsity taking the floor at 5:30 p.m. Due to the cancellation, the Cavegirls will now open up District 4/5A play against the Roswell Coyotes in Carls

By Don Eskins CHS was supposed to open conference play against the Clovis Wildcats in Carlsbad on Tuesday night, January 27. However, due to severe weather moving across New Mexico, their game with the Cats was canceled. CHS’s tipoff with Clovis has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 3, in the Cavern City. As a result, the Cavemen will now take on the Roswell Coyotes in their District 4/5A inaugural in Roswell on Friday night, January 30. “It would have been nice to open

By Don Eskins The Cavegirls basketball team, still on a slide, dropped their fourth game in a row to the Lovington Wildcats in Carlsbad on Tuesday night, January 20. Despite a 13-point effort from senior guard Serena Carrasco, CHS fell to the Cats 42-34. The loss left Carlsbad’s girls sitting at 8-11. The Cavegirls were scheduled to take on the 6-9 Santa Teresa Desert Warriors on the road on Thursday, January 22. It would serve as their final pre-district game of the 2025-26

By Don Eskins Down 13-7 to the Lovington Wildcats after first quarter play, the Cavemen basketball team turned on the jets in the second to outscore the Cats 20-5. The CHS surge put them out in front of Lovington 27-18 at the half. Trading buckets with the Cats during third and fourth quarter action, CHS held on to cage the Lovington 47-40. The victory upped the Cavemen’s record to 12-6 on the year. The game took place in Carlsbad on Tuesday night, January 20. Although losing

By Don Eskins On January 9, the Carlsbad Local posted its picks for the Top Ten sports stories at CHS during 2025. These picks were based on available information. Obviously, there were many more. This week, January 23, we’ll list several other noteworthy performances recorded by CHS athletes, teams, and former athletes during 2025. Readers should feel free to use these stories, along with the Carlsbad Local’s Top 10 picks, to construct a Top 10 list of their own. No doubt, t

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High School’s Cavemen and Cavegirl wrestlers registered another sound performance at the Joe Vivian Invitational in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, January 16-17. Recognized as one of the top grappling tournaments in the state, the Cavegirls placed fifth in a field of 30 teams. The Cavemen, in a field of 31, finished ninth. “This was one of the toughest weeks our kids have experienced,” said CHS head wrestling coach Mark Pratt. “We hosted a dual mee

By Don Eskins Twenty-two New Mexico prep swim teams made their way to compete in the Albuquerque Academy Invitational on Saturday, January 10. Among those teams were the Carlsbad Cavemen and Cavegirls. Overall, CHS's swimmers placed 12th among the elite field of aquatic teams that had assembled there. At the meet, Caveman Sam Vega made the most noise for CHS. Vega qualified for state in both his 100 yard backstroke, with a time of 59.37, and his 100 yard fly, with a time of

By Don Eskins As the 2025-26 basketball season progresses, the games just keep getting bigger and bigger for the Carlsbad Cavemen. Case in point, on Friday night, January 16, in Las Cruces, the boys in blue will take on the third-ranked 14-1 Las Cruces Bulldawgs, and on Saturday afternoon, January 17, in the City of Crosses, they'll trade punches with the 12 th -ranked 8-6 Centennial Hawks. But, aside from the enormity of the tasks they'll face in Las Cruces, Cavemen head coa