RIO RANCHO -- Andres Blea already knew what the pain of watching the Class A-AAA State Wrestling Championships was like.

With his chance for redemption at hand Saturday night, the St. Michael's junior wanted to go out one way.

"I wanted a pin," said the Horsemen heavyweight.

The pressure was off Blea -- and the Horsemen -- when his final match finally took center stage in the Santa Ana Star Center. St. Michael's already had its second A-AAA state title in three years in grasp.

So, head coach Joaquin Garcia told the heavyweight his match was for fun.

"I told him to go out there and enjoy it," Garcia said.

That, Blea did.

He manhandled Ruidoso's Mikael Montoya, pinning him with 4 seconds left in the opening period to complete a championship performance.

St. Michael's outpointed last year's champion Silver 209-201 in a meet that didn't quite have the drama that enveloped last year's championship that went to the final heavyweight match.

It took a miraculous pin by West Las Vegas' Brandon Chavez over Las Vegas Robertson's Sam Marquez to give the Colts the title. One of Chavez's victims last February was Blea in the semifinals.

The pain of a season ago created a monster in Blea, who went 29-1 to this year's heavyweight crown.

"It's super great -- the best feeling ever," Blea said of his redemption.

While the team title was settled before Blea took to the mat, the night pointed toward that possibility.

Entering the championship round, Silver held a 186-178 lead over the heavily-favored Horsemen and had seven wrestlers in the finals.

St. Michael's countered with eight.

The difference was that seven Horsemen were crowned individual champions, highlighted by Jess Martinez's win at 160 to make him the first four-time winner in the program's history.

The senior also went 44-0 to complete his prep career, a first for him.

"Every year, I'd take second in a tournament," Martinez said. "Last year, I finished second my first three tournaments. So I'll enjoy that more than the state championship."

The Horsemen also had Koery Windham earn his third straight title, as he took the 152 title with a 7-3 win over Silver's Andrew Alverez.

Silver countered with only three champions, and two came after the Horsemen clinched the top spot.

That came with sophomore Lucas Sanchez's 11-5 decision over the Colts' Noah Vialba that gave St. Michael's a 203-190 edge.

That assuaged any fears of a one-point team deduction incurred by Martinez's toss of his head gear after he won coming back to haunt the Horsemen.

"I knew when I saw the 13-point lead], I don't know if they [officials] had deducted the point yet," Garcia said.

Once it was confirmed the deduction was already factored into the standings, St. Michael's could finally celebrate. Las Vegas Robertson, which finished third with 177.5 points, had two state champions in Rico Montoya (120) and Joe Crespin (220).

There was not near the drama for Santa Fe High's Anthony Abeyta. The junior attained a perfect 26-0 mark with a convincing 14-1 win over Albuquerque Atrisco Heritage's Nate Goode.

After spending just 4:15 on the mat for three pins to reach the finals at 160, Abeyta showed he was more than just brawn -- which is what he wanted to do.

Although, Abeyta admitted he went for the pin in the third period.

"It was the biggest statement I could make," Abeyta said. "In the end, he was slipping through [Abeyta's grasp], he was sweaty, but I did what I could do and showed everybody I can be a technical wrestler."

Abeyta's win was the lone bright spot for the Demons, who had brothers Adrian (106) and Alex George (126) lose in the finals.

Still, it was a productive tournament for Santa Fe High, which had its most wrestlers in the finals in about a decade and finished seventh overall (113) in the AAAA standings.

Demons head coach Ed Lucero believes the program is close to competing for some hardware.

"We got a good core coming back and hopefully they will teach the younger guys coming in what it is to be part of Santa Fe High wrestling," Lucero said. "I think we are going to be a force to reckon with in the near future and for the years to come."

Meanwhile, crosstown rival Capital broke through with two wrestlers in the finals -- Ernesto Salvidrez (132) and Isaiah Anaya (134) -- but they came up short to bring home an individual title.

Salvidrez lost in overtime to Valencia's Carlos Montano, 2-0, but he wrestled with double vision in his right eye for most of the third period and overtime after taking a headbutt from Montano.

Anaya lost to Aztec's Rio Escojeda 5-2 in a rematch of a final at Robertson's Cardinal Classic in January that Anaya win with a pin. It was Esocjeda's lone loss in a 52-1 mark.

Having two wrestlers in the finals was a big step for the Jaguars, who haven't done that since head coach Marcos Gallegos took over in 2004.

"This was a bright year for us," Gallegos said. "Going into the day, we were looking at a possible top-10 finish and we were in the top 12. That's the highest since I've been there, so that's a positive to my program. When we took it over, we had, like, four or five kids."