"My love for Wrestling is only out gunned by my love for Aztec Wrestling which I've been part of for 55 years. With the help of our community and past wrestlers we have built a 50X100 new wrestling facility that is open to all lovers of wrestling. What Wrestling can do for kids is so much more important now than it has ever been. Our kids need us to push them and make them understand life is not free, you only get what you're willing to put into it. The name COACH means so much to me, it is a word that I work hard to be deserving of, much as a doctor or officer, it has to stand for something and it is earned not demanded".
Coach Herb Stinson
Bio: Herb Stinson
Date of birth/age: March 30, 1952/Age: 69
Born:Farmington, New Mexico
High School: Aztec High School
College: Dixie College St. George 1970-71 - Southern Utah University Cedar City 1971-1975
Wrestling Competition Years
Aztec High School 1967-70
3X NM State Qualifier
2X NM State Placer
Nevada AAU: 1971 Nevada AAU State Champion
Freestyle and Greco: La Vegas YMCA
1971: 5th at AAU Greco Nationals
1971-1974: Southern Utah University
2X Rocky Mountain NAIA Conference Placer
2X National qualifier (never went due to SUU rule)
Coaching Years
1970-71: Dixie High School, St. George, Utah
SUU: Assistant
1975-76: Bloomfield High School, Bloomfield, NM
1976-2000: Aztec High School, Aztec, New Mexico
2000-2012: Bayfield High School, Colorado
Head Coach 1978-2012 (34 years +)
2012-2021: Aztec High School Head Varsity Assistant
2021- Present: Aztec Head Girls and Boys Coach
Head Coach 1978-2012 (34 years +)
Team Accomplishments
State Championships: 1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 (12 total)
Head Varsity Assistant State Championships: 2018-2019-2020-2021
State Runner-up: 1980-1981-1983
Third at State: 1986-1988-1989-(HVA-2017)
District Championships: 21 (20 New Mexico) - 1 Colorado (21) total
Individual State Champions: 61 New Mexico - Colorado 4 (65 total)
As Head Varsity Assistant: 18
Individual State Place winners: 190 NM-Colorado 18 (208 total)
Individual District Champions: 142 NM/Regional Champs Colorado: 18
High School All Americans: 18 NM/Colorado: 1 (19) total
New Mexico Dream Team Members: 16 NM/Colorado (10 All Stars)
Academic All Americans: 10 NM/Colorado 2 (12) total
Wrestling USA Academic Dream Team All American: 1
Individual Coaching Accomplishments:
Current record: 535-92-5 +
New Mexico AAA-A Coach of the Year: 86-90-91-93-95-2000
New Mexico Wrestling Coach of the Year: 89-95-2000
Teacher of the Year City of Aztec / Bayfield Co. 1991/2012
New Mexico Coaches Association Hall of Honor: 1998
Southern Utah University Coaching Factory Hall of Fame: 1998
New Mexico Wrestling Hall of Fame: 2004
National Coach of the Year Wrestling USA Mag.: 1991
National Coach of the Year NFICA: 1995
National Coach of the Year NHSCA: 2000
Navajo Nations Coach of the Year: 2000
Wrestling USA Dream Team Coach vs Iowa: 1998
Colorado All Star Team Coach (South): 2005/2009/2012
IML Coach of the year (Colorado): 2007
Inducted in to NHSACA Hall of Fame: 2016
Zia New Mexico All Star Coach of North: 2017
New Mexico Assistant Wrestling Coach of the Year: 2017
New Mexico Wrestling All Time best NM Coach: 2021
Coached Football 39 years D coordinator 33 years with 57 shutouts and 30 years of playoff seasons /also coached Baseball 10 years.
Has coached in 24 State final events in 3 sports combined winning 16 titles
2021 New Mexico Wrestling G.O.A.T. Voted On By The New Mexico Wrestling Community
National record categories:
Most Tournament wins: 122 NM/17 CO (139) total (4th All Time Best)
Largest Margin of Win: 63.14 points (2ND)
Most State Champions 65 (5TH)
Family:
Terry, wife is a retired second grade teacher
Tonya, daughter is a BYU graduate, who is the Executive Director of Farmington’s Visitor and Convention Bureau.
Jerry, son is a Western New Mexico University graduate and Head of Oncology at Rolla Missouri Cancer Center
Travis son is a Texas A&M graduate and Engineer with TechnipFMC Technical Authority, Workover Systems in Houston Texas
All three of his kids were top student-athletes at Aztec High School, winning state titles and All-State awards.