Mason Posa captures Dave Schultz Award, which recognizes top wrestler

Dave Schultz is one of wrestling’s most well known names. And Mason Posa’s name is now forever linked with the late Olympian.

Posa, the La Cueva High School senior, is New Mexico’s recipient of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

The award is named for Schultz, a former Olympic and World champion who was murdered in 1996. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (which announced this year’s state winners) in 1997 and the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.

Posa capped a spectacular career with the Bears in February. He completed a 43-0 season, and won his fourth individual state championship. Posa won state at four different weight classes. He was Class 5A’s heavyweight champ this year.

He lost only three matches in his La Cueva career, two as a freshman, and he admitted that he likely would have had a terrific chance to be a prominent wrestler in college if that was his primary sport.

“I think so,” Posa said. “I do really well without wrestling year round, and I wrestle other kids from other states and I still beat them, and they were wrestling year round.”

All but a couple of the Schultz state winners are wrestling in college. Posa is one of the exceptions; he has signed to play football at Wisconsin.

“I feel like if I truly focused on wrestling I’d probably have the same amount of recruitment I (had) with football,” Posa said.

He probably could have bypassed wrestling last season to focus on his transition to college football, but it was important to him to end his La Cueva career on the mat, and to break a tie with his father, Javier, who had three state titles during his days at Santa Fe High.

“I really didn’t want to sit out my senior year ... You only get one senior year,” he said. “I’m kind of glad I stayed here. Wrestling holds a special place in my heart for what it’s done for me in football, and for the records, the state titles.”

The Schultz Award goes not just to the most outstanding senior male wrestler, but is intended to recognize athletes for their scholastic achievement, citizenship and community service.