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Former BHS wrestling coach earns more top honors

Stinson enshrined by National High School Athletic Coaches Association's Hall of Fame

Blessed with a singular sound in his shouts from coaches' chairs at the edge of mats all around Colorado and New Mexico, former Bayfield High School head coach Herb Stinson recently received a new - but familiar - award to add to his well-known wrestling saga.

Which, to be fair, truly developed in the Land of Enchantment after he began preparing to take over at Aztec for predecessor (and head coach during his own Tiger days) Jerry Parker during the nation's bicentennial year of 1976. He had a lengthy chapter added between 2000 and 2012 in Colorado with the Wolverines.

Currently back at Aztec as Monte Maxwell's top assistant, Stinson was inducted Tuesday into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association's Hall of Fame, at a luncheon in conjunction with the NHSACA Annual Convention and accompanying National Coach-of-the-Year awards banquet - held the following evening in Louisville, Kentucky.

Enshrined with the association's 21st Hall of Fame class, Stinson - probably best known for directing Aztec to eleven straight NMAA Class A-AAA State Championships starting in 1990 - was officially nominated by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association, which had already inducted him into its Hall of Honor back in '98.

Stinson's first Tiger team to hoist a state champion trophy was his '81-82 crew, which did so 11 years after Parker's 1970-71 team last prevailed. After his initial departure from AHS, the Tigers maintained a level of excellence earning them the AAAA title under successor Rodney Romero.

Though no BHS squad ever earned the CHSAA Class 3A crown under his watch, several individuals earned state championship titles. Loren Morrison won the individual 171-pound championship in 2005, current 2A Ignacio coach Jordan Larsen won at 152 in 2008, and later standout Aaron Velasquez conquered at 152 in '11 and at 160 in '12. All told, Stinson, now 64 years young, guided 65 state champs (61 at AHS) as a head coach - currently the fifth-most in its history, according to the NHSACA.

The National High School Athletic Coaches Association is the United States' oldest such association. NHSACA has been recognizing national coaches-of-the-year since 1978.

DID YOU KNOW: Stinson's coaching career actually began not at Aztec (from which he graduated in 1970), but in the '75-76 season as an assistant at nearby rival Bloomfield. He officially became Aztec's boss in 1978 after working as the retiring Parker's aide for two years.

In 1991, Stinson was named National Coach-of-the-Year by Wrestling USA Magazine, and received National Wrestling Coach of the Year distinction from the National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches Association after the '94-95 season, in which the Tigers finished with a #8 national ranking from USA Today.