Through the years, the venue for the Joe Vivian Classic has changed, but not the result: Rio Rancho High School always seems to dominate the field.

Second-year Rams mat coach Jason Nickal predicted Class 4A Belen, last year’s state champion, has the Rams in its sights and will be Rio Rancho’s prime contender for the title.

The Joe Vivian Invitational, named for longtime high school wrestling coach Joe Vivian, has been staged seven times to date: The Rams have won six times, with the only time they didn’t nab the title they weren’t entered in the competition. The Rams have two Vivian and state champions from last year, Louis Trujillo and Max Ortega, among the field for this weekend’s 32-team tournament, which is being staged at Albuquerque High. Entered in the annual tourney are host Albuquerque High, Cibola, Cobre, Del Norte, Eldorado, Highland, La Cueva, Manzano, Rio Grande, Sandia, Valley, West Mesa, Belen, Deming, Santa Fe, Piedra Vista, Moriarty, St. Pius X, Farmington, Las Cruces, Robertson, Pecos, St. Michaels, Mayfield, Grants, Gallup, Los Lunas, Carlsbad, Oñate, Capital, Hobbs, Peñasco and the Rams.

Rio Rancho finished fourth at the annual Peoria Invitational Tournament of Champions in Arizona last weekend, which followed by one week a title at the Silver City Invite. In Silver City’s dual format, the Rams beat nine teams en route to the championship, putting their record at 18-0.

Sunnyside High, the top team in Division II in Class 5A in Arizona, won the Peoria crown, followed by Cimarron, the top 5A team in Nevada, and Safford, Arizona’s No. 1 team in Class 3A.

“We beat (Safford) in the Southwest Shootout Duals,” Nickal noted.

But his Rams weren’t at full strength in the Grand Canyon State: 103-Nathaniel Lujan was injured — he’s day-to-day and Nickel isn’t sure of his status for the Vivian Classic n and 152-Armando Mendibles, whom Nickal said had “personal issues,” were missing.

112-Jake Peña, a freshman, stepped in for Lujan and split four matches, Nickal said, while 160-Chris Morales dropped down to 152 to sub for Mendibles.

Rio Rancho had three champions in Peoria, each of whom had won a state title last February: 125-Louis Trujillo, 4-0 in Peoria; 140-Max Ortega (4-0), who was his division’s top seed and was one of three grapplers named “Outstanding Wrestler;” and 171-Paul Cabbage (4-0).

130-Chris Rubalcaba finished third after a tough 14-12 loss.

“He controlled the entire match,” Nickal said. “And I’m not afraid to admit it n there were a couple of bad calls by the official.

“(Rubalcaba) was devastated,” he continued. “He’s worked extremely hard to get where he is. We’re going to turn (the heartbreaking loss) into a positive.”

103-Jake Williams also finished third for the Rams.

“He’s done a wonderful job,” Nickal said of the junior. “It was his first individual tournament with the varsity.”

The Rams had one other “placer,” 119-Caleb Rubalcaba, who was fifth.

Overall, Nickal said, “We struggled a little bit. Some of our younger kids, (if) you don’t get seeded, you meet a top (1, 2 or 3) seed” and get sent into the consolation bracket.

In Silver City on Jan. 4-5, Rio Rancho posted wins over Santa Teresa (75-3), Gadsden (60-15), Hobbs (78-3), Farmington (69-9), Deming (54-13), El Paso Eastwood (63-12), Mayfield (53-12), El Paso Burges (75-0) and host Silver (45-23).

Takedowns: The Rams are in a tournament in Garden City, Kans., next weekend, and then entertain Eldorado in the RAC on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.