AZTEC – Raymond Zane Chapman, a high school champion wrestler and part of the history of outstanding student athletes from Aztec High School, will graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy on May 24.
According to a news release from the Naval Academy Public Affairs Office, Chapman is completing four years of challenging academic, physical and professional military training, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor’s in quantitative economics and a commission as a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant.
Chapman was a manager of the wrestling team at the Naval Academy.
While attending Aztec High School, Chapman was an integral part of three state championship teams. Chapman brought home an individual title in 2020, winning the Class 4A 152-pound weight class with a decision over Miguel Andrade of Los Lunas.
In 2018, Chapman finished third overall in the Class 5A 138-pound division, beating Jordan Gallegos of Los Lunas in a decision.
At the time,Chapman received his appointment to the Naval Academy, Chapman was a member of the National Honors Society and had been volunteering at the San Juan Regional Medical Center.
Chapman told the New Mexico Activities Association that getting an invitation to the Academy was the culmination of years of hard work.
“I pursued this for the past six years,” Chapman said in 2020. “When I was in middle school, my buddy’s older brother got into the military academy at West Point and I thought it would be a good fit. I fell in love with the idea of going.”
Former Aztec High wrestling coach Herb Stinson guided Chapman through his high school career, and the two kept in contact through his days in Annapolis, Maryland.
“It’s a real proud achievement for him ,and it means a lot for our program to have had someone like him reach this point in his life,” Stinson said. “It’s no easy feat to go to the Academy much less graduate from there.”
The Brigade of Midshipmen is composed of approximately 4,400 students from every state in the union. Each year, approximately 1,200 young men and women are admitted to the Naval Academy’s incoming class.
The academy’s alumni include, one president, 21 members of Congress, five governors, 73 Medal of Honor recipients, two Nobel Prize winners, 54 astronauts and 4,000 admirals and generals.
