AZTEC – Cory Gropp, a former high school basketball coach in both Colorado and his native state of Texas, has been named to the position of athletic director for Aztec High School.
Gropp, an educator for more than 20 years and a graduate of West Texas A&M University, was promoted to the school’s athletic director position last month after the resignation of Bryan Sanders.
Gropp had most recently served as a career counselor and career and technical education teacher at both Aztec High School and Vista Nueva High School. Before that, Gropp also worked as a varsity head basketball coach at Montezuma-Cortez High School and as an as assistant director of admissions at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.
The Waco, Texas, native is excited about the opportunity to lead the Tigers athletic department, one of the most successful prep sports programs in northern New Mexico.
“There are so many strong teams here at Aztec, and the ties with the community are deep,” Gropp said. “So I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Aztec High School boasts one of the strongest prep wrestling programs in the Southwest. Now under the guidance of new head coach Levi Stout, the Tigers wrestling team has won a combined 20 state titles dating to 1963.
“The wrestling team is just one of the winning traditions at Aztec High,” Gropp said. “The work there is to always be at the top. Aztec’s baseball and softball teams both reached the postseason last year as well.”
The Tigers sports teams have yielded 29 overall state championships, in wrestling as well as softball, track and field, girls basketball and football.
Aztec High’s football team, coming off a 5-7 season last fall, will be looking to snap a three-season streak of losing records. Last season, under first year head coach and former Aztec High alumni Hank Strauss, the Tigers reached the Class 4A state tournament before being eliminated in the first round. The 2023 football season is scheduled to open Friday, Aug. 18 at home against Miyamura.
“I have a great deal of faith and belief in our coaching staffs to get the team where we need it to be this season,” Gropp said.
Gropp said that since accepting the position to lead the Aztec athletic department, he’s had a lot of support from administrators across the county.
“Ben Tensay (Bloomfield AD) and Isaac Gamboa (Farmington Schools AD) have both been very supportive in giving me all the help I need to make this transition a smooth one,” Gropp said.
