The high school chess team clinched its third straight state championship at the 2025 NMAA 4A/5A State High School Team Chess Tournament in Las Cruces on February 6-7. The team opened with a 3-3 tie against Los Alamos but won its remaining matches – sweeping Santa Teresa 6-0 and defeating Centennial and La Cueva 4-2 – to finish in first place with a match score of 3.5 out of 4.
High school team members included:
- Mark Goldman ’29
- Arjun Grandhe ’27
- Dhruv Grandhe ’25
- Dana Poon ’26
- Marcelo Tohen ’26
- Aarush Tutiki ’26
- JR Zhao ’27
Alternates Aravind Chary ’25 and Daniel Luo ’25 competed in an individual side tournament, tying for first and second place, respectively.
Academy’s middle school team placed third in its division at the state competition. Coached by Christian von Huene and sponsored by Orlando Leyba, the middle school team included:
- Aadit Balwan ’31
- Zoheb Barrantes ’31
- Oscar Iglesias-Flores ’31
- Nikhil Roy ’31
- Laasya Tutiki ’29
A separate scholastic tournament in March or April will determine individual state champions.
