LAS CRUCES, N.M. — As the annual Battle of I-25 football game draws near, so comes the tradition of the burning of the lobo. Each year, New Mexico State University and University of New Mexico students alike burn paper versions of each other’s mascots the Thursday before Saturday’s matchup.
While the exact date of this tradition is unknown, the rivalry itself began in 1894 after both UNM and NMSU were established. This was 18 years before New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state in the U.S.
131 years later, students at NMSU and UNM carry on the rivalry through various traditions and events during the week leading up to the game.
Associated Students of NMSU Director of Activities Matthew Raygoza is the head of the rivalry week festivities. These events include tabling outside Corbett Center Student Union and the burning of the lobo.
Raygoza said he enjoyed the process of getting ready for this week and continuing the traditions.
“Honestly, it’s been a blast,” Raygoza said. “All of our events, just the entire experience with the lobo head, the entire tissue process. It’s definitely tedious, but it’s something that you look back on and [it’s] definitely nostalgic.”
On top of these festivities, he is also responsible for making sure the lobo is constructed on time before it is scheduled to be burned.
During rivalry week, Raygoza’s team from ASNMSU came together to put in the hours as well as hard work to make sure the tissue replica of Louie the Lobo looks his “best” and ready to face the flames.
Raygoza said he is glad ASNMSU puts in the effort of preserving NMSU’s traditions.
“I think it’s great that students come together and just celebrate university traditions,” Raygoza said. “I think that’s something that we do a great job of keeping on, and bringing the students back to annual traditions.”
Along with Raygoza’s team, ASNMSU President Wyatt Ziehe was hands-on with the building, even going as far as fixing the wiring on the inside of the lobo to reshape the head.
Ziehe has been consistent with his interactions with the student body since the beginning of his term in his actions, especially when it comes to encouraging students to interact with events happening on campus. This semester’s football games and tailgates are a prime example of this.
Ziehe said he wants students to know they are welcome to approach him anytime.
“That’s kind of what we do in the office. It’s a tedious balance of working internally and working with my group and making sure they’re getting their job done, but also having fun and interacting with the student body,” Ziehe said. “I should be approachable. People should be able to come into my office whenever they want and I want to show everyone that they can whenever they want.”
Ziehe also said the issue of students leaving events early, especially football games is something his team has taken into consideration.
“Usually, we do a giveaway at the beginning of the game and what we notice is that a bunch of students would come in and just grab the t-shirt and leave,” Ziehe said. “What we did at the [women’s] soccer game is give them a ticket at the start of the game, and then they can redeem that [ticket] for the shirt at halftime.”
Ziehe said his experience in his term of presidency has helped prepare for rivalry week.
“It’s a lot but I think this year we understood that it was a lot, so we were able to get started earlier. We had a lot more help this year than I think in the years past, so huge shout out to everyone who came out and volunteered [tonight],” Ziehe said. “There were 20 people around the lobo and that’s awesome. It’s that sort of thing where we want to foster the environment. We’re playing music, having fun out here, where it’s something fun to do rather than ‘Oh we’ve got to do the lobo again,’ so I think that’s really the biggest difference.”
Ziehe and Raygoza put in their share of the work alongside their team and understand how important teamwork is, an example of Aggies in leadership.
On top of the burning of the lobo, the Aggie soccer team tied with the University of Delaware 1-1 at the NM State Soccer Complex the same night. NMSU is now 1-9-2 on the season (0-0-2 in Conference USA).
The Battle of I-25 will be available for live streaming on Altitude Sports as well as radio coverage from Lobo Radio Network. Kickoff begins at 2 p.m., hosted by the Lobos at University Stadium in Albuquerque.
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