We’ve updated and reworked the football record book, including 130 new individual entires, 84 team entries, and updates to 24 coaching records.
Category: History
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Goal in fifth OT lifts Valor Christian over Fort Collins for first state hockey title
More photos. (CHSAANow.com) DENVER — The best things in life never come easy. That was a lesson the Valor Christian hockey learned Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.
The Eagles put 84 shots on goal against Fort Collins goalie Sam Simon. None of them went in.
But the 85th did — in the fifth overtime. Valor Christian’s Evan Pahos scored the winner with two minutes to play.
The result was elation. Elation from the Valor Christian players and elation from their fans that never wavered and never once thought of abandoning what may have been the greatest Colorado high school state championship game of all time.
With a 1-0 win, the Eagles are state hockey champions for the first time.
“I’ve been wanting this moment ever since I came here my sophomore year and started playing hockey here,” Valor goalie Trey Hirschfield said. “We got close one time. Before the season started, I knew we had to win or I would be crushed.”
But there were times where it seemed like no matter what happened, that puck was never going to get by Simon. After putting 14 shots on the net in the first period alone, the Eagles started the second period with another salvo at the Lambkins’ net.
Simon blocked one shot before an attempt off the rebound sailed over his left shoulder, but wide of the net. With nothing falling, the last thing coach George Gwozdecky wanted to see from his team was frustration and doubt start creeping into their heads.
“You just keep talking to them,” Gwozdecky said. “You educate on how tournament games are going to go and you have to prepare yourself for overtime.”
But maybe not five. The game was the longest state championship hockey game in state history.
More photos. (Paul Shepardson/PaulShedardsonPhotography.com) Gwozdecky noted that the all the snacks and items that the Eagles brought to keep their energy up ran out after the first overtime. But they kept skating hard and firing shots on the net. Simon just kept turning them away.
“Sam Simon did a great job,” Gwozdecky said. “There are so many superlatives that you can use to describe his performance, but he was outstanding.”
As was Hirschfield. Regulation ended with neither goalie giving anything away. Then the first overtime. Then the second.
And so on.
But in the fifth overtime, as jokes were made from the stands about students having to get to school, Simon finally got beat.
Pahos scored the game-winning goal with 2:12 to play in the fifth OT for the Eagles:
Here's the goal that won the title for Valor Christian in the fifth OT! #copreps pic.twitter.com/lmpTKFD0FZ
— Colorado HS Hockey (@ColoHSHockey) March 11, 2020
“I saw the shots going into that fifth overtime and he had 76 saves,” Pahos said. “I’ve never seen that in my life and he had the game of a lifetime. It was getting annoying. We had to keep going and try to wear him out. Finally one by him.”
The championship-winning goal caps a remarkable week for Pahos, who also scored the game-winner against Regis Jesuit to put the Eagles in the state title game.
More photos. (Paul Shepardson/PaulShedardsonPhotography.com) It was a complete team effort for all 88-plus minutes of hockey that was played on the sheet of ice normally home to the Colorado Avalanche. Example No. 1 is the way that Hirschfield kept his composure especially watching what Simon was doing from the other side.
“It was mostly my team and the guys in front of me, my defense,” Hirschfield said. “They were phenomenal tonight and put everything on the line. We had two guys block shots with their faces.”
Go big or go home. And that’s exactly what both teams did on Tuesday.
It may not feel like for the Lambkins, but there were no losers at Pepsi Center. Valor Christian may have won the game, but the chatter for years to come will certainly surround a monumental effort from Fort Collins and its netminder.
It is believed that the 84 saves from Simon tied a national record for saves in a game.
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Dave Logan among seven inductees for the 2020 NFHS Hall of Fame class
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com) INDIANAPOLIS – Seven outstanding former high school athletes highlight the 2020 class of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National High School Hall of Fame, including three who went on to earn gold medals in the Olympics and four others who excelled in professional football, basketball and baseball.
Joining the seven former athletes in this year’s class are three highly successful high school coaches, one former state association administrator and one speech and debate coach in the performing arts area. The 12 honorees will be inducted July 1 at the 38th induction ceremony of the National High School Hall of Fame, which will be held at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
The four high school athletes who went on to professional stardom are Dave Logan of Colorado, Tim Couch ofKentucky, Matt Holliday of Oklahoma and Alex English of South Carolina. Other athletes in the 2020 class are three female stars who landed Olympic gold in the Olympics: Karyn Bye Dietz of Wisconsin, Maicel (Malone) Green of Indiana andMichele Smith of New Jersey.
Logan was a three-sport standout (football, basketball and baseball) at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School in the early 1970s and was drafted by teams in all three professional sports. He was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then was a wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns (eight years) and Denver Broncos (one year). In his second career also worthy of Hall of Fame notice, Logan has coached four different Denver-area schools to eight state high school football championships during the past 26 years.
Couch had a record-setting football career as a quarterback at Leslie County High School In Hyden, Kentucky, in the mid-1990s. Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He was named National Player of the Year as a senior. Couch also excelled in basketball, leading the state in scoring as a senior with 37 points per game. He had a stellar career at the University of Kentucky and played five years with the Cleveland Browns.
Holliday was a three-sport player – and two-sport star – at Stillwater (Oklahoma) High School in the late 1990s. As a quarterback in football for three years, Holliday passed for 68 touchdowns. He was a four-year starter in baseball and hit .443 as a senior with 12 home runs. He played with four teams during his 20-year professional baseball career, which ended in 2018 with the Colorado Rockies. Holliday was second in the MVP voting with the Rockies in 2007 and won a World Series in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
English is perhaps the greatest basketball in history in the state of South Carolina. He was a three-time all-state selection and Player of the Year at Dreher High School in Columbia, and he was the leading scorer in University of South Carolina history. English played 16 years in the National Basketball Association, including 10 years with the Denver Nuggets when he scored 2,000 points in eight consecutive seasons.
Dietz was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. She was team captain and three-time all-conference while playing on the River Falls boys hockey team. She also played field hockey and softball. She later excelled in ice hockey at the University of New Hampshire and played on the 1998 Olympic women’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal.
Green was a track and field star at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987. She won 11 of a possible 12 state titles in the three sprints (100, 200, 400) during her four years at North Central. She set state records in all three events and helped North Central to two state championships. She later won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics as a part of the 400-meter relay team.
Smith was a three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey. She participated in field hockey, basketball and softball, which became her top sport. Smith had a 51-6 record with 11 no-hitters as a pitcher and helped her team to the state title as a junior. She had an outstanding career at Oklahoma State University with an 82-20 record and was the starting pitcher for the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold medals in 1996 and 2000.
Three outstanding high school coaches are a part of the 2020 class, including Rickey Baker, who led Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona, to a national-record 27 consecutive state cross country championships from 1990 to 2017. Another coach in this year’s class is Charles Berry, who retired in 2018 after a 57-year career as a girls and boys basketball coach in Arkansas. With most of his years at Huntsville High School, Berry won 1,377 games as a boys and girls basketball coach. The final coach in the class is Terry Michler, the winningest boys soccer coach in history from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Michler has won 1,004 games and nine state championships during his 48-year career.
Completing the 2020 class are Bill Farney, who served on the administrative staff of the Texas University Interscholastic League for 32 years, including 14 years as executive director, and Robert Littlefield, one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for 45 years.
Following is biographical information on the 12 inductees in the 2020 class of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.
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ATHLETES
Tim Couch
During his football career at Leslie County High School in Hyden, Kentucky in the mid-1990s, Tim Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He helped Leslie County to a 13-1 record as a junior while completing an amazing 75 percent of his passes – a national record that stood for 15 years. As a senior, he passed for 42 touchdowns and led his team to an 11-3 mark, and was named Gatorade and USA Today National Player of the Year while earning Mr. Football honors in Kentucky. ESPN.com selected Couch the sixth-best high school athlete in history. Couch was equally dominant on the basketball court. He scored 3,023 points in his career, leading the state in scoring as a senior at 37 points per game. He was two-time all-state in basketball. Couch’s football prowess continued at the University of Kentucky, where he passed for 8,159 yards and 73 touchdowns in his final two seasons. He led Kentucky to the Outback Bowl after his junior season and was fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Couch was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns and passed for more than 11,000 yards and 64 touchdowns in his five years with the Browns.
Karyn Bye Dietz
Karyn Bye Dietz was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. Amazingly, Dietz was a three-time all-conference and team captain of the boys ice hockey team at River Falls. With the formation of girls hockey teams still almost 20 years down the road, Dietz became one of the state’s top players on the boys team. She also earned four letters in tennis and was a three-time state qualifier, and she was captain of the River Falls softball team and was three-time all-conference and all-state as a senior. She batted over .500 in both her junior and senior seasons. Dietz was the leading scorer all four years on the women’s ice hockey team at the University of New Hampshire and was team captain in her final two seasons. Dietz was a member of the USA National Ice Hockey Team for many years and was Player of the Year in 1995 and 1998. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams that earned a gold medal at the 1998 Games in Japan and a silver medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Alex English
Prior to his stellar college and professional careers, Alex English was one of the top high school basketball players in South Carolina history during his days at Dreher High School in Columbia. English was a first-team all-state selection three consecutive years, Player of the Year in South Carolina in 1971 and 1972, and was a two-time all-American. He set the all-time scoring records at Dreher, and his No. 22 jersey was later retired. English stayed home for his college career and is still known as the greatest player in the University of South Carolina history. He ranks first in scoring and third in rebounding in Gamecocks’ history and was a two-time all-American, and he had his second No. 22 jersey retired by USC. While he played for four teams during his 16-year professional career, English will always be remembered for his decade of the 1980s with the Denver Nuggets. He was the NBA’s leading scorer in the 1980s with 19,682 points and was the first player in league history to score 2,000 points in eight straight seasons. English set 31 records in 10 seasons with the Nuggets and is the team’s all-time leader in points (21,645) and assists (3,679). English was an eight-time all-star – all with the Nuggets – and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Maicel (Malone) Green
As a member of the girls track and field team at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987, Maicel Malone was one of the most decorated athletes in Indiana high school track and field history and was, perhaps, the first superstar in any Indiana girls sport. She was an 11-time state champion in the 12 sprint events during her four years of competing in the state track and field meet. She won the 100 and 400 meters all four years and the 200 meters three years (finished second as a sophomore). She is still the Indiana state record holder in the 200 (23.12 in 1986) and the 400 (52.42 in 1986), and her 100-meter state record (11.52 in 1986) stood until 2015. She is the only Indiana female athlete to set three state records (100, 200, 400) in the same meet (1986). Malone (now Maicel Green) helped North Central to two state championships – as a freshman in 1984 and in her senior season in 1987. She was a four-time NCAA champion in the 400 meters (three indoor, one outdoor) at Arizona State University, and she was a member of the 400-meter relay team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She won five other gold medals in international competition and was inducted into the Indiana Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1993.
Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday would rank high on a list of the top high school athletes in Oklahoma history, thanks to his days as a three-sport player and two-sport star at Stillwater High School in the late 1990s. He was a three-year starter at quarterback in football and led his team to a 30-6 record while passing for 6,211 yards and 68 touchdowns. In baseball, he was a four-year starter at third base and he also was a pitcher. He hit .438 as a junior and .443 as a senior with a combined 18 home runs. In between those sports, he was a three-year starter on the basketball team. Holliday was highly recruited in both football and baseball by a number of top universities, including his hometown choice of Oklahoma State University, but he was drafted in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft and embarked on a 20-year professional baseball career that ended in October 2018. Holliday played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and returned to the Rockies to close his career. In 15 major league seasons, Holliday hit 316 home runs and finished with a .299 career average. His best season was 2007 when he hit .340 with 36 home runs and 137 runs batted in for the Rockies and finished second in the MVP voting. He was a member of the 2011 Cardinals team that won the World Series.
Dave Logan
In a state rich with standout high school athletes, Dave Logan was second to none during his days as a three-sport star at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School from 1969 to 1972. And with his eight state championships as a high school football coach the past 26 years, Logan has become the face of high school sports and activities in Colorado. He was two-time all-state in football as a wide receiver and defensive back and received the Gold Helmet Award as a senior as the state’s top senior player, scholar and citizen. He was a three-year starter in basketball and was Colorado Sidelines Player of the Year after averaging 24.1 points per game. In earning three letters in baseball, Logan hit .380 and was 7-2 as a pitcher as a senior and claimed all-state and team MVP honors. And if that wasn’t enough, Logan was a trombone player in the school band. He was one of only three multi-sport players who was drafted by all three major sports organizations. Logan was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then played nine years as a wide receiver in the National Football League, including eight years with the Cleveland Browns and his final season with the Denver Broncos. Logan has coached four schools to state football titles, including the 2019 championship with Cherry Creek High School in metro Denver. Finally, Logan is the radio voice of the Denver Broncos and hosts a popular midday radio talk show.
Michele Smith
Michele Smith was an accomplished three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, in the early 1980s. As a pitcher in softball, she was 51-6 and recorded 11 no-hitters. She helped her team to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state softball title as a junior with a 23-1 record, 0.17 earned-run average and 229 strikeouts. She was selected to the all-state softball team three consecutive years. In field hockey, Smith was named first team all-conference as a junior and senior, and in basketball, she scored 1,114 points in her career and was a two-time all-conference selection. At Oklahoma State University, Smith compiled an 82-20 record as a pitcher, and her career batting average was .343 with 15 home runs. She was a three-time All-Big Eight Conference selection and was a two-time Division I All-American. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic softball teams in 1996 and 2000, and she was the starting pitcher for both gold-medal winning teams. She also played on three gold-medal winning World Championships teams and two teams that won gold medals at the Pan American Games. Smith joined ESPN in 1995 and has been the lead college softball analyst since 1998. In 2012, she was the first woman to serve as commentator for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game.
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COACHES
Rickey Baker
Rickey Baker has become one of the most successful boys cross country coaches in the nation since his arrival at Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona in 1987. Three years later, Baker led Hopi to its first state boys cross country championship, and his teams didn’t lose another state title until 2017 – a streak of 27 consecutive team championships. The 27 consecutive state cross country titles is a national record and is third all-time when considering all sports (girls swimming and boys swimming). Baker’s 1999 team scored a perfect 15, which means Hopi runners finished 1-2-3-4-5. Perhaps most amazing about the streak is that Hopi continued to win despite moving into larger classifications. Hopi won 11 straight 2A titles (1990-2000), six consecutive 3A titles (2001-2006) and 10 straight 4A titles (2007-16). Since the streak ended, Hopi has finished runner-up the past three years. Baker started coaching the girls cross country team three years ago and has led his teams to two second-place finishes. He has also coached Hopi’s boys basketball team for 18 years, with a 2A state title in 1997, and the girls and boys track and field teams for the past 10 years. Nine of his track and field athletes have won individual state titles. During his days as a high school athlete, Baker was Arizona’s one-mile champion in 1977 while attending Winslow High School, and he was a member of Winslow’s state cross country team in 1976.
Charles Berry
Charles Berry retired in 2018 after an amazing 57-year career as a boys and girls basketball coach in Arkansas. After four years in the Hector School District and two years in Plemerville, Arkansas, Berry moved to Huntsville in 1967 and remained for 51 years. He resurrected a dormant boys basketball program upon his arrival and coached the boys team for the next 20 years. In 1978, he established the girls basketball team, which he coached until his retirement in 2018. Berry’s overall combined record as a high school boys and girls coach was 1,377-686, with a 1,116-619 record at Huntsville. Along the way, he won two Arkansas Activities Association state girls basketball championships (1997, 2008), and his girls teams finished second two other times (1984, 2013). Berry’s teams made 30 appearances in the state tournament, and they won 16 conference championships and six regional titles. The Huntsville High School gym was renamed Charles H. Berry Gymnasium in 2006, and Berry was inducted into the Arkansas Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
Terry Michler
Terry Michler is the winningest boys high school soccer coach in history, and this past season, he eclipsed the 1,000-victory mark in his 48th season at his alma mater, Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. After graduating from Rockhurst College in Kansas City and playing professional soccer for three years, Michler returned to CBC in 1972 to direct the soccer program. After the 2019 season, Michler’s career coaching mark stands at 1,004-284-117. His CBC teams have claimed 31 district championships and have won nine Missouri State High School Activities Association State Soccer Championships in 15 appearances. Michler’s state titles have been distributed throughout his career, with his first in 1983 and his last in 2018. His teams have been ranked nationally in 13 different seasons, and he has had about 300 former players who played at the college level and more than 30 who played professionally. Michler has written – or helped to write – four books on soccer, and he has been inducted in numerous other halls of fame, including the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and the CBC Sports Hall of Fame.
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ADMINISTRATOR
Bill Farney
Bill Farney retired as executive director of the Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) in 2009 after leading the nation’s largest state association staff for 14 years. Farney joined the UIL in 1977 and served as an assistant director and athletic director for 18 years before assuming the executive director’s position in 1995. During his tenure at the UIL, Farney developed the academic and fine arts programs into the most expansive offerings of any state association. He also helped to expand more opportunities for girls by adding team tennis, soccer, softball and wrestling as sanctioned sports. Farney also developed a waiver process to help disadvantaged students with unavoidable circumstances, and he also implemented the Coaches and Officials Positive Expectations (COPE) course for coaches and players to learn proper sportsmanlike conduct. Farney was a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent at schools in Oklahoma and Texas for 15 years before joining the UIL, including the final seven years as superintendent of schools in Crawford, Texas. Farney earned his bachelor’s degree from Tulsa University and his master’s and doctorate from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He was a member of the NFHS Board of Directors, NFHS Basketball Rules Committee, NFHS Swimming and Diving Rules Committee and the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
PERFORMING ARTS
Robert Littlefield
Robert Littlefield has been one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for more than 45 years. After beginning his career as director of forensics and fine arts in the Barnesville (Minnesota) Public Schools in 1974, Littlefield worked at the high school and college levels in North Dakota until 2016, when he moved to the University of Central Florida. In addition to serving as debate coach at Shanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota, for eight years, Littlefield was the state planner and coordinator for speech clinics for high school teachers and students for more than 20 years. He also coordinated summer speech and debate camps for high school students and was founder and executive director of the Valley Forensic League. During his time at Shanley, Littlefield revitalized the program and had teams regularly place at regional, state and national competition. Littlefield has been involved in national leadership positions with both Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Honorary and the National Speech and Debate Association. In addition to service on boards and committees with these organizations, Littlefield’s research, development and publication in scholastic journals and instructional workbooks has been extensive. During most of his time in North Dakota, Littlefield was a professor at North Dakota State University and directed the NDSU Speech and Debate Invitational for 25 years.
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State skiing: Aspen claims team titles as Weiss siblings win nordic again
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) EDWARDS — Aspen claimed both the boys and girls state skiing championships on Friday behind outstanding individual performances which saw the programs claim six individual championships in the eight events.
And on Friday, that meant the Weiss siblings — Elsie and Anders — repeated their feat from Thursday when the brother-sister duo claimed the nordic events. This time, they each won the skate.
It helped Aspen’s boys win a third-straight state title, and 10th overall. The Skiers amassed 667 points, ahead of second-place Battle Mountain (620). Middle Park was third with 579, Steamboat Springs (555) was fourth and Evergreen (484) was fifth.
The Aspen girls won for the third time in six years, and ninth overall. They totaled 674 points. Battle Mountain (607.5 points) was second, Summit (561) was third, Middle Park (533.5) was fourth, and Steamboat Springs (530) placed fifth.
Aspen’s Charlie Olsen won boys slalom event, recording the fastest time in each run. His combined time of 1:20.6 led the field, and earned him a state title. Battle Mountain’s Will Bettenhausen was second (1:21.57), and Durango’s Toby Scarpella, who won the giant slalom on Thursday, was third in 1:22.08.
Overall, Aspen continued its strong alpine showing with five races among the top 11 finishers.
The boys race had 17 racers who didn’t finish the first run, two who didn’t start, and another seven who were disqualified. Eight more didn’t finish the second run, and three more were disqualified. In total, 64 of the original 101 entrants finished both runs.
Olyvia Snyder. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) In the girls’ slalom, Olyvia Snyder of Summit capture the state title on the strength of second-run time of 41.86 which propelled her to a combined time of 1:22.12. Battle Mountain’s Berit Frischholz was second in 1:22.61, and Aspen’s Stella Sherlock was third (1:23.49).
Snyder’s win paced an impressive performance from Summit in the event, which placed four among the top 11.
When it came time for the nordic events at Maloit Park in Minturn, the Weiss tandem doubled up their titles.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) Elsie, a freshman, won the girls race with a time of 14:43.5, edging out Colorado Rocky Mountain’s Lola Villafranco, who finished in 14:45.1.
Aspen’s Emma Barsness was third in 14:52.3, helping to lead an unbelievable contingent of Skiers at the top: four of the top five, five of the top eight, and six among the top 11.
Anders Weiss, a sophomore, led the boys skate field with a time of 12:17.0, ahead of teammate Taiga Moore (12:35.9) in second. Eagle Valley’s Ferguson St. John was third in 12:38.7.
Middle Park had three finishers in the top eight, led by Kimo Sullivan in fourth place (13:04.9).
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2A state wrestling: Wray dominant in run to 14th state championship
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — For the Wray Eagles, the night started with redemption. It ended the same way as last year’s state wrestling tournament; with an all-time record.
For the 14th time, the Eagles are the wrestling champion of Colorado. It’s a number that for the foreseeable future will go unmatched as was their 13th title that they claimed on this very same weekend a year ago. It’s also the third consecutive title for the Eagles.
“They set their goals the beginning of the year and the whole team’s been working their butts off and it’s nice to see it paid off,” coach Matt Brown said. “Last year we went 0-4 in finals and I think that shocked them a little bit and I think they went after a little harder this year.”
The difference in this win was the early emotional boost that came with it. In the second match of the night on the Class 2A mat, senior Cade Rockwell made up for last year’s painful defeat in the 113-pound title match. When the final whistle blew, the pain of last year and weight of defeat lifted away as his arms extended into the air.
It capped a remarkable tournament run where the Eagles had wrapped up the team title before they marched their four title contenders out in the Parade of Champions. They finished with 162.5 points. Rocky Ford was the runner-up with 123.5 points.
“Our team is great,” Rockwell said. “We all love each other. All we care about is wrestling and sticking up for going to each other all the time.”
For a year Rockwell worked through the sweat and tears. Midway through his match he had to add so blood into the mix. Despite a stoppage to attend to a bloody nose, he kept his focus on Cedaredge’s Lane Hunsberger and built a 12-2 lead as the final whistle blew, his hand was raised with a 12-2 major decision victory.
“He was talking to me the whole match on top and you have to let it go,” Rockwell said. “You wrestle your match and you humble yourself and you do the best you can.”
Rye’s Michael Atencio, the cause of Rockwell’s anguish from a year ago, also walked off the floor at Pepsi Center with a victory and a second state championship. He claimed the 120-pound championship. A junior, Atencio has a chance to become a three-time champion at next year’s tournament.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) Oran Huff out of Lyons derailed a different bid for a third title. The defending champion of the 126-pound bracket, he held off Cedaredge junior Trey Geyer, a 2019 state champion at 120 via a 4-1 decision. Had Geyer won the match, he would’ve looked to 2021 for a chance to claim a fourth title.
“I knew I could beat him,” Huff said. “Just like last year I came out with confidence in my coaching and my training and my ability. That’s what it takes.”
It wasn’t too long after Huff’s win that a fourth state title opportunity made its way to Mat 2. John Mall’s Wesley VanMatre battled to a 10-3 decision win over Lyons’ David Gardner.
VanMatre’s title victory will certainly be a chapter in one of the most historic nights of Colorado wrestling history. He shared the honor with three other competitors marking 2020 the year that the most four-time champions were crowned.
It’s just one aspect of this year’s competition that makes the event special, an event where Wray walked into Saturday night with a 14th team title already in hand. It might be the most in state history, but Brown would never allow the quantity to water down the significance of the achievement. Tyler Collins also claimed a title at 152 and four other Eagles found their way to the podium..
“The time they put in and all the offseason stuff made this group special,” he said. “It’s an awesome group to be a part of.”
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3A wrestling: Eaton and Valley share team title in rare tie
(Dan Morhmann/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — Eaton and Valley earned a share of the team title at the Class 3A state wrestling championships — the first tie in state wrestling since 1992.
For two straight years, Eaton had “runner-up” labeled on it’s wrestling program. This year, they took one step further to the elusive team title.
“The monkey is not completely off our back yet,” Eaton coach Tony Mustari said. “We still have some work to do in the offseason to get better and fully take that team title home.”
Eaton’s Tanner True had one last chance to break the tie and vault his team into first place alone with his 285-pound division bout — and Valley could only watch.
“We wrestled our hearts out in every match we had,” Valley coach Ruben Lucero said. “If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.”
University’s Emanuel Munoz-Alcala held on for the 3-2 decision over True, resulting in the two-way tie between Eaton and Valley.
“We told him, ‘Worst case scenario, we have a split team title,’” Mustari said. “‘Go out and let it go. Wrestle like you do every day in practice.’ He wrestled from whistle to whistle and was always looking to score points — and that’s all we can ask.”
Jefferson placed third, while two-time defending champ Alamosa finished fifth.
Eaton’s Ryan Dirksen kept his team in front of the team race with a last-second pin of Jefferson’s Zander Condit.
(Cannon Casey/CHSAANow.com) “We had no idea we would be that far,” Dirksen said after his match. “Knowing that now, it’s amazing I could do that for my team.”
Down to his last second and trailing 9-4, Dirksen had to go to work. He escaped a hold, then flipped Condit on his back for a pin as time expired. The judges gathered together and awarded Dirksen the win.
“I was just looking for a pin,” Dirksen said. “I was thinking, ‘Please, I know I pinned him.’ Once you get out there it kind of all goes blurry, and if you have the right mindset, it’s only you, the refs, and the mat.”
With the pin, Dirksen put the Reds in first place for the time being.
“These guys responded to the call tremendously this weekend,” Mustari said. “They come back and keep fighting, getting better every single time they step on the mat, and that’s all we can ask of them.”
Trailing in the team standings after Dirksen’s pin, Valley’s Jaziah Whaley held his team’s title hopes in his hands ahead of his bout.
“Going into that match, my coaches came and told me a major decision gets us the lead,” Whaley said. “That was the goal. Go out there and get the major.”
Whaley completed his undefeated campaign and individual 160-pound title defense with a major decision vs. Tanner Baumgartner (Weld Central).
“It’s unreal,” Whaley said. “The goal coming into high school was four [titles]. Settle for the next best thing: two.”
However, Whaley’s flurry of points in the third period meant much more than an individual title. His major decision resulted in a temporary tie at the top of the team standings with Eaton.
And, after the last match of the night, that tie at the top became permanent.
(Cannon Casey/CHSAANow.com) [divider]
106-pound division
Roberto Estrada (Weld Central) won by decision, 3-0, over Matthew Medina (Eagle Valley) to complete his undefeated season with a state title in the 106-pound division.
“I wrote down a goal at the beginning of the year,” Estrada said. “State champ with a perfect season, and I did it tonight. Special night.”
113-pound division
Jefferson’s Angelo Lozado wrapped up a 6-1 decision against Alamosa’s Davion Chavez to give life to the Saints’ run at the 3A team title. This was Lozado’s second individual title.
120-pound division
Isaiah Gamez (La Junta) was looking for a third individual title, but Brady Hankin (Woodland Park) held off Gamez for an 11-6 decision. Hankin won the 106-pound title in 2019.
126-pound division
Jacob Duran (Fort Lupton) edged Johnny Masopust (Florence) in a 4-3 decision for his second individual title.
132-pound division
Zane Rankin (Lamar) repeated as the 132-pound champion after a hard-fought 2-1 decision over Zach Marrero (Strasburg).
138-pound division
Isaiah Rios (Valley) defended his 138-pound title vs. Lucas Comroe (Eagle Valley). Rios’ second individual title came off a clean 10-1 major decision.
(Cannon Casey/CHSAANow.com) 152-pound division
Cameron Lucero (Pagosa Springs) put a stop to any chance Jefferson had at the team title. Lucero won a 2-0 decision vs. Nick Gallegos (Jefferson) for his second individual title.
170-pound division
Mac Copeland (Bennett) pinned Cole Gray (Woodland Park) at the 4:40 mark.
182-pound division
Cody DuBois (Bennett) joined Copeland, his teammate, as an individual champion. DuBois’ major decision vs. Brian Paxton (Fort Morgan) solidified him as the 182-pound champion.
195-pound division
Nick Wellen (Brush) won by decision, 5-2, over Jeremiah Garcia (Platte Valley).
220-pound division
John Foutz (Bayfield) topped Cody Ponce (Eagle Valley) by decision, 4-1.
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5A wrestling: Pomona stakes claim to 4th team title in 5 years
Pomona – Class 5A state champions. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) DENVER — Pomona left no doubt when it comes to the Class 5A state wrestling team title.
“I’ll tell you what. It was fun,” Pomona coach Sam Federico said. “Man our kids wrestled really hard.”
The Panthers led from start to finish during the 3-day tournament at Pepsi Center racking up 198.5 points. Rocky Mountain finished second with 110.5 points.
Pomona sophomore Daniel Cardenas (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “You can call this a dynasty for sure,” Pomona sophomore Daniel Cardenas said after he pinned Poudre senior Dean Noble in the second period in the 138-pound final. “We have more generations coming too. Pomona isn’t going anywhere.”
Federico had an impressive total of 10 wrestlers take the podium Saturday night. Maybe even more remarkable is the amount of underclassmen that walked away with medals, only heavyweight Christian Buchholz is a senior.
Buchholz was in interesting story. He just moved up from 220 pounds to heavyweight before regionals and placed third at state.
“Our coaching staff doesn’t just consist of the five or six guys you see here. It’s our youth coaches. It’s our parents,” Federico said. “It’s not a team. It’s a program. That is what we’ve build. It’s fun.”
Juniors Gage Bernall (160 pounds) and Franklin Cruz (195), along with Cardenas (138) and freshman Jakob Romero (126) were the four Panthers to make the championship matches.
“I have high expectations for myself and for this whole tournament,” Cardenas said. “Everything went as planned.”
It was a battle of returning state champions between Cruz and Rocky Mountain senior Alec Hargreaves for the 195-pound title. Cruz took a 5-1 victory.
Cardenas also became a two-time state champion with his victory. The Pomona sophomore is halfway to the coveted 4-time state champion club that grew by four members on Saturday night.
“Every time I see one of my buddies does it, it looks so cool,” Cardenas said of halfway to winning four individual state titles. “That’s one of my goals, to be a 4-timer.”
Monarch junior Vince Cornella (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) Monarch junior Vince Cornella also took another step toward a historic fourth individual title. Cornella, who has verbally committed to Cornell University back in September, won his third state championship with the win over Romero at 126 pounds.
It prevented Pomona from winning four individual state titles.
“It was a tough one,” Cornella said after his 15-0 technical fall. “He (Romero) is a talented young guy. I’m sure I’ll see him again next year. He made me work for it.”
Cornella underwent shoulder surgery over the summer and was out for six months, but that didn’t slow down the junior who now has a career high school record of 117-9 over three seasons.
“Everything that he does is laser focused,” said Monarch coach Ezra Paddock, who has never coached a 4-time state champion. “He wants to be the best and really works to be that way. Not only at wrestling, but school, being a teammate and being a friend.”
Corenella has a number of plans, including wrestling at the national level and a trip to Russia before getting ready for his senior year. Zeroing in on that fourth state title is on his mind.
“It would mean a lot,” Cornella said. “I’ve been coming to this state tournament since I was a young kid and I’ve got to see my buddies accomplish it — Jacob Greenwood, Andrew Alirez and Cohlton Schultz — I’ve grown up with all those and even some of the guys who are going for it tonight. It would be cool to join them.”
Grand Junction senior Dawson Collins (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) Brighton junior Kenny Salias (113), Grand Junction senior Dawson Collins (120) and Regis junior Antonio Segura (145) grabbed their second state titles with victories Saturday night.
Doherty senior Tyson Beauperthuy (170) and Cherokee Trail junior Sam Hart (220) were able to complete their undefeated seasons capped off with state titles. Beauperthuy finished with a perfect 40-0 record and Hart completed a 38-0 mark.
Columbine captured a pair of individual titles with juniors Jake Forbes (182) and Zach Schraeder (285) combining to go 8-0 as the lone two Rebels to qualifying to state.
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4A state wrestling: Windsor captures team championship behind four-time performances
(Dan Morhmann/CHSAANow.com) DENVER – Saying Windsor’s wrestling team illustrated perfection in the Class 4A state wrestling championship on Saturday isn’t hyperbole – it’s a fact.
The Wizards finished five for five in their finals matches at the Pepsi Center and won their second title in three years with 190 points. It’s the Wizards fourth title in school history and first since 2018.
Windsor also crowned a pair of four-time state champions in 132-pounder Dominick Serrano (43-0), who never lost a high school match, and 182-pounder Isaiah Salazar (37-0).
“This was an incredible team who had an incredible performance and I couldn’t be more proud of the entire group,” said Wizards coach Monte Trusty. “This was possible because of staff, administration and our awesome fans.”
Pueblo East, last year’s state champion, finished as runners-up to the Wizards with 149.5 points and battled with the Wizards until the semifinals.
The Wizards held a 78.5-70 lead over the Eagles when three key victories at 132, 138 and 170 buoyed Windsor to a comfortable lead.
“We were going after those wins no matter who they were against,” Trusty said. “It just happened to be our major competition, so it ended up pretty nice for us.”
Junior Vance VomBauer (138 pounds, 40-2) capped a miraculous return after missing state following a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee in 2019.
VomBauer finished as a runner-up his freshman year and redeemed himself with a pin at 1:03 in the first period against Longmont’s John Nicholas.
“I came up short my freshman year and I never wanted to feel that again,” VomBauer said. “To finally get one and get what I thought I deserved is amazing. Our fans were amazing and this feels so good.”
Senior Cody Eaton (160, 34-4) earned another pin for the Wizards with 16 seconds left in the second period against Thompson Valley’s Chase Engelhardt, which marked the Wizards’ third title of the night.
For Eaton, the win represented the culmination of climbing the metaphorical ladder – his freshman year, Eaton missed state.
“My freshman year, I was winning in the blood round 13-0,” Eaton said. “I took a double and I passed out.”
His sophomore year, he placed third and Eaton finished second his junior year. This season he pinned his way through regionals and state to earn the title.
“Those nights I spent an hour at 1 a.m. running stairs at my house were worth it,” Eaton said. “All my hard work paid off and I’m so grateful.”
Tristan Perez (170, 28-8) won his first title with a 5-1 decision over Loveland’s Marcelo Espinoza Diaz and gave Windsor their fourth title of the night. Salazar’s win made it five for the Wizards.
Pueblo East also crowned a four-time champion in heavyweight Andy Garcia (33-3), who is the school’s lone four-time champion.
Fellow Eagles wrestler and freshman Weston Dalton (120, 34-4) capped a stellar season with a pin with 16 seconds left in the second period against Pueblo County’s Boden White.
Dalton’s only loss of 2020 came Feb. 1 at the Rocky Welton invitational. To end the night with a four-time champ and start with a stout freshman excited Eagles coach Pat Laughlin.
“It’s been a privilege for me to coach a four-timer who is also a great man and I’m fortunate to have a kid of his status,” Laughlin said. “Having guys like Weston and Andy just speaks to our staff and our team as a whole. Weston is a working machine and right now the focus is next year. We take it period by period, match by match and season by season. (Weston) has all the tools to make it four. I’ll leave it at that.”
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4A girls swimming: Cheyenne Mountain rallies late to capture state title
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) THORNTON — Caroline Bricker already had a state record to her name. But all the freshman really wanted was to help her team capture a state title.
Little did she know that her win in the 100-yard breaststroke put Cheyenne in a position to do just that. After holding off Rampart in the 400 freestyle relay to cap the night, Cheyenne was a Class 4A girls swimming and diving state champion for the the second time in three years.
Bricker had just finished up her win in the breaststroke and watched her teammates compete in the relay not knowing where things stood with the team score, but she knew they had to battle.
“I just went out there and was thinking about my teammates,” she said. “I knew it was going to be close and I knew it was coming down to me or the relay.”
Cheyenne Mountain finished with 348 points. Two-time defending champion Rampart finished as the runner-up with 340 points.
In that freestyle relay, Cheyenne Mountain finished in sixth place with a time of three minutes, 38.79 seconds, just over a second faster than the Rams. As sophomore Elizabeth Brower touched the wall, the contingent of Cheyenne Mountain swimmers erupted in celebration. It had been just three years since its last title, but it felt like forever.
“This felt like a long one coming,” coach Kate Doane said. “The day-in and day-out work for the last couple of years paid tribute to today.
Cheyenne had to withstand a barrage of top finishes from Rampart including 50 and 100 freestyle wins from Lindsey Immel. Laelle Brovold added a win in the 100 butterfly and the Rams kicked off the night with a win in the 200 medley relay.
Bricker’s 2:02.03 in the 200 individual medley was good for a state record.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) One of the more impressive swims of the night came in the 500 freestyle as Niwot’s Mary Codevilla blitzed the field, finishing in 4:57.37. The sophomore was two seconds faster in her prelim time and has dreams of doing big things in her last two chances at state.
“I’d love to get the state record in the 500 free,” she said. “I was so close in prelims and fell short in finals.”
Monarch’s Katey Lewicki had a shot at setting a state record in the 100 backstroke but fell just sixth-hundredths of a second short.
It was after that backstroke swim that things got interesting in the team race. Not only did Bricker win the championship heat, but Elizabeth Carrell also won the consolation heat, adding nine team points to the total.
That race was reflective of the depth that Cheyenne Mountain had that played a big role in the championship win.
“These girls work so hard in the offseason,” Doane said. “They knew that each person counted.”
The girls swimming championship is the second team championship for Cheyenne Mountain this year and the 99th team title in school history.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
3A girls swimming: Evergreen bookends meet to repeat as state champ
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) THORNTON — The history book for Class 3A swimming not is a long read, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to add chapters to it.
That’s exactly what Evergreen did at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center on Saturday. Relay teams won their races to start the meet and end the meet and the Cougars ended the night with 372.5 points and, more importantly, their second straight state championship. Aspen was the runner-up with 214 points. (Find the full results here. And the Team Manager file here.)
“It’s not easy to win,” Evergreen coach Liz Hudd said. “This meet was really faster. Our girls swam faster than they did last year and were lower in places. This was much faster and it was an amazing experience.”
The 2019-20 season marked just the fourth season of 3A’s existence. The rising numbers of participation prompted the addition of the classification for the 2016-17 winter season. With the fourth championship in program history, Evergreen became the first 3A school to successfully defend the title it had won the year before.
And that was the mission from the very start. After grabbing the top seed in the 200-yard medley relay during Friday’s preliminaries, the Cougars matched their prelims pace, finishing in one minute, 51.28 seconds to claim gold.
Then senior Remi Gucker added some instant padding to the team lead. Her 1:56.61 in the 200 freestyle helped the Cougars build up a quick 83 points and take every bit of momentum a team could ask for to start a championship meet. St. Mary’s Academy’s Sydney Silver won the race at 1:52.06.
“We were on the top of the roller coaster from the start,” Gucker said. “They had the team scores posted after the fourth event and we knew we were ahead. I didn’t do as well as I wanted in my event, but we had a lot of great swims. We had a lot of personal bests.”
She later added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:15.71, only adding to a banner performance for herself and her team. Kent Denver’s Jolie Kim won the race at 5:08.16.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) After taking the top seed in the 50 freestyle last year and falling just short of winning the race, St. Mary’s senior Caitlin Cairns wasn’t going to be denied gold or a lasting legacy this year. Her 23.09 in the sprint set a 3A state record.
“Both (winning the race and setting the record) felt great,” Cairns said. “I was just happy to win again and represent my team.”
After Discovery Canyon’s Rachel Alexander claimed the diving crown, Cairns jumped right back in the pool for the 100 butterfly and won with a time of 55.27
Other notable wins included Salida’s Elise Mishmash in the 100 freestyle, defending the title she won a year ago.
Silver added a win in the 100 backstroke to go with her earlier win in the 200 freestyle and in doing so she set a 3A state record at 54.55.
Delta’s Jillian Carlson took the 100 breaststroke at 1:07.09 as the 400 freestyle relay teams prepared for the final event of the day.
Evergreen closed out the meet the way it opened it, by building a solid lead in the race and riding to a time of 3:39.77. That win gave the Cougars another gold medal, but more importantly it also cemented a stellar performance that earned another state championship trophy.
“The girls brought it,” Hudd said. “They’re competitive and they knew what had to get done.”
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)