GREENWOOD VILLAGE — When watching Julian Hammond III on the football field, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he could earn his college education on the gridiron.

It’s the same feeling when watching Myles Purchase during a basketball game. The 2020 Class 5A football player of the year looks right at home on the hardwood.

Together, they’re on a journey to make sure each one has a state title in their respective sport. They’re halfway there after Creek beat Valor Christian for the 5A football title. With a 84-72 win over Smoky Hill on Friday, they’re another day closer to making the dream a reality.

“We both knew that this year that we’d have a good chance of winning in both sports,” Hammond said. “Both of us want to go out winning a football and basketball title and preferably do it without losing a game in either sport.”

When the school year is over, both Hammond and Purchase will begin new journeys at their college of choice. Purchase will stick with football as he heads to Iowa State and Hammond will travel just up Highway 36 to continue his hoops career as he’ll play basketball at the University of Colorado for Tad Boyle.

Purchase had signed early and if he had wanted to, could’ve left for Iowa for the spring semester. But he and Hammond have been battling together since they were kids and he wasn’t about to leave his buddy behind.

“I feel like we’re a real special team,” Purchase said. “I feel like we can do something special and I wanted to stay and help my team win another ring.”

It helps that the Bruins are stacked with Divison I athletes on the basketball. Chase Penry is heading to CU to play football and Arden Smith will play football at Missouri.

Instead of leaving Creek behind at the winter break, they all wanted to be back on the basketball court to do something special.

“We have several kids that could’ve done that,” Cherry Creek coach Kent Dertinger said. “Chase Penry could’ve done that, Arden Walker could’ve done that. The fact that they wanted to stay and play basketball says a lot about them.”

Currently the Bruins hold the No. 1 spot in the CHSAANow.com 5A basketball rankings. And they have yet to lose a game.

In Friday’s win over Smoky Hill, Hammond led the Bruins with 24 points. Purchase added 16 and two other players are scored in double figures.

The regular season is set to wind down next week and then the next championship quest will begin for Hammond, Purchae and the rest of the Bruins.

They’re good about taking it one game at a time, but they can’t help but think about how much of an impact a basketball would have for Creek.

“It’s definitely going to add on to our legacy if we end up getting it done,” Purchase said. “I’m just trying to cherish these last few moments with my team.”

And then the legacy will be passed down to their little brothers. Blake Purchase and Christian Hammond are both sophomores and will look to build on what the big brothers built in their time at Cherry Creek.

In some ways, Battle Mountain’s loss to Steamboat Springs on Feb. 19 was a blessing in disguise. According to coach Derek Byron, the Huskies weren’t exactly playing the high-level hockey that he had seen early in the season.

When the Sailors came away with a 4-2 win, it forced his players to take a long look at themselves and decide what kind of team they wanted to be the rest the season. They decided they want to finish the year as the No. 1 team in the state, the same way the coaches tagged them as the top team heading into the season.

“Up until the point of that loss, we had been on a slow decline,” coach Derek Byron said. “We were complacent, staying No. 1 but not really playing like a No. 1 team, in my opinion. We lost and that next day we started playing the way we’re supposed to play.”

A big part of that is the aggressive nature of the way the Class 4A No. 3 Huskies play the game. They place a huge emphasis on puck control in order to create as many scoring chances as possible. It’s paying off as forward Kyle Parliament is among the state leaders in total points and power play goals.

If the Huskies find themselves with a man advantage, happy to pounce on every opportunity he gets to put the puck in the net.

“Our power play just gives us a lot of great (scoring) opportunities,” Parliament said. “We’re able to set up nicely and take advantage when they’re a man down.”

It helps that in front of their own net is a brick wall of a goalie in Logan Gremmer. He’s posting a save rate of 92 percent and faces more than 25 shots per game. And he savors every opportunity to turn the puck away.

Like a true net minder, he took the loss to Steamboat very personally, feeling he could have done more to help his team.

“It was tough,” he said. “We all kind of felt defeated. Our next game against Aspen turned us around. We knew what we needed to do to get the win.”

In that 7-1 win over Aspen, Gremmer turned away all 14 shots he faced before getting pulled as the Huskies held a comfortable lead. He’ll be a huge piece of what the Huskies hope will be a championship run over the course of the next three weeks.

“Logan’s a top goalie in Colorado,” Byron said. “He’s very good. He’s kept us in games when we aren’t playing well this year and he’s shown up to every game and been ready to go. He’s a lights out goaltender.”

Battle Mountain currently sits one point behind Crested Butte in the 4A Mountain League. They have some business against Aspen and Summit the next few days, but will end their regular season with a three-game series against Crested Butte.

That series will be crucial as the league champion is guaranteed a playoff spot. There is one at-large spot available, but the Huskies don’t want to leave anything to chance. They have to play their final games as if they are the best team in the state and they know that over the course of the next week, they’re going to get everyone’s best shot.

“Teams are gunning for us,” Gremmer said. “They’ve all wanted to take our No. 1 spot from us.”

When Joe Packard took over as the girls basketball coach at Heritage Christian, the program was struggling a bit. His hope was relatively easy to comprehend, he wanted to provide stability to the program which he anticipated would lead to success.

That seems to be the way things have worked out for the Eagles and he’s hoping that this can be the year the team makes a deep Class 2A playoff run.

“It had to be a culture change,” Packard said. “We were living right on the border of being a 1A or 2A team. One year we went to state at 1A and then the next we were there as a 2A team. Most good programs and most good teams would say it takes time.”

It seems that each year, the Eagles play at the level of championship contenders only to stumble in the state tournament. This year, Packard is hoping that his girls will get gel at the right time and make that deep playoff run that he knows they’re capable of.

Kali Siemers is fifth in the state regardless of classification in scoring. She’s scoring 24.2 points per game and is the offensive focal point of an Eagles team that is off to a 7-0 start to the season.

They’re also getting big points contributions from Avery Hughes at 17.7 points per game and Savannah Brown at 11.5 points per game. Brown is also the top rebounder in the state, pulling down 15.5 boards in each game that she plays in.

Everyone on the roster has a role and each playing understanding their role is what makes the Eagles a dangerous team as the postseason inches closer.

“We talk about that all the time, everybody having a role,” Packard said. “Like (Tuesday) we just played Dayspring Christian and Kali had a real rough start. SHe fouled out in the third quarter and Savannah ended up scoring 17, but then Avery went and scored 26. What’s special about this team is that if someone is having a rough time, someone’s right there to fill the void.”

That’s what he’s hoping can happen when the postseason rolls around. Last year, the Eagles were one win shy of advancing to Loveland for the 2A Great 8. The year before, they reached the tournament as the No. 7 seed, but lost in the first round.

After seeing what his girls are capable of this season, he’s hoping that they can find the playoff success that’s evaded them in recent seasons due to the 2A field being traditionally strong.

“There are so many good teams out there,” Packard said. “Any given week, every team is dealing with a number of different variables that anyone is capable of winning a title. I don’t know why we can’t be in that mix.”

If they continue to play at the high level they’ve played at this season, it’s not far-fetched to think that they’ll be right there.

Regis Jesuit moved up to the top-ranked spot in this week’s 5A hockey poll.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. They are a factor in the postseason. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.

Complete rankings are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Hockey Poll

Voted upon by coaches around the state.

First-place votes are in parentheses.

Coaches looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

Class 5A
RK	TEAM	W-L	PTS	PVS	LW
1	Regis Jesuit (7)	4-0-0	126	2	1-0-0
2	Fort Collins (3)	3-0-0	115	1	0-0-0
3	Valor Christian	3-1-0	95	4	1-0-0
4	Ralston Valley (1)	5-0-0	87	3	1-0-0
5	Chaparral (1)	5-0-0	86	5	1-0-0
6	Cherry Creek	3-1-0	74	7	1-0-0
7	Denver East	3-1-0	57	6	0-1-0
8	Monarch (2)	4-3-0	52	8	3-0-0
9	Mountain Vista	2-2-0	34	8	1-0-0
10	Heritage	4-2-0	20	10	2-1-0
Others receiving votes:
Doherty 6, Castle View 5, Resurrection Christian 5, Lewis-Palmer 4, Chatfield 3, Dakota Ridge 1
Dropped out
None.

Class 4A
RK	TEAM	W-L	PTS	PVS	LW
1	Battle Mountain (7)	4-0-1	79	1	2-0-0
2	Cheyenne Mountain (1)	4-0-0	76	2	2-0-0
3	Crested Butte	3-0-0	66	4	1-0-0
4	Kent Denver	2-0-0	55	3	0-0-0
5	Mullen	2-0-0	49	6	0-0-0
6	Glenwood Springs	1-2-1	48	5	1-2-0
7	Woodland Park (1)	2-1-0	34	7	0-1-0
8	Rampart	2-2-0	31	8	1-0-0
9	Aspen	1-2-0	15	–	1-1-0
10	Colorado Academy	1-0-0	14	8	0-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Summit 12, Liberty 7, Palmer 4, Air Academy 2, Pueblo County 1, Coronado 1
Dropped out
Summit (10)

LAKEWOOD — The announcement this week that the state wrestling tournament won’t be held at its usual site was another change during this ever changing 2020-21 prep sports season in Colorado.

However, the news that Ball Arena (formerly Pepsi Center) won’t be the site of the state tournament next month hasn’t dampened Pomona’s focus on going after its fifth Class 5A team title over the past six years and eighth team title since 2000.

“I don’t mind. I really don’t,” Pomona coach Sam Federico said of the news coming down Wednesday that all classifications for the state tournament will be held at the Southwest Motors Events Center on the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo. “I’m glad we have one. I’d do it in South Dakota if we had to. Anywhere is good for me.”

The Panthers — ranked No. 1 in 5A by Tim Yount of On the Mat — has an extremely deep squad this season. Pomona has 11 wrestlers that are ranked in the top-5 of their weight class in the new rankings released this week.

“This is probably one of the best teams we’ve had in years,” Pomona sophomore Jakob Romero said after the Panthers’ tri meet Thursday at Lakewood High School. “We are strong everywhere. We can bump guys up and bump guys down. I’ve wrestled with everyone on this team for the past five-plus years. I’ll do anything for these guys.”

Pomona actually brought just a handful of its varsity wrestlers to the duals against Standley Lake and Lakewood. Still, the Panthers dominated with a 72-6 win over the Gators and 58-14 victory against the Tigers.

Two of the top Pomona wrestlers that saw some action with Romero and junior Jacob Judd. Romero took a 21-5 tech fall victory and managed a pin in the first period in his second match. Judd grabbed a pair of pins in his matches at 170 pounds.

“We are deep, but there are some good teams out there,” Federico said. “We’ll see this weekend when we wrestling Ponderosa and Brighton, two teams that are always good. We’ve got to stay healthy and keep working hard. If we do that good things will happen.”

The Panthers head to Ponderosa High School on Saturday for a pair of dual matches against No. 2 Ponderosa and No. 3 Brighton. It might be one of the best tests for Pomona before heading to regionals scheduled for March 5 and 6.

Federico doesn’t believe the last of tournaments will effect the Panthers. He had a lot of his wrestlers compete at a national tournament in Utah before the season started. Most of his year-round wrestlers have been able to compete at tournament during the COVID pandemic.

“There was so much stop and go,” Federico said of changing on the fly this season. “I’m just glad we got it pinned down and we are wrestling now. It’s good to see the guys out wrestling now.”

Romero is one of those wrestlers who is glad to be back on the mats. The sophomore that placed second at state last year at 126 pounds talked Thursday night about his own battle with COVID-19.

Romero actually came down with COVID in November. He went through return-to-play protocol to return to the mats after his bout with the virus.

“My family got it. We are all athletes in the family,” Romero said. “We didn’t get it too bad, but I did see some in pact on my training and endurance. I took two weeks off, but still wasn’t myself. It’s just different for everyone.”

The sophomore has a realist perspective on what high school wrestling will look like for at least the near future.

“With COVID, it doesn’t seem to be dying down,” Romero said. “This may be the new norm for us. At least for a little bit.”

Romero admitted he was upset that the state tournament was moved from Ball Arena to Pueblo, but having a state tournament March 13 is what is important.

“In the end, I’m just glad we have a season,” Romero said.

Judd mirrors how everything can change. As a freshman his first tournament he wrestled at 106 pounds. He eventually placed 6th at the state tournament at 113. He wrestled at 132 and 145 pounds last year, qualifying for the state tournament at 145.

Now, Judd is all the way up to the 170-pound weight class and is ranked No. 3.

“I’ve been able to learn a whole bunch wrestling with a lot of different partners,” Judd said. “Most of the kids on the club don’t grow as fast as me. I’ve been able to practice with everyone in there.”

While Pomona has plenty of youth with a dozen varsity wrestlers either freshmen, sophomores or juniors this season they don’t want to take the 2021 season as a throwaway season.

“I’m trying to get the best out of the year,” Judd said. “One more year after this and I want to get two (individual) state championships.”

It was hard for Holyoke girls basketball to say goodbye to Emily Jelden and the other seniors from last year’s team.

The Dragons had put together a strong season, dropping just one game to Limon, and had a solid chance to make a run at the Class 2A state championship. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down everyone’s hopes, but as the 2021 season got underway, Holyoke had clearly picked up right where they left off.

In Jelden’s absence from a leadership standpoint, Kristin Vieselmeyer and Lauren Herman have filled the role quite nicely.

“We had some big holes to fill,” coach John Baumgartner said. “Losing a four-year point guard is tough. Our guard play… we’re working on that right now. The kids want to get back (to the state tournament) and hopefully finish the season. That’s the goal right now.”

That doesn’t just happen with a seamless transition of players on the court. Perhaps one of the biggest strengths of the Dragons’ game is the chemistry between the players. That was felt a year ago when they advanced to the state tournament and it’s something that Vieselmeyer knows is every bit as important this year.

“They had a big impact on the mentality of our team,” she said. “Coach Baumgartner runs a great program where he keeps the same type of mindset throughout the whole season and we try to implement that into this year, especially with our incoming freshmen.”

Vieselmeyer has done an admirable job of being the team leader the Dragons (4-0 overall) need both with her attitude and her play.

Through four games this season, she’s averaging 25.3 points, 12.5 rebounds and three steals per game. As of Friday, she’s second in the state in scoring average regardless of classification.

The challenge for the next month is going to be maintaining those numbers against teams that are a little more familiar with her work.

“I think our league opponents know who she is,” Baumgartner said. “I don’t think she’s going to have that much freedom as we get into our league games.”

With league teams paying more attention to her abilities, Baumgartner says it’s key that she not get frustrated if her production isn’t where it stands today. The best way for the Dragons to keep playing at a level that has earned them the 2A No. 3 ranking is to make sure that everyone is getting involved.

“Other players players are going to have to step up to give her more room if other teams are going to try and take her out of the game,” Baumgartner said.

Herman has taken that to heart as she scores nearly 12 points and pulls down almost 10 rebounds per game. Correy Koellner and Elyce Talavera are also contributing sold scoring numbers and also getting work done with rebounding and assists.

That’s why the team dynamic off the court is so essential. It helps build an element of trust so when the time comes where opponents aren’t going to let Vieselmeyer beat them, she knows that the others on the roster will get the job done.

“The seniors last year talked a lot about body language and controlling what you can control which is your attitude and effort,” she said. “That’s what I’m doing most this season. I’m playing my role to the best of my abilities and and I’m trying to do whatever I can to help the team, whether that be scoring, rebounding, getting good assists. It doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m contributing to the team.”

Thus far, it’s worked like a charm. And if the Dragons keep playing with positive attitudes and the ability to get everyone involved, they’ll play their way into those late-March playoff games.

It’s easy to see why there’s a bit of excitement and can even see the smile through the mask of Coach Matt Johannsen when he speaks about his current group of Fossil Ridge Sabercats, who have four senior starters and one junior who is off to an extremely hot start in our condensed basketball season.

Wednesday night was a special assignment for our Ball Fever column — Fossil Ridge vs. Fort Collins — and we were anxious to see what the “feel” was like in a rivalry game between a ton of young men who know each other well on both sides of the court.

Fort Collins came into the crosstown rivalry boasting six seniors of their own for Coach Curtis Glesmann and 1-1 in the early season.

As expected, with so many young men familiar with one another this game was a “feeling out” session early and we were tied at 17 early second quarter.

“I felt that we needed an energy boost and switched to the full court pressure”, said Coach Johannsen, and that decision turned into a 11-0 run for the Sabercats, who were stealing momentum 28-17 midway through the second quarter.

The Lambkins answered with back-to-back 3-point shots from seniors Dante Smith, who finished with team high 13 points, and Jackson Bigge, who finished the night with 10 points of his own.

The Sabercats took a 33-28 lead into the half after Smith and Bigge answered the run and an energized Fossil Ridge crew took over the second half dominating early and using their depth to wear down the Lambkins a bit.

A big part of that second half was 6-foot-4 senior Oklahoma Baptist commit Tyce Baldwin, who was quiet in the first half with three points, but got aggressive in the second half attacking the rim. He got in the paint and finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Fellow senior big man Braiden Dishman was getting it done inside as well with 12 points, and 6 rebounds.

Coach Johannsen also has a “run-through-a-wall” floor general in Luke Yoder, along with tough Owen Commesser who seem to us as “glue guy” seniors willing to do all the little things for team success.

“Commitment” was the word Coach Johannsen used when describing this special group of seniors and the entire team who have pivoted during these pandemic times and keeping their circle small — on and off the court — in order to make this season a reality.

Senior leader Tyce Baldwin spoke highly of his team and fellow seniors: “Many of us have played together since fifth grade and we’re just excited to have the opportunity to play.”

Baldwin was able to commit to Oklahoma Baptist prior to the season starting, knowing it is the right athletic and academic fit for him, and takes all the pressure off the senior season he can now enjoy with his crew.

Speaking of that senior crew, there’s also a pretty special junior in the Sabercat starting line up in 6-foot-2 guard Brock Mishak. First opportunity seeing this young man play tonight and his 19 points (9-10 free throws), 8 rebounds, 4 assist, and 2 steals were “stat-stuffin” pacing the Sabercats to this 70-54 win over rival Fort Collins.

When our CHSAANow.com preseason rankings were released, I quickly noticed that Fossil Ridge received 40 votes but were left just outside of the top 15. Something told us right away that would change quickly and Coach Johannsen would soon have this crew earning attention.

They are now 3-0 in the condensed season, No. 14 in our poll and they have the depth, senior leadership, and athleticism to make some serious 5A noise before things are said and done in this unprecedented season!

Royce Uhrig didn’t like wrestling a whole lot a few years ago. He participated when his family lived in Brush, but it just wasn’t something he was ready to completely dive into as a kid.

Oh, how things have changed.

Shortly after his family moved to Gunnison, a switch flipped in his head and he quickly found out that the wrestling mat was where he wanted to spend as much time as possible. He came into the season ranked No. 4 in the Class 3A 113-pound rankings and has taken to winning like a fish happily takes to the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

“It’s something I really crave,” Uhrig said. “When I was a kid and lived in Brush, I didn’t go to many big tournaments. I wasn’t motivated too much. When I moved here to Gunnison I started to love the sport more and more. I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can for a couple of years now.”

His early results have made him one of the most notable freshmen throughout the entire state. He officially sports a 6-0 record, but has wrestled five matches (the sixth win came via forfeit).

Not once has he failed to pin the wrestler lining up across from him. The longest match he’s had is four minutes, 32 seconds, a win over Cedaredge’s Landon Martin. He followed that up by pinning Norwood’s Aiden Walton in just 15 seconds.

After initial fears that he wouldn’t get a wrestling season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he jumped right into mid-season form, taking in the excitement of competing while brushing off any nerves.

“Before (my first match) my coach/dad just told me to get after the guy and have fun,” Uhrig said. “That’s going to go down as one of the happiest moments of life.”

He’s hoping over the course of the next four years he can knock that feeling of winning his initial match down in the rankings of his favorite moments.

With the season officially getting played out, that means the opportunity to become a four-time state champion remains alive. By no means is he of the belief that standing on that podium with four fingers extended in the air is going to be a given.

He has to continue the work he’s been putting in since he came to the realization that wrestling is something he truly loves. And well before he thinks about winning a fourth championship, he knows the most important is his next one.

“You have to take take it one match at a time,” he said. “You have to keep working.”

And that’s exactly what he intends to do. A wrestler is only as good as his most recent match says he is, so he’ll do what he needs to do to be at his best when Gunnison heads to the James Irwin Quad in Colorado Springs this weekend. And after that, he’ll just get right back to work and keep getting better.

“I’ve always been told the harder you work, the luckier you get,” Uhrig said.

With five pins to his name already this season, it feels like he hasn’t needed much luck yet. Maybe he’s just saving it for a later day.

The same word comes out of the lips of most student-athletes these days. They’re grateful. With the way the COVID-19 pandemic has made everything uncertain, especially in the lives of the high school athletes, the opportunity to compete is something they aren’t taking for granted and that they’re more grateful for now than they have been in their lives.

Those feelings hold true for the Aspen girls swim team, but their appreciation for the opportunity comes with specific goals in mind. Sure the girls want to have fun and they want to appreciate the time they get to spend together, but they came close a championship trophy last year and feel like they have a chance to bring home gold in 2021.

“We’re doing a lot of very clear communication and discussion about where the girls see themselves at the end of the year,” coach Katie Keel said. “What do they want time-wise? Place-wise, what do they envision and how are we going to get there?”

For starters, they’re going to have to get up to speed a lot faster than what they’re used to. Due to the condensed season, the Skiers – like every team in the state – have to utilize every minute of practice to get themselves to their peak swimming speeds.

The thing they have going for them is that everyone is back from last year’s team that finished second to Evergreen in the team standings.

Lilly Huggard, Emily Kinney, Laila Khan-Farooqi and Kayla Tehrani comprised the 200-yard medley relay team that finished second to kick off the Class 3A finals last year. Khan-Farroqi took sixth in the 200 freestyle while Huggard grabbed a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley.

Not trying to get too far ahead of themselves, the Skiers certainly see the potential they have as they hunt their first team swimming title since 2017, the only team title the program has ever won.

“We’re definitely looking to improve in individuals a little bit,” Khan-Farroqi said. “We’re coming in with a really strong relay team this year and we might even have a 400-yard (freestyle) relay team, which we didn’t have last year. We have a lot of strong swimmers.”

There is an added challenge this season with the way COVID has, at times, disrupted the flow of several high school teams through various sports. Perhaps at an earlier time in their lives than has been the case, these girls are understanding the importance of the practice time they are getting and trying to get the most out of it.

“Practice has been inconsistent,” Khan-Farooqi said. “All of the coaches have been working really hard to get us in the pool which we all appreciate. It’s just going to be a challenge to get into peak shape so that we can do our best at state.”

In just her second year as the coach of the program, Keel is also optimistic about what she’s seeing from her athletes. She also comes into this year with a touch more confidence after having time to develop relationships with her competitors and helping them develop their ability as much as possible over the last year.

“The first year is difficult with any coach to begin with, just making sure you’re working together as coach and swimmers,” Keel said. “Last year exceeded all of our expectations when it comes to performance as well as cohesion and a sense of (bonding) as a group.”

All that’s left to do is get to chasing that first-place trophy. It’s a chase they’re grateful to be able to attempt.

In so many ways, the feeling of girls wrestling matches officially counting for a sanctioned high school season feels like a long time coming.

For years, girls have been advancing to the state wrestling tournament, now officially regarded as the boys state wrestling tournament, and done their best to fit in with the other competitors. Some have wrestled and lost. Others have won via forfeit after their opponents made a personal choice to not compete against a girl.

Brooke Sauer was the first girl to ever step foot on mat at Ball Arena (the former Pepsi Center). Lauryn Bruggink was the first girls to win a match, pinning her opponent in the first round of the consolation bracket. In 2019, a pair of girls placed for the first time as Jaslynn Gallegos took fifth while Angel Rios finished fourth.

In 2021, the girls are officially on their own. Among the many competitors set to make history this season, Olathe’s Nicole Koch is among them.

“It’s great,” Koch said. “In the past, [girls wrestling] has been something that’s just been on the side. It hasn’t been paid attention to as much. With it being sanctioned this year, it’ll get a lot more attention and it will be a lot more fun.”

The sanctioning of the sport continues to demonstrate the growth in participation in both wrestling as a whole and high school sports in general. As the number of female participants in the sport has gone up, the need for girls wrestling as a recognized sport has also increased.

“It’s opening up a huge amount of opportunities for more participation,” Olathe coach Ryan Corn said. “It’s a sport that a lot of people out there were kind of like me, they didn’t want the girls to wrestle with the boys. There were a lot of personal preferences in there. But now that we have the girls competing against each other, there has been a lot more interest in terms of more girls wanting to participate and get into the sport.”

Corn was happy to jump at the chance to coach the girls for what is set to be a historic year for high school sports. It helps that he has a team in Olathe that was ranked No. 8 in the preseason top 10 and he has a competitor like Koch who is ranked at the top of the 118-pound weight class.

In her sophomore year, Koch went a total of 13-0, which included an 8-0 against boys throughout the year.

Heading into her junior season with a fresh, exciting situation ahead, she’s hopeful that success continues to come her way in 2021.

“I wasn’t really ranked last year, so it doesn’t make a difference to me,” she said. “I’m going to wrestle how I normally wrestle, no matter how I’m ranked.”

She continued.

“I’ve wrestled at the [girls pilot] state tournament the last two years and I’ve had a lot of people talk to me since then. I think I’ll be more well-known this year,” she said.

And she’ll be just one of many more Colorado high school athletes with a higher profile. With a new sport comes new opportunities for the student-athletes of the state.

And if the response of girls wrestling is ay indication, kids are jumping at the chance to be involved.