Lamar and Florence were among the schools advancing competitors to state during the first day of the Class 3A Region 4 boys wrestling tournament.

Below are this week’s boys wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

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On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

Tim Yount of On The Mat provides weekly wrestling rankings for teams and individuals in all weight classes. To see individual rankings, you can subscribe to On The Mat’s full rankings.

To subscribe via PayPal, choose your subscription option on this page click on the corresponding PayPal button. To subscribe by mail or fax and pay by personal check, click here for a printable subscription form. Email Tim Yount at tim@onthematrankings.com with questions.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

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(Jodi Young)

Sometimes the best way to be successful is just to have fun and compete against teammates much as opponents. That’s an approach that’s worked all year for the Palisade boys wrestling team at it heads into Class 4A, Region 2 competition in Colorado Springs this weekend.

Both Judah Guajardo and Lodan Head are instruments of that success as both wrestlers boast undefeated records in 2021.

Guajardo is hoping to keep his record at 132 pounds unblemished heading into state while Head is hoping for the same result at 145.

“They don’t get to practice against each other too much because there’s just so much difference in weight,” coach Tanner Ridgeway said. “They both have really good partners. Lodan works out with Zach Barnett, who’s a little bit heavier than him and gives him a good push. Judah works out with Jacob Lee who has also done well this year.”

Franklin Barks is another undefeated Palisade wrestler, amassing a 14-0 record at 152 pounds.

It’s been a bit of a different season due to COVID-19 restrictions but the Bulldogs have made the best of it. While competing against their opponents on the mats, they try and to throw in other side games within the team to help push each other to be at their best.

“We have some rivalry, some competition (between us),” Guajardo said. “Some duals we have fastest pin. We have a most pins competition going. It’s just stuff to keep us hungry and fighting throughout the course of the season.”

It’s hard to say it doesn’t work.

They didn’t mention whether they’d keep that internal competition going once they got to regionals, but sometimes it’s not necessary to fix something if it’s not broken. The focus is just going to be more lasered on advancing to next week’s state tournament.

Although at a different venue this year, the goals and dreams of these wrestlers aren’t wavering as they still dream of standing at the top of the podium, sporting a freshly won gold medal.

(Jodi Young)

“I didn’t go to state last year so I never experienced Ball Arena and everything,” Head said. “I just think it’s going to be full of people working hard and trying to fulfill their dreams.”

That’s the ultimate goal and Guajardo and Head will continue to utilize competition with their teammates to better their wrestling performances against their opponents.

Those two have matching 20-0 records heading into the weekend. With 16-athlete brackets in each weight class, they’ll have to win four matches to advance to the Southwest Motors Event Center in Pueblo for next week’s state tournament.

Regionals are divided by weight class and spread out over two days at each location. But regardless of format or location, the Bulldogs feel that the effort they’ve put into the season will payoff when state qualifiers are announced at the end of each day.

“I think the work we’ve been putting in during practice is enough,” Guajardo said. “Our condition is good, we’ve been conditioning all year. We’ve been wrestling tough all year. We’ll be good just based on how we’ve done in past duals.”

(Jodi Young)

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

The regional wrestling tournaments are Friday and Saturday. Complete information for each region is below.

Brackets are built and released each day following weigh-ins.

Each girls regional will qualify the top four placers to the state tournament.

Each boys regional will qualify the top two placers to the state tournament.

Following the completion of these tournaments, the state tournament brackets will be posted on CHSAANow on Sunday afternoon.

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Girls

• Region 1 (at Fort Lupton)
• Region 2 (at Coronado)

Class 5A boys

• Region 1 (at Pomona)
• Region 2 (at Cherokee Trail)
• Region 3 (at Doherty)
• Region 4 (at Brighton)

Class 4A boys

• Region 1 (at Pueblo West)
• Region 2 (at Discovery Canyon)
• Region 3 (at Loveland)
• Region 4 (at Cheyenne Mountain)

Class 3A boys

• Region 1 (at Pagosa Springs)
• Region 2 (at Severance)
• Region 3 (at Bennett)
• Region 4 (at James Irwin)

Class 2A boys

• Region 1 (at Meeker)
• Region 2 (at Dolores Huerta)
• Region 3 (at Akron)
• Region 4 (at John Mall)

(David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)

The state wrestling tournament is around the corner, and the full schedule of events has been released.

The three-day event, scheduled for March 11-13, will be held at Southwest Motors Events Center in Pueblo. It includes the first-ever sanctioned state tournament for girls wrestling on the Thursday of Championship Weekend.

Due to capacity limitations, the event is not open to general public. Tickets will be distributed to schools of the student-athletes who qualified.

The event will be live-streamed.

“We’re excited to provide a state culminating event for student-athletes in Season B,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Adam Bright, who oversees wrestling. “While we’re at a different venue, the tradition of the CHSAA state wrestling tournament continues.

“We started the conversation from a dual-only format, but with the tradition of wrestling being an individual and team competition, we fought hard to secure a variance that allows for a more traditional format with an expanded capacity,” Bright added.

The regional wrestling tournaments are being held this weekend, and will be following their local county health guidelines for capacity limitations.

Following the completion of that competition, the state wrestling tournament brackets will be released on Sunday.

The schedule of events is below.

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State wrestling schedule

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Below are this week’s boys wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

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On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

Tim Yount of On The Mat provides weekly wrestling rankings for teams and individuals in all weight classes. To see individual rankings, you can subscribe to On The Mat’s full rankings.

To subscribe via PayPal, choose your subscription option on this page click on the corresponding PayPal button. To subscribe by mail or fax and pay by personal check, click here for a printable subscription form. Email Tim Yount at tim@onthematrankings.com with questions.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

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Jeffco Preps With Pleuss is a monthly roundup of Jeffco prep highlights hosted by Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ sports information director. There was plenty of boys and girls basketball action in February with Season B sports in full swing. We have boys highlights from Chatfield vs. Columbine, Green Mountain vs. Golden and D’Evelyn vs. Evergreen. Green Mountain girls basketball team improved its 4A Jeffco League winning streak to 28 conference victories over the past three seasons winning back-to-back league titles. Boys wrestling got going and we have highlights of duals involving Columbine, Lakewood, Chatfield, Pomona and Jefferson. Girls wrestling teams from Chatfield and Pomona are two of the best in the state in the first year of the being a CHSAA-sanctioned sport.

In a dual meet on Tuesday, The Classical Academy and Windsor boys wrestling squared off.

Frederick and Rocky Mountain boys wrestling recorded team wins at the Mountain View quad meet on Saturday.

(David Johnson/davidjohnsonphotography.org)

Below are this week’s boys wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

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On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

Tim Yount of On The Mat provides weekly wrestling rankings for teams and individuals in all weight classes. To see individual rankings, you can subscribe to On The Mat’s full rankings.

To subscribe via PayPal, choose your subscription option on this page click on the corresponding PayPal button. To subscribe by mail or fax and pay by personal check, click here for a printable subscription form. Email Tim Yount at tim@onthematrankings.com with questions.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

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