LAFAYETTE — The annual Top of the Rockies wrestling tournament was held this weekend.
Month: January 2014
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Top of the Rockies serves as a primer for wrestling’s state tournament
Rocky Mountain’s Roman Ortiz, left, wrestled Thompson Valley’s Mike Berg in the 152-pound championship match. Ortiz won on a 3-0 decision. (Brian Miller) LAFAYETTE — There wasn’t a single individual standing atop the podium Saturday evening who wasn’t reveling in the moment of winning a prestigious wrestling tournament like Top of the Rockies.
That said, thoughts were already starting to drift to potentially standing on a different podium next month.
With the state wrestling tournament fast approaching, the Top of the Rockies at Centaurus High School offered a glimpse into the future. From Broomfield’s Phil Downing, who will be seeking a fourth state title, to top-ranked Arvada West seeking its first team crown in more than two decades, the two-day experience at Centaurus was a good barometer for what could be in store Feb. 20-22 at Pepsi Center in Denver.
“It feels good because this is the premier tournament in the state of Colorado. (Centaurus Athletic Director) Paul Roper does an amazing job and he needs to be credited with that work,” Arvada West assistant coach Mark Schmidt said. “It gives us a little bit of confidence, but next year, no one is going to remember who won this tournament. They’ll remember who won the state tournament.”
The Wildcats, who currently top the Class 5A On the Mat rankings, dominated the weekend. Arvada West finished with 200 points to outdistance Thompson Valley (155.5) and Broomfield (144).
Bennie Pachello brought home the team’s only individual title in his first trip to the tournament with a 9-3 decision over Pueblo South’s Marcus Martinez at 132 pounds. Schmidt said he believes it’s the team’s first-ever champion at Top of the Rockies.
“I feel like if we wrestle like we did at this tournament at state,” Pachello said, “then we’re going to bring home a state title.”
Arvada West had three others reach the finals in addition to Pachello and a handful of additional placers. The team won on Saturday despite the fact that coach Ron Granieri is serving a school-imposed sanction based on a violation of CHSAA rules. Both Granieri and the team are on restriction from the postseason, though the school is currently working on a plan to have both removed from restriction.
Downing’s contest with Miguel Barreras of Rio Rancho (N.M.) in the 160-pound final may have been the match of the night, judging by the crowd’s reaction. Downing trailed 4-3 before getting a penalty point and a reversal with 6.2 seconds remaining in the third period to post a 6-4 victory via decision.
“I knew I had to pull something out of me to come up with the win,” Downing said. “I dug down deep and just scored the last two points I needed.”
With regionals just three weeks away, Downing’s thoughts are already on the postseason and trying to join the elite four-time state champion club.
“I feel like I’m in the state finals sometimes. I think about it that much,” Downing said. “It’s nerve-wracking and it’s a lot of pressure, but I just need to do what I need to do win it and it will all take care of itself.”
Another former state champion who took home first Saturday was Cherry Creek’s Mitch Finesilver. The senior edged Cheyenne East’s Brody Cress 6-5 at 126 pounds.
“It feels awesome. That’s the gameplan the whole time – just go in, score points,” Finesilver said. “My team … I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Finesilver’s twin brother Zach, advanced to the finals at 138 pounds before falling to Bryce Meredith of Cheyenne Central (Wyo.) 12-7. Younger brother Matt was also a finalist at 113 but fell 7-0 to Legacy’s Ryan Deakin.
“It’s great. I love it,” Mitch Finesilver said of having his siblings competing Saturday night. “It’s always awesome to see your family do well.”
Other champions included Pomona’s Tomas Gutierrez at 106 and Josh Rosales at 120; Colton Adams of Scottsbluff (Neb.) at 145; Rocky Mountain’s Roman Ortiz at 152; Omaha North’s (Neb.) JaCobi Jones (170) and JaVaughn Perkins (182); Cheyenne East’s Tevis Bartlett at 195; Grand Island’s (Neb.) Chase Reis (220); and Broomfield’s Austyn Harris at heavyweight.
Meredith and Perkins were voted as the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestlers.
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Results
Team Scores: Arvada West 200, Thompson Valley 155.5, Broomfield 144, Rocky Mountain 130, Cheyenne East 129, Cherry Creek 120.5, Omaha North 118, Pomona 116, Scottsbluff 113, Grand Island 106.5, Pueblo South 105.5.
Championship Matches
106: Tomas Gutierrez, Pomona, dec. Cody Fatzinger, Arvada West, 6-0
113: Ryan Deakin, Legacy, dec. Matt Finesilver, Cherry Creek, 7-0
120: Josh Rosales, Pomona, pin Steven Lahnert, Cheyenne East, :57
126: Mitch Finesilver, Cherry Creek, dec. Brody Cress, Cheyenne East, 6-5
132: Bennie Pachello, Arvada West, dec. Marcus Martinez, Pueblo South, 9-3
138: Bryce Meredith, Cheyenne Central, dec. Zach Finesilver, Cherry Creek, 12-7
145: Colton Adams, Scottsbluff, dec. Payton Tawater, Arvada West, 5-4
152: Roman Ortiz, Rocky Mountain, dec. Mike Berg, Thompson Valley, 3-0
160: Phil Downing, Broomfield, dec. Miguel Barreras, Rio Ranch, 6-4
170: JaCobi Jones, Omaha North, maj. dec. Mason Harms, Cherry Creek, 13-2
182: JaVaughn Perkins, Omaha North, pin Zach Stodden, Broomfield, 2:58
195: Tevis Bartlett, Cheyenne East, pin Devin Rothrock, Arvada West, 5:09
220: Chase Reis, Grand Island, pin Jacob Ornelas, FL, 3:40
285: Austyn Harris, Broomfield, dec. Brett Schaeffer, Cheyenne East, 3-1, OT -
Chatfield grabs control of boys hoops’ 5A Jeffco League
Ralston Valley senior Jonathon Gillespie, middle, attacks the basket while being contested by Chatfield seniors Darius Reiter, left, and Grant Haines, right, on Saturday night in the Class 5A Jeffco League game. (Dennis Pleuss) LITTLETON — Jumping out to an early lead Saturday night resulted in Chatfield’s boys basketball team gaining a slight cushion atop the Class 5A Jeffco League.
The Chargers took a double-digit lead on conference foe Ralston Valley early in the second quarter and kept a fairly comfortable advantage on the way to a 74-56 victory at Chatfield High School.
“Getting the lead was really important because with zone (defense) you never know what you will get,” Chatfield coach Stephen Schimpeler said of the Chargers forcing the Mustangs to play from behind. “I felt man-to-man they weren’t as quick as us. That was a big advantage.”
Chatfield senior Andrew St. Germain, left, drives the lane against Ralston Valley senior Zac Stevens on Saturday night at Chatfield High School. The Chargers took a 74-56 victory to take sole possession of first place in the 5A Jeffco League (Dennis Pleuss) The win put Chatfield (12-3, 7-1 in league) one game ahead of Ralston Valley (12-4, 7-2) and Arvada West (10-5, 6-2) in the league standings midway through conference play.
“It feels good, but we’ve got so much left to play for,” Chatfield senior Alec Wray said. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we do and keep getting better.”
There was a logjam at the top of 5A Jeffco just a handful of days ago. Chatfield, A-West, Dakota Ridge and Ralston Valley each entered this week with one conference loss.
Ralston Valley went through the 5A Jeffco gauntlet this week. The Mustangs defeated Dakota Ridge in overtime on Tuesday and handled A-West on Thursday, setting up Saturday’s game against Chatfield with the winner taking sole possession of first in the league.
“We just didn’t play with much energy,” Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad said after the Mustangs’ seven-game winning streak was snapped. “I think our tank was running a little low on this third one.”
Ralston Valley couldn’t sit back in its normally effective zone defense after the Mustangs fell behind early Saturday night. Chatfield used its speed to slice to the basket and/or dish to an open teammate.
Wray had a frustrating second and third quarter where he picked up four fouls. However, the Chargers’ 6-foot-5 center put the game away in the fourth quarter scoring nine points in the final eight minutes.
“We’ve got some good guards that can share the ball well and they can score,” said Wray, who finished with 15 points. “I love it when they are driving because I’m going to be open because the bigs have to commit to stopping the drive. It gives me the chance to score easy buckets.”
Wray dropped in three consecutive layups in a span of a minute in the final quarter after Ralston Valley had closed the Chargers’ lead to 11 points.
Chatfield senior Darius Reiter torched Ralston Valley with 33 points, including seven 3-pointers the first time around. The Chargers erased a first-half deficit to take a 73-57 victory on the Mustangs’ home court in the conference opener for both teams back in mid-December.
Chatfield senior Alec Wray goes up for two points Saturday night against Ralston Valley. Wray finished with 15 points in the Chargers’ 74-56 victory. (Dennis Pleuss) Reiter finished with 15 points, but even more impressive was Chatfield’s bench that contributed 27 points. Sophomore Riley Welch led the way with 10 points for the Chargers’ reserves.
“Your bench is always important,” Schimpeler said. “They don’t understand how important they are. You can only go as far as your bench will take you.”
Dallas Walton led Ralston Valley with a team-high 19 points. The 6-foot-9 sophomore had a strong fourth quarter with 10 points.
“We got it in to Dallas and they wouldn’t foul him,” Conrad said of Walton’s final quarter. “He went to work, but we just didn’t have a spark tonight. Defensively we were just slow on our rotations. Mentally I think we’re exhausted.”
After playing three big games in five days, Ralston Valley faces Columbine on the road at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, before hosting Lakewood at 7 p.m. Friday.
Chatfield has a pair of league road games next week. First, 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lakewood followed by a 7 p.m. game Friday at Pomona. The Tigers (10-6, 5-4) have worked their way back into contention in the conference with a six-game winning streak, but that was snapped Saturday night with a 71-54 loss to A-West.
Conrad believes it would be difficult for any 5A Jeffco team to run the table for the remainder of the conference schedule.
“(Chatfield) is in the driver’s seat so everyone is going to be gunning for them,” Conrad said. “It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a battle.”
Chatfield sophomore Riley Welch (15) puts defensive pressure on Ralston Valley senior Rane Hornecker during the second half Saturday night at Chatfield High School. (Dennis Pleuss) -
Results from Saturday’s Speech Festival
LITTLETON — The 2014 Colorado State Festival Tournament was held at Heritage High School on Friday and Saturday.
Find the results below, or download them here: Results (.pdf).
https://old.chsaanow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/SpeechFestivalResults-2014.pdf
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Photo gallery: Chaparral upsets No. 3 Regis Jesuit in boys basketball
AURORA — Chaparral had five players score in double figures as the Wolverines surprised No. 3 Regis Jesuit with a 63-48 win on Friday night.
Jake Holtzmann led the way for Chaparral with 13 points. Hayden Dalton had 12, Chase Coon 11, while Chris Moody and Jerrod Doran each scored 10.
Dalton also had a monster game on the boards with 15 rebounds. Moody had eight rebounds, and also three blocks and two steals.
Bryan Staerkel led Regis with 12 points. Devin Kadillak added 11, and Taylor Kallsen had 10.
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No. 2 Lutheran rallies, tops Bishop Machebeuf in girls basketball
Lutheran’s defense led to a number of Bishop Machebeuf turnovers. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — Finally, a spark. Lofted off the fingertips of senior Madison Rickey, a 3-point shot tied the game with three seconds left in the third quarter and ignited Lutheran’s girls basketball team.
Then Kristen Vigil fanned the flames.
Vigil, a sophomore, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter as Lutheran took a 45-39 lead against Bishop Machebeuf it wouldn’t surrender. The Lions went on to win 60-53 despite trailing by as much as 12 points in the third quarter.
“Madison Rickey hit a 3 and that got me pretty excited,” Vigil said afterwards. “I just wanted to win that game.”
Rickey’s shot from the right corner, which tied things at 39 late in the third quarter, “was huge,” Lutheran coach Mark Duitsman said.
“That was a momentum-changer,” Lutheran junior Kaleigh Paplow said. “We were struggling, obviously. Once we hit that, it was like, ‘Let’s go.’”
The shot was smack-dab in the middle of an 17-2 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter that turned the game from a 37-28 deficit for Lutheran into a 45-39 lead.
“What we’ve been searching for is rhythm. That’s been the word all week.” Duitsman said. “We’ve got to identify our rhythm shots, not just shooting because we’re open: Is there a flow to what we’re doing? They fed off that momentum and that rhythm and knocked (shots) down. That was big.”
But Lutheran didn’t have much rhythm early. The Lions, ranked No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s latest 2A poll, couldn’t quite find themselves against Machebeuf, a 3A league opponent. The Buffaloes were in control for most of the game, and held leads of 16-7 after the first quarter and 27-21 at the half.
So Duitsman dialed up the defense pressure, using a type of full-court press his team hadn’t even practiced this season. It resulted in 11 second-half turnovers from Machebeuf and a slew of transition points for Lutheran.
“Our offense feeds off our defense,” said Paplow, who finished with a team-high 15 points.
“Defense is one of our keys,” added Vigil, who had 10 points. “It just gets our team pumped up. I think we play better, more energetic.”
Lutheran improved to 10-1, including 4-1 in the tough Metropolitan League which consists of nine 3A teams — and the 2A Lions. Holy Family (No. 1), Peak to Peak (No. 5) and Lutheran are all ranked.
“It’s definitely tough. I mean, you have the top 3A teams,” Vigil said. “It’s really cool, though, for a 2A team to come out here and play the top competition. We play Holy Family, they’re ranked No. 1, you’ve got Machebeuf, Kent Denver – you’ve got a lot of really good teams in this league. … I think that’ll help us in the end.”
Said Duitsman: “I just love it. There’s some really good teams in 2A, but we are certainly getting prepared by going through this.”
Machebeuf dropped to 7-5, 2-2 in the Metro League. The Buffs were led by Jonni Smith’s 17 points. Heidi Grandon added 12, including three 3-pointers in the first half.
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Top-ranked Denver East boys hoops rolls past Thomas Jefferson
(Jordan Morey) DENVER — Denver East coach Rudy Carey doesn’t typically run plays for the reigning Gatorade player of the year, Dominique Collier.
“I don’t draw up a lot of plays for (Collier),” Carey said. “It’s just instinctive for him. We just let him go. He has the latitude to get into his own rhythm — and goes when he feels like going.”
Collier scored 32 points for Denver East (12-3, 2-0 in league) in a 91-62 win over Thomas Jefferson (10-5, 1-1) on Friday. He shot 5-of-8 from 3-point, and 9-of-16 from the field while adding seven rebounds and three assists.
This season, Collier has averaged 23.7 points per game. In the last five games, averaged 32.4 points.
“With (Collier) on,” guard Brian Carey said, “it’s almost impossible to stop him,”
Thomas Jefferson couldn’t handle the combination of Carey and Collier. The two combined for 50 points. Collier had a stellar first quarter by netting a quick 10 points, and Carey added 11 of his own in the second quarter.
Denver East started the second half up 73-45, and Thomas Jefferson failed to slow down East’s offense. Collier added another 13 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Halfway through the final quarter, coach Carey put his bench into the game.
“When I’m feeling it, I try to get to the basket or take threes — but I really like to get my teammates involved before I get hot,” Collier said.
Denver East is ranked No. 1 in the latest CHSAANow.com 5A poll. Seven games stand between now and the tournament. They take on Denver West (7-6) next Tuesday.
Denver East has won 10 state titles in its program’s history, the last in 2008-09.
“It adds motivation for us,” Brian Carey said. “We know we have the No. 1 ranking, but it could be gone just like that. We need to keep working hard and playing unselfishly.”
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Photo gallery: Dugas, Brennan lead No. 4 Regis Jesuit hockey over Chatfield
CENTENNIAL — Andre Dugas and Connor Brennan each scored twice as No. 4 Regis Jesuit beat Chatfield 5-0 on Friday night. Sam Harden made 16 saves for his third shutout this season.
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Smith leads No. 2 Thompson Valley boys basketball over No. 10 Longmont
(Brock Laue) LOVELAND — In basketball, one player can take over a game and lead his team to a big win. On Friday night, Thompson Valley’s Collin Smith was that player.
In a battle between the best defense in the Northern Conference (Longmont) — the No. 10 ranked team in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll for 4A — and the best offense (Thompson Valley), Smith scored 30 points and seemed to answer every one of the Trojans’ runs with a big bucket.
Thompson Valley, ranked No. 2 this week, defended their home court and beat their biggest challenger in the Northern Conference this season, 61-51.
In a tightly contested game throughout, Thompson Valley went up 17-14 at the end of the first and used a 10-0 run to take a 27-18 lead into the half. Longmont was unable to handle Smith all night, but did a solid job defensively on the rest of the team and held in the game with several critical baskets in the paint.
The Trojans cut the deficit to 40-38 going into the fourth after a 20-point third quarter and briefly took a one-point lead in the fourth. But in the end, there was just too much Collin Smith. Smith hit a clutch 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining to put Thompson Valley up 51-47 and the Eagles never looked back as guards Grant Rohrbouck and Mike Olivas calmly knocked down free-throw after free-throw in the waning moments.
The Eagles used their strengths — team play, ball movement, tough defense, and transition offense — to secure the win. But, above all, Smith was the difference-maker.
Thompson Valley’s Collin Smith. (Brock Laue) The 6-foot-5 senior displayed a polished inside and outside game as he was effective on post moves in the paint, mid-range jumpers, and 3-pointers. Smith can be a difficult matchup for opposing teams because of his size, skill on the perimeter, and athleticism. He threw down a big fastbreak jam in the third quarter that sent the Thompson Valley student section into a frenzy.
Smith was understandably ecstatic after a game when he was unconscious shooting the ball.
“It’s great. It’s just flow,” he said. “You shoot something and you know it’s going in. It’s not something you see often, but when it’s there, it is nice.”
The Eagles’ coach, Josh Robinson, was very pleased with the team’s performance against a traditionally tough Longmont squad.
“I thought we played well,” Robinson said. “We had stretches where we got out of our flow a little bit defensively, especially in that fourth quarter. At one point we were down by one and I challenged our kids to get back to doing what we do defensively. We did it to a T the rest of the game.
“Collin had a nice game tonight and we need him to play well in big games. I really think it was a good team effort. Austin Dyer’s been sick all week and he came in shorthanded and had a fantastic game. Defensively, rebounds, he did a great job and Mike and Grant took care of the basketball. It was a team win.”
The win moved the Eagles to 13-1 this season and into sole command of the Northern Conference at 6-0. Longmont is second at 5-1, 11-3 overall.
Smith finished with 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting and went 5-of-6 from 3. Rohrbouck chipped in 14 points, was a good floor general and played tough on-ball defense. Olivas had seven points. Rohrbouck and Olivas went a combined 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute.
Clint Sigg led the Trojans in scoring with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and did all of his damage on offense in the paint. Sigg, Longmont’s quarterback this past fall, is a strong, athletic 6-foot-4 post. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
Austin Kemp and Justinian Jessup, Longmont’s leading scorers on the season, never got into a consistent rhythm on offense but finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Longmont only has three seniors on varsity and possesses a talented sophomore class with Jessup, Kevin Mitchell, and David Speidel leading the way. The Trojans might be a year away from being one of the premier teams in 4A, but the senior-laden Eagles are having a special season.
“We’re one step closer to our goal. We want to be able to win the Northern Conference. That’s our number one priority,” Robinson said. “To get this win at home, this is the first step. We have a lot of basketball left.”
The weekend isn’t over yet for Thompson Valley as the Eagles take on a talented Cheyenne Mountain squad at 6:30 Saturday evening. The Indians are led by Montana State signee Ghassan Nehme, the leading scorer in 4A at 26.1 points per game.
“We go down to Cheyenne Mountain tomorrow, which I think is a big picture game for us, but tonight was our focus. We’ll go down there and compete tomorrow and see where we’re at,” Robinson said.
“We’ve played fantastic so far. Improvement-wise, which I think is a little bit of a bonus for us going forward, just keeping our focus throughout the game. We go through stretches where we fall asleep and if we can keep our amount of focus throughout the game, we’re a good team.”
Smith knows the enormity of a win over Longmont, though.
“It means we can run with anyone,” he said. “We don’t have to be afraid. After three years of being the underdogs, now we’re finally up top and people are coming after us. It feels great to be a senior and we’re the top guys.”
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Notebook: Skiing championships get custom gate panels
The state skiing championships will have custom gate panels for the first time in the history of the event next month.
The red and blue gate panels will be installed on the alpine course prior to the championships at Eldora Mountain Resort on Feb. 13-14. They each feature a white CHSAA flag logo as well as the phrase, “CHSAA STATE SKIING CHAMPIONSHIPS.”
The change was made because alpine competitors will now wear bibs featuring their school’s information rather than the standard state skiing championships bibs of prior years. (The nordic race will still wear CHSAA bibs.)
“We have always provided state championship bibs,” said assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who oversees skiing. “All season, they’ve been wearing their own bibs that say their team name. They’d get to state, and they’d wear CHSAA bibs, and people would have a hard time figuring out what school they were from.
“People wanted to represent their school,” Brookens said. “We really find that valuable and want to allow them to do that.”
But, Brookens added, “We still want to show that it’s a state championship event. So someone brought up the idea of, ‘How about we do gate panels?’”
Here’s what they’ll look like:
Monarch coach Gail Hook wins No. 400
Longtime Monarch girls basketball coach Gail Hook won the 400th game of her career on Thursday night. Her Coyotes beat Greeley West, 42-24, in Greeley.
“You’ve got to have players and you’ve got to have coaching staffs to keep you in it for as long as I’ve been in it,” Hook told BoCoPreps.com after the game. “Those are the reasons you do what you do, and I think I’ve been very fortunate to have kids that have worked hard and believe in what we’re doing.”
Hook, a 15-year coaching veteran, has also headed the programs at Centaurus and Smoky Hill. She is now 400-160 in her career, according to BoCoPreps.com.
Two teams headed to national baseball tournament
ThunderRidge and Regis Jesuit will both play in this year’s USA Baseball National High School Invitational on March 26-29 in North Carolina. The tournament, founded in 2012, routinely draws 16 of the top teams nationally.
This year, teams from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, California, Tennessee, Alabama and Arizona will participate. The only previous Colorado team to play in the event was Highlands Ranch, in 2012. The Falcons went 1-2 that year.
ThunderRidge, the defending Class 5A champion, features three Division I-bound seniors: shortstop Brody Westmoreland (San Diego State) and pitchers A.J. Jones (BYU) and Tyler Loptein (San Diego State).
Regis Jesuit has five D-I seniors: pitchers Zach Heath (Northern Colorado), David Peterson (Oregon) and Regan Todd (Arizona State); second baseman Max George (Oregon State); and third baseman Juston Thaxton (Pacific).
Here is a promo video for the event: