Girls basketball’s 2015 state tournament bracket in Class 5A.
Month: February 2015
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4A girls basketball’s state tournament bracket
Girls basketball’s 2015 state tournament bracket in Class 4A.
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4A boys basketball’s state tournament bracket
Boys basketball’s 2015 state tournament bracket in Class 4A.
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5A boys basketball’s state tournament bracket
Boys basketball’s 2015 state tournament bracket in Class 5A.
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State basketball brackets out in 5A, 4A girls and boys basketball
Overland and Eaglecrest are both No. 1 seeds in the 5A boys brackets. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com) The brackets for the Class 5A and 4A boys and girls basketball state tournaments were released on Sunday.
Overland, Regis Jesuit, Eaglecrest and ThunderRidge each earned No. 1 seeds in the 5A boys tournament. Each of those teams, save for Eaglecrest, were ranked No. 1 in CHSAANow.com’s poll at some point this season.
No. 2 seeds in 5A boys include Mountain Vista, Legend, Dakota Ridge and Rangeview.
The Continental League, viewed by many as the toughest in the state, ended up with six teams getting first-round byes, including No. 3 seeds Chaparral and Rock Canyon. The other No. 3s are Fort Collins and George Washington.
Also getting byes in the first round were No. 4 seeds Cherokee Trail, Rampart, Grand Junction and Fossil Ridge.
Defending champion Denver East drew a No. 6 seed, and opens at home against No. 11 Fairview.
ThunderRidge is among the No. 1 seeds in 5A girls basketball. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) On the 5A girls side, Highlands Ranch, Broomfield, ThunderRidge and Monarch earned the No. 1 seeds.
The No. 2s are Cherry Creek, Rampart, Lakewood and Arapahoe.
Also receiving first round byes are No. 3 seeds Grand Junction, Ralston Valley, Grandview and Denver East; as well as No. 4 seeds Legacy, Westminster, Pine Creek and Fossil Ridge.
Two-time defending 5A champion Regis Jesuit is a No. 6 seed, and plays No. 11 Pomona in the first round.
In 4A girls, Canon City, Pueblo West, D’Evelyn and Holy Family were the No. 1 seeds. The No. 2s are Pueblo South, Palisade, Sand Creek and Valor Christian.
Defending champion Mesa Ridge is a No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 Silver Creek to open the tournament.
The 4A boys field is led by No. 1 seeds Longmont, Golden, Holy Family and Denver South.
Valor Christian, Air Academy, Sierra and Pueblo West are No. 2 seeds.
Pueblo East, the defending champion, missed the 4A field.
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State basketball brackets
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Some seeds didn’t matter on Day 2 of state wrestling
Benjamin Self of Air Academy and Alex Mai of Fort Morgan wrestle in a 4A 195-pound semifinal during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — Taking down a No. 1 seed in any tournament can give a competitor an unexpected confidence. Knowing the best is out of the way and they were the ones that took them out can have a scary effect on the outcome of a playoff situation.
But simply taking down a top-ranked opponent doesn’t always translate to success. That was the case in the Class 4A state wrestling brackets. Three different 4A wrestlers took out their brackets’ respective top-ranked grapplers. Each one lost their next match during Friday night’s semifinal round.
Fortunately for freshman Jason Hanenberg (106) of Air Academy and junior Darian Manzanares (126) of Pueblo Centennial they’ll have another chance to fully summit the state championship mountain. But for senior Benjamin Self (195) of Air Academy, his hopes of winning a state championship were extinguished.
Stephen Dabelko of Widefield and Jason Hanenberg of Air Academy wrestle in a 4A 106-pound semifinal during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) Hanenberg came into his bout against Widefield’s Stephen Debelko boasting a 41-1 record on the year. He was coming off a close 5-4 decision win over Greeley Central’s Zeke Alirez and was hoping to ride that momentum to the championship match.
The two lightweights found themselves in another tight battle that was briefly delayed due to an injury timeout by Hanenberg. After working out what appeared to be a leg issue, the match continued and Debelko escaped with a 1-0 decision victory.
“I just know I’m the best in the state and one of the best in the nation and if I wrestled the best I can each time, I’ll win all my matches,” Debelko said. “I have to go out and push the pace and not let him affect what I have to do.”
Falcon freshman Jacob Butler echoed that sentiment. When stepping onto the mat in the semifinals, he was staring across at Manzanares who had dispatched Pueblo South’s Michael Ramirez with a 1-0 decision victory of his own. Knowing that his opponent was capable of beating a top competitor, Butler wasn’t going to change his wrestling style.
“I prepare as if every match of my life is the state finals,” Butler said. “I don’t have any expectations for any wrestler that I’m facing, just like I would facing the best wrestler I know.”
In a match that shocked many, Butler scored early then continued to build his lead en route to a 14-4 major decision victory. The 126-pound title will be up for grabs between a freshman in Butler and a sophomore in Pueblo County’s Chris Sandoval.
The victory for Butler is by no means an indication that Butler is a vastly superior wrestler. Last week at regionals, Butler and Manzanares battled in the semifinals with a chance to go to the regional championship match. Butler won the match, but in a much closer 5-2 contest.
“He is a good wrestler, I guess I was just more mentally prepared than he was,” Butler said.
As the competition wore deeper into the night, only one wrestler who had knocked off a No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals had a chance to go for gold. Self took on Fort Morgan’s Alex Mai and even found himself with an early 3-1 lead. But breathing problems forced Self to take an injury timeout and the match eventually slipped out of his grasp.
“We all put on the singlet the same way, one leg at a time,” Mai said. “We all have the same chance to go out there and win as equals.”
After Mai’s 6-5 win over Self, he came to the realization that he too could now be staring down the barrel of a letdown match. He hopes he can learn with what happened to Self and prevent a big win today from causing him to let down tomorrow.
“I think (after a big win) you have more adrenaline and maybe you’re a little more worn out from a tough match,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s (as much) a letdown. It’s more of a pick-me-up.”
Mai, Buter and Debelko will all have a chance to leave Pepsi Center with state championships on Saturday. The parade of champions will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the matches starting immediately after.
Jacob Butler of Falcon and Zach Kennison of Thompson Valley wrestle in a 126-pound 4A quarterfinal bout during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) -
Photos: State wrestling semifinals for all classes
DENVER â The Class 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A state wrestling semifinals got underway on Friday at the Pepsi Center.
Full coverage:
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Summit, Battle Mountain win team skiing championships
KEYSTONE — Friday, the second day of the state skiing championships, was all about tight turns, low-light lenses, and big flakes.
Well, for most of the day. The girls started the sun-less, low temperature morning.
Sophie Defries, a junior at Boulder who races for Nederland, took first place for the slalom. A top-five finisher in Thursday’s giant slalom race, Defries was excited and surprised to take the top spot. She said she loved the course on Thursday, but Friday, it seemed, the course loved her.
Though there were spills towards the bottom, and a late gate that seemed to trip up a portion of the field, Defries stayed on her feet.
“This was a pretty tough course, so it threw some girls off,” she said. “It was quick, and I just had to stay focused. I was a little more prepared today, and slalom is always a stronger race for me.”
Defries’ Cassidy Donahue had the fastest time heading into the second race, but slipped out at the end, bumping Defries into her spot.
“I am bummed that my friend crashed,” she said. “I guess for me, I looked ahead and there was a little bit of luck.”
Eleanor “Ellie” Brown-Wolf finished her senior season with a second place run, her first podium finish, and a happy end to her high school career. Brown-Wolf will take a gap year before college and continue to compete in ski racing. Abby Davidson was third.
(Danielle Ennis/CHSAANow.com) Snow had already begun falling at the close of the girls first run, and by the time the boys took the hill for their final run, the winds had picked up and visibility was limited.
It didn’t keep Sands Simonton from doing what he does best: skiing fast.
In his senior year, Simonton knows the podium well. As does his Battle Mountain teammate, Quintin Cook, who finished first in slalom.
The two finished first and second in both alpine events. And collectively, Battle Mountain won its first team alpine championship in 14 years.
“Besides those short 30 seconds to a minute, this is all about the team. I am overjoyed to be part of this,” Simonton said.
Simonton has committed to Colorado, where he will race as a Buff.
Head alpine coach Simon Mar says the dynamic between Cook and Simonton is “really cool to watch and coach.”
The boys of Battle Mountain swept all four events across the board, winning state championships and marking their most successful season in competition history.
(Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com) In girls Nordic Classic, Summit teammates Ezra Smith and Ruthie Boyd finished back to back.
The two, elated to skate and push so close to each other, both landed on the podium in Thursday’s Nordic Skate, as well. Smith, a freshman, finishes her first high school season with two first-places finishes.
Her elder classmate and friend Boyd, crossed the finish line a minute and 30 second after Smith.
“I’m really excited to share the podium with Ruthie,” said the newtimer, Smith. “It’s been really fun to have each other for training and to go 1 and 2.”
Lyle Shipp of Vail Mountain followed shortly behind for third place. In the boys Nordic Classic, Henry Trowbridge, winner of the Nordic skate event on Thursday, was unable to race Friday due to illness. Nick Sweeney, Luk Platil, and Graham Houtsma took first, second, and third respectively.
The host team, Summit High school, won overall state champions for the girls.
(Danielle Ennis/CHSAANow.com) -
Day 2 results from state skiing at Keystone
KEYSTONE â Results from the second day of the state skiing championships.
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Girls
Team scores Rank Team GS Skate Slalom Classic Total 1 Summit 168 163 166 170 667 2 Aspen 158 162 155 163 638 3 Battle Mountain 133 154 158 154 599 4 Nederland 158 111 113 149.5 531.5 5 Evergreen 165 127 72 139 503 6 Middle Park 125 102 121 127.5 475.5 7 Lake County 113 118 124 111.5 466.5 8 Eagle Valley 104.5 114 125 105.5 449 9 Steamboat Springs 117.5 142 150 32 441.5 10 Clear Creek 81 78 84 84 327 11 Vail Mountain 30 170 114 0 314 12 Colorado Rocky Mountain 31 89 97 35 252 13 Platte Canyon 121 0 0 117 238 Slalom Place Bib Team Name Run 1 Place Run 2 Place Result 1 336 Nederland Sophie Defries 33.86 3 36.01 1 01:09.9 2 425 Summit Eleanor Brown-Wolf 33.83 2 36.63 3 01:10.5 3 535 Aspen Hannah Mass 34.77 4 36.2 2 01:11.0 4 7 Battle Mountain Abby Davidson 34.98 6 36.69 4 01:11.7 5 444 Summit Rachel Smith 34.93 5 37.02 5 01:11.9 6 445 Summit Gisele Thompson 35.43 9 37.14 6 01:12.6 7 437 Summit Dani Moulton 35.55 11 37.8 7 01:13.3 8 525 Aspen Linzhi Douglas 35.25 7 38.9 11 01:14.1 9 339 Nederland Brita Luscher 36.17 15 38.18 8 01:14.4 10 714 Evergreen Kaylie Pykkonen 36.29 16 38.32 9 01:14.6 11 542 Aspen Qunicy Dollahan 35.25 7 39.62 17 01:14.9 12 12 Battle Mountain Katherine Harnick 36.08 14 38.98 12 01:15.1 13 485 Steamboat Springs Lindsey Adler 36.57 17 38.98 12 01:15.6 14 537 Aspen Dolores Sharif 37.05 20 38.6 10 01:15.7 15 252 Platte Canyon Lindsay Dedrickson 37.26 23 39.18 14 01:16.4 16 432 Summit McKenzie Hart 37.03 19 39.44 15 01:16.5 17 15 Battle Mountain Hailey Norvell 37.14 22 39.7 18 01:16.8 18 424 Summit Jill Bauer 37.46 24 40.15 19 01:17.6 19 722 Evergreen Brianna Bond 38.78 31 39.54 16 01:18.3 20 526 Aspen Nikki Blizzard 37.67 25 41.87 27 01:19.5 21 212 Middle Park Rebecca Bolen 38.67 30 41.44 22 01:20.1 22 141 Lake County Madaline Redden 37.99 27 42.12 30 01:20.1 23 528 Aspen Lacey Newhard 39.11 33 41.78 24 01:20.9 24 222 Middle Park Olivia Butrymovich 39.22 34 41.93 28 01:21.2 25 494 Steamboat Springs Mariah Hoots 39.48 37 41.75 23 01:21.2 26 700 Evergreen Hannelore Gruber 40.39 45 41.79 25 01:22.2 27 536 Aspen Nikki Cardamone 39.71 40 42.84 31 01:22.6 28 14 Battle Mountain Gabrielle Truebloo 39.23 35 43.77 36 01:23.0 29 713 Evergreen Mali Holmes 40.28 44 43.17 32 01:23.4 30 217 Middle Park Sarah Bausano 39.63 39 43.83 38 01:23.5 31 430 Summit Carly Cummings 39.73 41 43.86 39 01:23.6 32 10 Battle Mountain Annika Heid 41.81 50 41.86 26 01:23.7 33 703 Evergreen Sydney Brown 39.56 38 44.32 43 01:23.9 34 102 Eagle Valley Morgan Kromer 40.21 42 43.8 37 01:24.0 35 705 Evergreen Taylor Kitch-Ross 41.2 49 43.23 33 01:24.4 36 254 Platte Canyon Michaela Rollins 40.87 46 43.57 34 01:24.4 37 103 Eagle Valley Shelby Essex 40.92 47 43.64 35 01:24.6 38 347 Nederland Leah Kalil 40.27 43 44.29 42 01:24.6 39 294 Colorado Rocky Mountain Erin Rush 41.98 51 44.02 41 01:26.0 40 142 Lake County Rebekah Main 39.42 36 48.05 48 01:27.5 41 701 Evergreen Kit Bender 46.73 56 41.02 21 01:27.7 42 149 Lake County Jayde Daigle 42.72 53 46.84 44 01:29.6 43 341 Nederland Cassidy Donohue 33.46 1 56.34 51 01:29.8 44 376 Vail Mountain Bess Daniel 42.51 52 47.53 46 01:30.0 45 718 Evergreen Lauren Hawes 43 54 47.26 45 01:30.3 46 257 Platte Canyon Jourdan Valentine 36.85 18 55.38 50 01:32.2 47 226 Middle Park Ryleigh Sutcliffe 44.51 55 47.73 47 01:32.2 48 223 Middle Park Lainey Nabhan 52.88 58 40.73 20 01:33.6 49 541 Aspen Pascale Augurger 35.75 12 01:00.9 54 01:36.7 50 107 Eagle Valley Jessica Nulle 38.85 32 58.8 53 01:37.7 51 98 Clear Creek Tessa Spialek 51.55 57 54.34 49 01:45.9 52 86 Clear Creek Arete Koepsel 53.61 59 56.84 52 01:50.5 53 346 Nederland Emma Gann 01:19.6 62 41.93 28 02:01.6 54 52 Clear Creek Rylan Krems 59.79 60 01:06.7 55 02:06.5 55 487 Steamboat Springs Paige VanArsdale 01:06.0 61 01:11.9 56 02:17.8 56 255 Platte Canyon Kate Tarkenton 01:42.4 63 43.88 40 02:26.2 57 335 Nederland Delaney Pratt 35.46 10 DNF 58 215 Middle Park Kelsey Fagan 37.09 21 DNF 59 343 Nederland Hannah Isenhart 37.69 26 DNF 60 441 Summit McKenna Ramsay 38.22 28 DNF 61 423 Summit Geneva Ascher 38.58 29 DNF 62 702 Evergreen Kylee Petrik 35.94 13 DSQ 63 9 Battle Mountain Morgan Crooke 41.01 48 DSQ 64 56 Clear Creek Angelina Inman DNF 65 332 Nederland Taylor Folwell DSQ 66 717 Evergreen Maia Brownson DSQ Nordic Classic Place Name School Time 1 Ezra Smith Summit 22:19.0 2 Ruthie Boyd Summit 23:49.4 3 Lyle Shipp Vail Mountain 24:04.4 4 Megan Rossman Battle Mountain 24:14.8 5 Annie Blakslee Vail Mountain 24:31.0 6 Chelsea Moore Aspen 24:34.8 7 Natalie Bohlmann Steamboat Springs 24:46.0 8 Hannah Gaylord Battle Mountain 24:59.6 9 Lara Lufkin Lake County 25:08.6 10 Melody Lemke Aspen 25:13.7 11 Catherine Brodie Steamboat Springs 25:16.8 12 Adair Pattillo Aspen 25:18.6 13 Sarah Smith Battle Mountain 25:25.7 14 Christa Gutzel Summit 25:35.8 15 Tessa Piehl Summit 25:41.7 16 Allie Sands Battle Mountain 25:48.3 17 Kaela Fahrney Battle Mountain 25:54.4 18 Eliza Leeson Steamboat Springs 26:05.5 19 Rychelle DeNardo Battle Mountain 26:25.2 20 Anna Gongaware Battle Mountain 26:27.9 21 Brynn Mehan Eagle Valley 26:45.3 22 Lindsey Adler Steamboat Springs 26:47.5 23 Carly Hough Summit 26:51.9 24 Maya McDonough Aspen 26:57.3 25 Mackenzie Radandt Nederland 27:00.8 26 Mariah Hoots Steamboat Springs 27:10.1 27 Kaeli Niemeyer Eagle Valley 27:20.5 28 Kim Sandbach Aspen 27:29.7 29 Emily Jensen Middle Park 27:33.4 30 Rowen Gallagher Middle Park 27:37.4 31 Natalie Platil Evergreen 27:42.1 32 Sofia Calabrese Battle Mountain 27:56.0 33 Hazel Wille Aspen 27:59.7 34 Elizabeth Constien Battle Mountain 28:08.7 35 Mary Wilcox Summit 28:15.4 36 Harper Powell Lake County 28:17.8 37 Sierra Smith Middle Park 28:38.5 38 Michaela Mitchell Eagle Valley 28:50.1 39 Lilly McMurrain Battle Mountain 28:57.1 40 Olivia Dixon Colorado Rocky Mountain 28:57.4 41 Darby Howard Middle Park 28:59.7 42 Maise Bryant Nederland 29:00.1 43 Molly Madden Nederland 29:12.8 44 Julia Budsey Aspen 29:39.7 45 Jayde Daigle Lake County 29:44.9 46 McKenzie Millard Steamboat Springs 29:57.3 47 Kylee Petrik Evergreen 31:03.5 48 Katelyn Krehbiel Colorado Rocky Mountain 31:13.0 49 Ruby Marker Colorado Rocky Mountain 33:42.0 50 Tessa Spialek Clear Creek 34:05.2 51 Mackenzie DePlata Middle Park 35:13.4 52 Angellina Inman Clear Creek 36:43.9 53 Arete Koepsel Clear Creek 38:51.2 Boys
Team scores Rank Team GS Skate Slalom Classic Total 1 Battle Mountain 175 154 155 173 657 2 Summit 146 167 159 150 622 3 Aspen 117 166 169 136 588 4 Evergreen 153 134 106 145 538 5 Eagle Valley 127 136 140 131 534 6 Nederland 149 107 110 157 523 7 Middle Park 92 133 146 123 494 8 Lake County 99 121 116 74 410 9 Steamboat Springs 121 103 110 76 410 10 Clear Creek 105 85 90 120 400 11 Vail Mountain 74 100 52 43 269 12 Platte Canyon 121 0 0 67 188 13 Colorado Rocky Mountain 0 73 99 0 172 Slalom Place Bib Team Name Run 1 Place Run 2 Place Result 1 4 Battle Mountain Quintin Cook 29.8 2 30.79 1 01:00.6 2 2 Battle Mountain Sands Simonton 29.55 1 31.56 3 01:01.1 3 757 Evergreen Owen Tallmadge 30.62 4 31.24 2 01:01.9 4 221 Middle Park Cole Riccio 29.97 3 32.38 4 01:02.4 5 780 Nederland Owen Foster 30.87 5 33.01 6 01:03.9 6 401 Summit Cameron Berget 31.51 6 33.14 8 01:04.7 7 6 Battle Mountain Keenan Zopf 32.33 9 32.6 5 01:04.9 8 776 Nederland Quin Kuechenmeiste 31.95 7 33.61 9 01:05.6 9 27 Battle Mountain Victor Guilmineau 32.68 12 33.05 7 01:05.7 10 74 Clear Creek Mike Skladanowsk 32.33 9 33.89 10 01:06.2 11 114 Eagle Valley Matt Genelin 33.33 16 34.55 11 01:07.9 12 414 Summit Slav Uglyar Ivanov 33.29 15 35.33 16 01:08.6 13 554 Aspen David Mondry 33.76 18 35.07 14 01:08.8 14 362 Nederland Sam Vonmettenheim 33.73 17 35.31 15 01:09.0 15 553 Aspen Kyle LaCouture 34.42 22 34.8 13 01:09.2 16 759 Evergreen Hayden Holtrop 34.9 25 34.57 12 01:09.5 17 402 Summit Henry Boyd 33.76 18 37.53 25 01:11.3 18 502 Steamboat Springs Channing Conner 33.27 14 38.29 29 01:11.6 19 372 Vail Mountain Peter Mitchell 34.82 23 36.79 20 01:11.6 20 777 Nederland Jacob Scheiffler 35.33 27 37.07 21 01:12.4 21 109 Eagle Valley Austin Darrough 35.99 30 37.32 22 01:13.3 22 782 Nederland Christian Wood 35.49 28 37.86 28 01:13.3 23 41 Battle Mountain Nathan Cook 36.32 32 37.46 24 01:13.8 24 745 Evergreen Grant Novota 36.25 31 37.76 26 01:14.0 25 743 Evergreen Trip Starkey 34.86 24 39.46 36 01:14.3 26 556 Aspen Will Reagan 37.09 37 37.4 23 01:14.5 27 768 Evergreen Wayles Concklin 39.31 45 35.47 17 01:14.8 28 784 Nederland Cole Skilbred 37.25 38 37.8 27 01:15.1 29 779 Nederland Bryce Nesmith 36.58 33 39.03 33 01:15.6 30 43 Battle Mountain Cade Cyphers 36.95 36 38.83 32 01:15.8 31 158 Lake County Nathaniel Main 37.53 40 38.54 30 01:16.1 32 755 Evergreen Hayden Zopf 36.71 34 39.76 38 01:16.5 33 123 Eagle Valley Dean Smith 38.1 42 38.82 31 01:16.9 34 76 Clear Creek Jon Lovett 37.63 41 39.39 35 01:17.0 35 411 Summit Logan Ramsay 38.34 43 39.38 34 01:17.7 36 196 Middle Park Luke Compel 37.33 39 40.48 40 01:17.8 37 781 Nederland Roland Bailey 42.3 50 36.25 18 01:18.5 38 38 Battle Mountain Daniel Huck 38.48 44 40.77 42 01:19.3 39 157 Lake County Brayhan Reveles 39.68 46 39.7 37 01:19.4 40 240 Platte Canyon Bryan Knisely 39.69 47 40.19 39 01:19.9 41 241 Platte Canyon Craig Beckfield 39.86 48 40.54 41 01:20.4 42 765 Evergreen Ebner Alec 44.72 51 45.46 44 01:30.2 43 119 Eagle Valley Jakob Schwaiger 36.76 35 54.08 45 01:30.8 44 500 Steamboat Springs Riley Brodie 54.79 52 36.77 19 01:31.6 45 59 Clear Creek Sam Snyder 01:13.4 54 43.54 43 01:56.9 46 211 Middle Park Elliott Shaw 39.91 49 01:44.4 46 02:24.3 47 154 Lake County Grant Gipson 32.24 8 DNF 48 778 Nederland Michael Carrannant 34.02 20 DNF 49 501 Steamboat Springs Micah Gibbons 34.27 21 DNF 50 39 Battle Mountain David Stearns 34.92 26 DNF 51 752 Evergreen Deane Long 32.57 11 DSQ 52 771 Evergreen Spencer Albert 32.85 13 DSQ 53 400 Summit Chris Aden 35.88 29 DSQ 54 250 Platte Canyon Luke Bailey 55.79 53 DSQ 55 404 Summit Jack Farrell DNF 56 507 Steamboat Springs Rio Grabb DNF 57 783 Nederland Trig Campbell DNF 58 766 Evergreen Jacob Weichert DNF 59 412 Summit George Richard DNF 60 371 Vail Mountain Caleb Chicoine DSQ 61 750 Evergreen Billy Beasley DSQ 62 110 Eagle Valley Ryan Hanson DSQ Nordic Classic Place Name School Time 1 Nick Sweeney Aspen 19:29.6 2 Luk Platil Evergreen 19:55.1 3 Graham Houtsma Aspen 19:58.3 4 Cameron Moore Battle Mountain 20:20.3 5 Joel Sawyer Summit 20:31.0 6 Theo Loo Middle Park 20:34.2 7 Franklin Reilly Battle Mountain 20:40.1 8 Derek Hill Summit 20:48.5 9 Eric Zdechlik Vail Mountain 20:50.3 10 Jack Sweeney Aspen 20:52.9 11 Billy Wilcox Summit 21:19.5 12 Colin McGrew Summit 21:24.8 13 Michael Niemeyer Eagle Valley 21:30.4 14 Daniel Kopp Middle Park 21:32.7 15 Ricky Wojcik Aspen 21:34.5 16 Christopher King Evergreen 22:04.9 17 Gino Giovagnoli Eagle Valley 22:06.6 18 Riley Mehan Eagle Valley 22:08.2 19 Quintin Cook Battle Mountain 22:23.8 20 Logan Miyauchi Middle Park 22:35.9 21 Koby Simonton Battle Mountain 22:44.8 22 Conner McCabe Battle Mountain 22:46.6 23 Mark Simmons Middle Park 22:48.3 24 Ian Carver Middle Park 22:52.1 25 Isaac Yoder Eagle Valley 22:54.8 26 James McNamara Nederland 22:57.6 27 Jack Hulbert Summit 23:01.4 28 Elliot Shaw Middle Park 23:02.8 29 Taylor Stack Lake County 23:05.1 30 Ethan Greiner Lake County 23:05.5 31 Brandon Sheard Eagle Valley 23:09.7 32 Nicholas Apps Battle Mountain 23:11.9 33 Logan Ramsey Summit 23:12.8 34 Peter Myller Steamboat Springs 23:15.9 35 Nathaniel Badger Battle Mountain 23:18.2 36 Wes Engstrom Colorado Rocky Mountain 23:25.8 37 Rylan Miller Summit 23:27.0 38 Tait Dixson Steamboat Springs 23:37.6 39 Kiernan McClish Nederland 23:38.7 40 Christian Apps Battle Mountain 23:40.2 41 Russell Orris Lake County 23:41.3 42 Nash LaFrankie Summit 23:43.3 43 Kyle Tayman Summit 24:14.3 44 Kevin Curnutte Summit 24:21.1 45 Micah Gibbons Steamboat Springs 24:42.7 46 Liam Fuqua Middle Park 24:44.6 47 Benjamin Lingle Steamboat Springs 24:49.0 48 Jacob Barsness Colorado Rocky Mountain 24:56.7 49 Kyle Ciccarelli Middle Park 24:59.8 50 Tate Whitney Nederland 25:01.1 51 Tanner Richard Steamboat Springs 25:36.8 52 Michael Skladanowski Clear Creek 26:36.0 53 Conrad (CJ) Monson Clear Creek 26:44.7 54 Karsten Kunst Battle Mountain 27:52.6 55 Jon Lovette Clear Creek 29:29.9 56 Taylor Potenziani Colorado Rocky Mountain 30:22.8 -
Loaded brackets simply another hurdle on way to wrestling’s championship Saturday
Joseph Prieto of Holy Family and Austin Shank of Olathe wrestle in a 3A 145-pound semifinal. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) DENVER – Ryan Nordyke and Joseph Prieto spent Friday proving that it doesn’t matter where you start – the finish is what counts in the long run.
The two seniors are both returning state champions – Holly’s Nordyke captured the Class 2A 138-pound title last season and Holy Family’s Prieto did the same in 3A. Yet both wrestlers found themselves without a top-two seed at the 2015 state tournament.
Neither individual took it as a sign of disrespect, though. Instead they made it their mission to take out whoever was in their path and now have the opportunity to end their prep careers with a second consecutive championship.
Ryan Nordyke of Holly and Gunnar Chesnik of Paonia wrestle in a 2A 145-pound semifinal. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) “It didn’t matter where they put me,” said Nordyke, who posted a 12-6 decision over Paonia’s Gunnar Chesnik in the 145-pound semifinals Friday night at Pepsi Center. “I was going to have a tough run at it – it just didn’t really matter to me.”
Nordyke will meet Meeker’s Anthony Watt for the state championship Saturday night. Watt pinned another former champion, Swink’s Blake Denton, in the quarterfinals before doing the same to Rocky Ford’s Diego Reyes in the semis.
As Nordyke was taking care of business on one end of the floor, Prieto was doing the same on the opposite end.
The Holy Family standout pinned top-seeded Austin Shank of Olathe in three minutes, 34 seconds to advance to the 3A 145-pound finale. Prieto will meet a familiar opponent in Berthoud’s Jimmy Fate, who captured his first championship a year ago in the 4A ranks.
The undefeated Fate posted a 15-8 decision over Prieto in the 3A Region 1 finals last weekend.
“I’m excited. I want revenge,” said Prieto, whose twin brother Julian will wrestle for the 138-pound title. “I want to get the two-time.”
The state tournament yielded four brackets that featured two returning state champions, two each in 3A and 2A. Every classification had its share of “loaded” brackets that included multiple state placers. In 5A’s 138 field, five returning placers did battle, and six state placers from a year ago were in the 4A 145-pound bracket.
Pueblo County sophomore Chris Sandoval – a state runner-up a year ago – found himself in a challenging field in 4A at 126 pounds. Former state champion Josh Villa of Windsor and runner-up Michael Ramirez of Pueblo South were the bracket’s top two seeds; Sandoval was undefeated but had sustained a broken collarbone that kept him out for part of the season.
While both Villa and Ramirez were upset in the quarterfinals, Sandoval score victories by technical fall and pin Friday. He’ll meet Falcon freshman Jacob Butler for the title.
Sandoval said he wasn’t surprised that there were some upsets in the bracket.
“I knew there were other tough kids in there,” Sandoval said. “Anything can happen in wrestling.”
That’s the attitude that both Nordyke and Prieto embraced as well. Prieto said his seeding didn’t come as a surprise after the loss to Fate in the regional, but he also wasn’t concerned with who else was in the bracket or where they were seeded.
“I don’t pay attention to names, I don’t pay attention to records,” he said. “I have the mindset that I’m going to go out there, I’m going to do my best and I’m going to win. Whether that happens or not, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Nordyke, who has been competing with a torn ACL in his right leg that he sustained in December, also wasn’t thinking about facing top seeds or former champions. He said there are no easy brackets, but at the same time, no one is unbeatable.
Ryan Nordyke of Holly and Gunnar Chesnik of Paonia. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) “Our approach was just take one match at a time,” Holly coach Dean Crum said. “Focus on the person ahead of us and not look at the brackets.”
That mental toughness will be just as important Saturday night against Watt. Nordyke plans to have surgery on his injured leg in early March, but until then will keep pushing through the pain.
“One of my mentors told me it’s just a hurdle. I just have to jump over it,” he said. “I can’t think about that one hurdle all the time, I just have to do whatever it takes to overcome it.”
There are two championship matches Saturday night to feature two former state champions.
One comes in 3A at 132 pounds, where Valley’s Ruben Lucero will face off with Mead’s Sage Budd. The other is also in 3A, at 160, where Weld Central’s Dalton Robertson will face Valley’s Brendan Gonzales.
Joseph Prieto of Holy Family and Austin Shank of Olathe. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
