LITTLETON — Ian Spetnagel scored the first goal of the game and Joe Whitney scored the game winner in the second half as Wheat Ridge boys soccer edged Chatfield 2-1.
Resurrection Christian is making a climb up the ladder. The Cougars traveled to Sterling and came away with a big 25-13, 25-19, 18-25 25-21 over the Tigers.
Morgan Watson, Kaitlyn Newbanks and Katelyn Anderson all recorded double-digits in kills, providing a balanced attack for the Cougars.
Bryce Lienemann was the one feeding the machine as she notched 37 assists.
Sterling will look to rebound on Thursday when it travels to Frontier Academy. Resurrection Christian will also see action on Thursday when it plays host to No. 3 Faith Christian.
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Eaton 3, Faith Christian 0
Top-ranked Eaton will stay on top for now. The Reds cruised to another win on Tuesday, beating Faith Christian 25-19, 25-17, 25-13.
Thursday will be another tough test for the defending 3A champions as they host No. 5 University.
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Valor Christian 3, Chatfield
Valor Christian made a heck of a statement on Tuesday night, as 4A’s No. 5-ranked Eagles took down 5A No. 2 Chatfield with a clean sweep.
It was the first loss for Chatifeld who will try to get back in the win column on Thursday against Denver East.
The Eagles will host Fruita Monument on Saturday.
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Holy Family 3, Berthoud 1
After two, Holy Family and Berthoud each held a set in hand.
Then the Tigers went on quite the run, outscoring the Spartans 50-33 in the last two sets to take Tuesday’s match.
It was the first league win of the year for the No. 2-ranked Tigers who will look to build on that momentum when they travel to Roosevelt on Thursday.
Berthoud will aim for their first league win on Thursday when it hosts Erie.
Kailey Wilson added some insurance for Eaglecrest in the sixth in the form of a three-run homerun to push the lead to 7-2.
Fossil Ridge tried to claw back into the game in the top of the sixth, but Eaglecrest’s Braelyn Crenshaw got a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to keep the Raptor lead.
Crenshaw pitched a complete game in the win. Sabourin and Wilson each had three runs-batted-in.
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GRAND JUNCTION – Mike Sirko has prowled the sidelines of Colorado high school football fields for more than 40 years for one reason: He still loves the game, still loves coaching kids.
Sirko’s travels to coaching positions across the state have encompassed five classifications.
His latest stopover is in Grand Junction, as he began his second campaign as head coach of the Tigers.
Wherever he’s gone, Sirko has seemed to taken over programs that have not seen a lot of success of late.
“I’ve always gone where I’m needed,” he said. “All of my travels were with teams that had losing programs.”
The thing is, wherever he goes, he wins.
After graduating from Western State College, Sirko got his coaching start as an assistant at Montrose. Two years later, in 1978, he got his first chance to be a head coach at Hotchkiss.
The Bulldogs made the state quarterfinals in each of his first two seasons.
From there, he got a chance to move up a couple of classifications when he took over at Falcon, another school that, like Hotchkiss, didn’t have much of a recent winning tradition. He led the Falcons to the playoffs.
He then moved across Colorado Springs, inheriting a Rampart team that hadn’t had a winning season in its 10 years of existence. He promptly led the Rams to the playoffs four times in five seasons.
It was then time for Sirko to challenge the 5A ranks as he moved to Aurora to assume the reins at Smoky Hill.
He got that program turned in an upward direction, only to head back and coach Rampart for a second time. When his principal transferred to Doherty, Sirko went with him to coach the Spartans.
(Kent Mincer/CHSAANow.com)
Then it was time to take on his biggest challenge. His wife Diana, like Sirko a lifelong educator, got an opportunity to become the superintendent for the Aspen School District
In seven seasons, he led the Skiers to a 52-13 record and numerous appearances in the 2A playoffs .
Then it was a brief return to Hotchkiss (to which he commuted from his home in Basalt). The Bulldogs again found success under Sirko.
Last season he took over the controls at Grand Junction. The Tigers struggled at times to establish the senior leadership he desired, finishing with a 2-8 record.
Out of that came something good. Sirko was forced to play a lot of underclassmen and the sophomore class got some valuable experience – especially on defense.
That showed last Friday, when the Tigers opened their season with a 21-0 win over crosstown rival Grand Junction Central. Sirko was most pleased with the lack to turnovers and penalties.
“Those are paramount early in the season,” he said.
No matter where Sirko has coached, he’s stuck to the same principles.
“It’s about building a culture,” he said.
That requires a couple of things on his players’ part: accountability and responding to adversity.
“One of the common things is getting kids to believe in each other,” he said of establishing a team culture.
One of his other core beliefs is to keep things as simple as possible.
“It’s high school football,” he emphasizes. “Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Do what we can do successfully. It’s not what you know, it’s what the kids will learn.”
That’s especially true with a young team. The Tigers have only 24 upperclassmen, but 25 sophomores and 40 freshmen are out this season.
He’s taken a senior who played his sophomore and junior seasons at tight end and defensive tackle and made him his quarterback this season.
Overall, Clay Payne said, the atmosphere has been more upbeat under Sirko.
“Overall the energy is way better,” Payne said.
And Sirko has made the transition to quarterback easy for Payne by going back to that core principal.
“It’s not complicated,” Payne said of picking up Sirko’s offensive system.
The Tigers may take their lumps again this season, playing in a conference that includes, among others, Windsor, Loveland, Greeley West and Brighton.
“We’re gonna have a war every week, and our kids have to prepare for it,” he said.
He’ll prepare as well, for every week.
“Every week you’ve got to earn their love and respect,” he said of building that culture.
Mike Sirko never believed he’s be coaching for more than 40 years, but he realizes he still loves working with kids.
“I still think I’ve got something to give,” he said. “That’s why I’m still here.”
Cohlton Schultz, now a junior at Ponderosa, won a gold medal at the 2017 Cadet World Championships in Greece on Monday.
In doing so, Schultz, a two-time champion at the state tournament, became the first American Cadet Greco-Roman wrestler to win a world championship since 1997, according to USA Wrestling.
Schultz beat Balint Vatzi of Hungary via a 3-1 decision in the 100 kg division. He got a takedown in the final 15 seconds to win.
“I was just wrestling,” Schultz told TeamUSA.org. “I wasn’t really thinking. As soon as I got that takedown, I felt like I sealed it up. I felt good.”
Schultz has won the 220-pound bracket at the Class 5A state tournament each of his first two seasons.
As of now, Schultz is planning on wrestling for Ponderosa this season, according to athletic director Tim Ottmann.
