CHSAANow

Month: February 2019

  • Aspen boys and Battle Mountain girls win skiing state championships

    (Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com)

    DURANGO — Though the weather was unpredictable at the condensed two-day state skiing championships in Durango, as they say, the show must go on.

    With powder dominating the landscape of Chapman Hill and Purgatory Resort, the Aspen boys and Battle Mountain girls ended an exciting couple of days with some hardware to take back home.

    With the highest score of 676 total points, Battle Mountain’s girls defeated last year’s champion, Aspen, by 33 points.

    The Aspen boys totaled 675 points, 97 more than-second place Battle Mountain. 

    Starting at 9:37 a.m. at Chapman Hill, the boys slalom kicked of the day. Vail Mountain School’s Shane Cole (45.24 seconds) won, Aspen’s Trey Thorpe (45.42), and Vail Mountain’s Mackay Pattison (47.76) was third.

    With an impressive 20.87 second run to cap the victory over Thorpe (who finished .18 behind Cole), the senior veteran finally had his time to clinch what he had worked so hard to achieve.

    “This is my last time ski racing in high school, and it means a lot because I fell both runs at states last year at Ski Cooper,” Cole said after learning the results. “It also means a lot because the conditions were difficult and it really was just anyone’s race. I’m really glad to come out with the win.”

    As snow mounted across the mountain all morning, the top five finishers all posted quicker times in their second run compared to their first. With the snow playing faster and more compact to the surface, these elite skiers all took their game to the next level.

    “The run was straighter the second go-around,” Cole said. “I started a little earlier the second run, so the snow conditions were a little bit better than the first run, not as rutted. The top of the hill was pretty icy and a pretty good surface while the bottom wasn’t as soft as I expected, so it was great, nothing really to it, just better conditions.”

    Individually in fourth and fifth place, Battle Mountain’s Will Bettenhausen (46.29) and Nederland’s Talus Lantz (46.69) concluded the top five.

    The girls category was owned by Battle Mountain’s dynamic duo: Gretchen Pavelich and Berit Frischholz.

    Both of Pavelich’s runs led the girls with times of 23.49 (first run) and 22.10 (second run) as the senior won the event in 45.59.

    Frischholz, a junior, put up a total time of 47.22 to finish second.

    Middle Park placed three girls in the top 11 in Ella Wiser (third, 47.31), Bethanne Droll (ninth, 49.45) and Sofia Olsson (11th, 49.99).

    The fourth and fifth individual finishes came from Steamboat’s Ella Pietras and Summit’s Olyvia Snyder.

    As the alpine race completed, fans, teammates, and parents packed their bags and headed to Purgatory Resort at the Nordic Center. Snow continued to fall as 3 p.m. arrived.

    Aspen’s Everett Olson, and Vail Mountain’s Emma Blakslee came out on top individually.

    In the boys team race, Aspen repeated as champion with 675 points. It is the program’s ninth championship.

    Battle Mountain’s boys finished second (578 points), Vail Mountain (563) was third, Middle Park (560) was fourth, and Summit (546) was fifth.

    On the girls side, the championship is Battle Mountain’s fifth. The Huskies led the field with 676 points. Aspen (643) placed second, Summit (597) was third, Steamboat (578) was fourth, and Vail Mountain (525) was fifth.

    (Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com)
    (Adam Hothersall/CHSAANow.com)
    (Adam Hothersall/CHSAANow.com)
    (Adam Hothersall/CHSAANow.com)

  • History in the making? Trio of wrestlers look to become four-time champions

    Andrew Alirez Greeley Central wrestling
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    DENVER — From the moment Bob Thompson became the very first four-time state champion back in 1959, the bar was set in the world of Colorado prep wrestling.

    Since that day, 20 more individuals have joined an ever-expanding club. While a four-time champion has been crowned at Pepsi Center in each of the five previous years, only twice — in 2004 and 2005 — have multiple wrestlers accomplished that feat in the same year.

    On Saturday night, all of that could change.

    A trio of three-time state champions will step onto the mat at Pepsi Center for the final time, looking to make history.

    “Honestly, it’s just a mental game. Those kids have evolved so much to where it’s just a different world for them, man,” former Nucla four-time state champion Mikael Smith told CHSAANow.com earlier this month. “It’s bigger, faster, stronger. They have more advanced coaches. The techniques are different. I think they have to evolve on a different level than we did so many years ago.”

    Smith won his fourth title in 2005, the same year as Crowley County’s Torben Walters. Two years later it was Limon’s Kevin LeValley accomplishing the feat, starting a run of eight four-time champions over 12 years.

    When the finals get underway Saturday night, it will be Pueblo County’s Brendon Garcia (113 pounds in Class 4A), Greeley Central’s Andrew Alirez (152 pounds in 4A) and Ponderosa’s Cohlton Schultz (285 pounds in 5A) looking for their own four-peat.

    “It’s a lot tougher to win now,” said Alamosa coach Gary Ramstetter, who has coached the Mean Moose for more than four decades and had his own four-time champion in Jon Archuleta back in 1995. “There’s some really good wrestlers out there.”

    That was reinforced just moments before as Ramstetter and a packed house watched as Pomona’s Theorius Robison had his four-time bid denied in the 5A 145-pound semifinals. Robison was pinned by Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura in overtime with three seconds remaining on the clock.

    Both wrestlers earned an escape during the match, and neither picked up a point during the first minute of overtime. Segura was able to put Robison on his back in the first 30-second period and the crowd erupted after the referee slapped his hand on the mat.

    “I wanted it there (in overtime). I either wanted to win by points and not let him score, or at the end of overtime,” Segura said. “I wasn’t expecting to get the pin, but I felt it and knew I had to get it. I heard the time and I had to get the pin now or he could come back. He’s done it before.”

    The match served as a reminder that anything can happen at state, and countered the argument that has arisen at times in recent years that it isn’t as difficult to win four titles in the current day and age.

    Colorado prep wrestling icon Bob Smith – who will be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in April – can speak to that.

    Smith coached at Wray for 33 years and has attended every state tournament since 1952, when he was a wrestler himself. Smith’s teams won 10 championships, and he had 139 individuals place at state, but only one wrestler – Dusty Fix in 1988 – was a four-time champion.

    Derek Fix, Dusty’s brother, was a three-time champion and only had one loss in his career – and it came at state.

    “There’s a lot of pressure each time,” Smith said. “But as you start building to get three and then four … the pressure is there, but they have to come through it.”

    Ramstetter had six three-time champions, but only Archuleta captured a fourth.

    “You have to get it when you’re a freshman,” Ramstetter said. “That’s the difficult part.”

    Smith said the trend of repeat champions has become more prevalent as wrestlers focus on the sport during the summer and compete in elite national tournaments.

    “I think because of the activity of the sport and the exposure of the sport, kids can go anywhere anymore and wrestle,” he said. “They’re hunting tough tournaments to go to.”

    Three juniors – Windsor’s Dominick Serrano and Isaiah Salazar, along with Pueblo East’s Andy Garcia – reached Saturday’s championship round and will be searching for a third title. With a victory, they could look to join the four-time club in 2020.

    “The big thing for me was that it was just mind over matter. It’s individualized,” Mikael Smith said. “If you get yourself all wound up, then of course you’re going to exhaust yourself mentally and you’re just not going to get there.”

    Brendon Garcia Pueblo County wrestling
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

  • Green Mountain girls hoops can taste Sweet 16 after win versus Pueblo County

    LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain’s girls basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 of the Class 4A state tournament.

    It was a bit of a struggle at times in the final quarter Friday night against Pueblo County, but in the end the Rams extended their winning streak to 11 games while taking a 48-46 victory.

    Green Mountain sophomore Courtney Hank (33) had a huge game Friday night in the Class 4A second-round playoff game. Hank finished with a game-high 22 points in the Rams’ 48-46 home win over Pueblo County. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “Our girls are on a mission right now,” Green Mountain coach Darren Pitzner said. “It’s a really good family right now. The coaches are really working hard. I’m proud of all the girls.”

    The second-round playoff win sets up No. 10-seeded Green Mountain (18-6 record) on the road against No. 7 Greeley Central (23-1). The Wildcats took a 19-point win over Roosevelt on Friday night to increase their winning streak to 18 games.

    The Rams will need to find a way to contain Greeley Central senior Naomi Hidalgo who is nearly averaging a double-double in points and rebounds this season.

    Green Mountain looked to be in good shape against Pueblo County with under seven minutes to play on the snowy Friday night when junior Kasey Klocek scored back-to-back buckets to push the Rams’ lead to 40-27.

    “She (Klocek) gave us a nice spark that we needed,” Pitzner said of the junior’s two buckets early in the fourth quarter that extended the Rams to their biggest lead — 13 points — of the night. “We know how hard Pueblo kids work and they are really well-coached. They never give up and got hot in the end.”

    Green Mountain senior Shelby Ransom, left, elevates for a shot over Pueblo County junior Lauren Avila on Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Pueblo County (14-11) drained five 3-pointers in the final seven minutes to cut the Rams’ lead down to a single point in the final seconds. Junior Sloan Garcia and senior Hayle Herrera both hit a pair of 3-pointers to get the Hornets in position to grab a lead after trailing for most of the game. Herrera finished with a team-high 13 points.

    However, Green Mountain never gave up the lead by making just enough free throws — 6 of 15 — in the final quarter to hang on.

    It was the second meeting of the season between the Hornets and Rams. Green Mountain hung on for a 43-39 victory over Pueblo County during a holiday tournament Dec. 15.

    “Even thou it got close I think we were smart in the last five minutes,” Pitzner said. “We took the right shots and made just enough free throws.”

    Junior Riley Shoemaker had a key breakaway layup with just under two minutes to play and senior Savannah Hapke made a pair of free throws with 1:25 left to help secure the win.

    Pueblo County junior Erin Mauro (20) looses control of the ball while being guarded by Green Mountain junior Maddie Phillips on Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Sophomore Courtney Hank nearly scored half of the Rams’ points. Hank was unstoppable in the first half pouring in 15 of her game-high 22 points.

    “It was a hard game inside,” Hank said. “(Pueblo County junior Lauren Avila) is a really good post player. Our main goal was to D up on her and get out on their shooters.”

    Avila was tagged with a pair of early fouls in the opening quarter that allowed Hank to really establish herself as a force in the paint. Avila was held to five points before fouling out in the final minutes.

    “She (Hank) is a really tough player and has been doing a lot of extra work,” Pitzner said. “She has been working on her footwork and it’s paying off. The more teams key on her we’ll have other kids step up.”

    Green Mountain in riding a nice wave of momentum that includes a victory last week against two-time defending 4A state champion Evergreen.

    Green Mountain junior Riley Shoemaker squares up for a 3-pointer in front of the Rams’ student section Friday night. Green Mountain defeated Pueblo County 48-46 to earn a Sweet 16 game next week at Greeley Central. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • Rye wrestling has two chances to crown school’s first state champion

    (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    DENVER – Rye’s wrestling program has always come up just short in its bid to crown an individual state wrestling champion.

    So you can imagine the excitement the team – and coach Dean Decker – were feeling just mere minutes into Friday night’s Class 2A semifinal round at Pepsi Center. The Thunderbolts had two wrestlers kick things off in 2A with victories, as freshman Cole Miller (106 pounds) and sophomore Michael Atencio (113) advanced to Saturday’s finals.

    They will be looking to become the first individuals at Rye to win a state title.

    “We’ve had several in the finals – several seconds, but never a champion,” Decker said. “We’re hoping (Saturday) will be our first.

    “As a Rye wrestler myself, coaching now, it’s kind of hard to explain that feeling we’ll get.”

    Miller posted a 13-0 major decision over Trinidad’s Albert Felthager. He will face defending state champion Seth McFall of Fowler in the championship match.

    Atencio, who is undefeated, followed that up with a 6-1 decision over Hayden’s Dylan Zimmerman. Atencio draws Wray junior Cade Rockwell – also a defending champion.

    “I’ve been going to Rye since I was like in preschool,” Atencio said. “Knowing there hasn’t been a state champ at Rye yet – I want to do it, me and Cole.”

    Atencio lost in the second round as a freshman, only to fight his way back through the consolation bracket. He won four matches to place third.

    “It fired me up a lot,” Atencio said. “We worked all summer, going to camps and getting the best partners I can just for this moment right now.”

    Rye brought just four wrestlers to state, and was sitting in 11th place overall with 43.5 points after Friday. The Thunderbolts were 19th a year ago with only 32 points.

    “It’s just excellent wrestlers coming up,” Decker said. “Young kids that worked hard their whole lives, starting in the pee-wees and working their way up. It’s just exciting to have that good competition now.”

    Other programs will be looking to break a state-title drought Saturday night as well.

    In 5A, Prairie View’s Austin McFadden will be looking to give the Thunderhawks their first champion. McFadden won his semifinal match 6-4 at 152 pounds and will face Doherty’s Tyson Beauperthuy on Saturday night.

    Beauperthuy is looking to give Doherty its first title since 1997 and only the sixth overall.

    In 3A, Woodland Park Brady Hankin posted an 8-3 decision at 106 pounds to move into the final against Alamosa’s Davion Chavez. Woodland Park hasn’t had an individual state champion since 1989.      

    Elizabeth’s Abe Leonard pinned Bayfield’s John Foutz in the 3A 195-pound bracket to advance to Saturday’s finals against Salida’s Holt Brashears. Elizabeth is looking for its first champion since 1993.

  • Photos: Action from the second of the state wrestling tournament

    DENVER — Championship matches are set after quarterfinal and semifinal rounds were completed on Day 2 of the state wrestling tournament at Pepsi Center.

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  • Photos: Grandview girls basketball rolls into the Sweet 16

    AURORA — Grandview girls basketball beat Loveland 70-25 to punch its ticket to the Class 5A Sweet 16 on Friday.

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  • No. 6 Montrose girls basketball punches ticket to 4A Sweet 16

    (Christina Martin/ Montrose Daily Press)

    MONTROSE — Josie Eccher had 10 points to help lead No. 6 Montrose girls basketball to a win over No. 27 Battle Mountain in the second round of the Class 4A tournament.

    “We played hard for 32 minutes and made enough plays at the end to get the win,” Montrose coach Steve Skiff said. “I thought our defense was solid all night and got some important stops down the stretch. We are happy to move on in the playoffs and look forward to another challenge on Tuesday.”

    Montrose will host No. 11 Ponderosa next week in the Sweet 16.

    Montrose jumped out to an 8-5 lead after the first quarter, and went ahead 18-12 at halftime.

    They continued to lead 25-20 after the third quarter, and then pulled away in the fourth. Brenna Moss made six free throws in a row. She finished with nine points.

    “It was all-together game,” Montrose senior Michaela Ladage said. “We struggled offensively, but our defense showed up tonight and we all guarded our man one on one super well tonight. It was a great for us all together.”

    Caroline Burwell added eight points for Montrose.

    Claire Kruger led Battle Mountain with 11.

  • Photos: No. 9 Cherry Creek hockey fends off No. 8 Doherty in hockey’s second round

    CENTENNIAL — Jacob Tudan and Blake Benson got Cherry Creek up early and the Bruins never looked back in their 4-2 win over Doherty in the state hockey tournament.

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  • A recap of the final day of the 2019 state wrestling championships

    DENVER — The final day of the state wrestling championships includes consolation rounds, placing and championship matches.

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  • Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos become first girls to place at state wrestling

    DENVER — Pepsi Center in mid- to late-February never disappoints when it comes to making history. The 2019 state wrestling tournament proved to be no different.

    Usually on Saturday all eyes are geared toward the championship matches which take place later in the day. But in the morning session, the third round of consolation matches, there was vested interest across the arena bowl.

    Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos needed one win to make history. They both got that win. Rios won her match via forfeit from The Classical Academy’s Brendan Johnston and Gallegos pinned Moffat County’s Hunter Fredrickson in 59 seconds. She advanced to the third round of consolation matches with a 9-5 decision win over Eaton’s Alex Castaneda.

    Rios claimed fourth in the Class 3A 106-pound bracket. She lost a 3-2 decision to Weld Central’s Robert Estrada. Gallegos took fifth after pinning Pagosa Springs’ Trevor Torrez in 53 seconds. When Rios won the fourth-round consolation match, a match where she had to battle and make a comeback, emotion overtook her as her arm was raised to the crowd.

    “It was pretty big,” Rios said. “It’s what I’ve been working toward for the last 15 years so it was pretty relieving.”

    How they got there isn’t the importance issue. The fact that two girls accomplished something no one has ever done is what means the most. And they pulled off the feat within seconds of each other.

    “It’s kind of sunk in,” Gallegos. “This year, senior year. This was my year. I didn’t know if I would do it, but I knew I could do it. And I knew I could be the first to do it.”

    Such an accomplishment at the state wrestling tournament has felt inevitable. Last year, girls wrestling was green lit as a pilot program. This year became the first pilot season for the sport, but that didn’t stop Rios, Gallegos and others from competing against the boys, something they have done for a few years.

    “I guess it’s sinking in,” Gallegos said. “It’s just weird to think about.”

    Rios made history just a week ago when she became the first girl in Colorado to ever win a wrestling region. That win at regionals was just another sign of how much the sport continues to grow, especially within this state.

    “You’ve seen in with the colleges offering it and the expansion of the number of colleges offering it,” assistant CHSAA commissioner Ernie Derrera said. “Colorado Mesa opened a program this year. We’ve been offering it in the Olympics for years now and you look at one of Colorado’s own in Adeline Gray. She’s a four-time world champion.”

    In 2006, Brooke Sauer became the first girl to qualify for the state tournament when she did it for Golden. She lost her two matches but looking back at that year, she is aware of the barrier that she broke that allowed Rios and Gallegos to get to the podium.

    Sauer hopes down the line that those two will understand the impact they have made on the 2019 state tournament.

    “A lot of us girls out here in this situation don’t realize what we’re doing in the moment,” Sauer said. “We just want to wrestle. Ever since I qualified I knew the next step was who is the next girl to score the first point, who is the first girl to go past the first round. This is a long time coming. We’ve wanted to see a girl on the podium for years.”

    And there was that lingering feeling that this would be the year. Three girls qualified for the state tournament this year. Isabell Durgan from Sierra Grande/Centennial qualified in the 2A 182-pound bracket, but withdrew from the tournament due to an injury.

    That left just Rios and Gallegos, who didn’t disappoint those who were looking to witness history.

    “It’s historic in the sense that we’ve now had 12 girls qualify and until now none of them have placed,” Derrera said. “It’s something that these girls have to striving for to be the one. It’s also been inevitable. These girls are both ranked nationally in their weight class amongst the girls.”

    As girls wrestling inches closer to becoming its own sanctioned sport, chances for girls to qualify were running out. For the nine other girls that had made it to Pepsi Center, seeing not just one but two girls honored on the awards podium was something they wanted to see before those chances vanished.

    “It’s awesome,” Sauer said. “As the girls thing takes off, I love to know that some girls got on the podium (at Pepsi Center) and they’re breaking more records before they get separated.”

    Over time, Rios and Gallegos will be known as barrier breakers. History makers. On Feb. 23, 2019, that wasn’t their concern. They only wanted to be recognized as something they felt they had earned.

    They are state wrestling placers.

    Jasslyn Gallegos Skyview wrestling
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
    Angel Rios Valley wrestling
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)