The rushing total for Class 3A No. 7 Durango football easily eclipsed 300 yards in a 49-19 win over Pueblo Central.
Month: October 2019
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Photos: Fountain-Fort Carson football beats Chaparral
Fountain-Fort Carson football beat Chaparral 23-14 on Friday.
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4A boys tennis: Niwot’s Wilcox shines; Cheyenne Mountain wins first title since 2012
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) PUEBLO — Cheyenne Mountain boys tennis coach David Adams made sure his team knew it couldn’t leave anything to chance.
He told them all to try to be the one to cross the finish line to capture the program’s first Class 4A state tennis title in seven years.
At No. 1 singles, Joey Geisz wanted to take those words to heart. He came out firing in the first set, beating Niwot’s Neil Wilcox to get the attention of everyone cruising the concrete walkways of the Pueblo City Park tennis courts.
But Wilcox was perceived as the favorite for a reason. He battled back to win the final two sets and got a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win to claim the No. 1 singles championship.
“He came out really strong, really took it to me and I don’t think I was ready for it,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox had to make an adjustment so started getting more aggressive on the returns and make sure that Geisz started feeling more pressured on his first serves. The plan worked as Wilcox looked as dominant as he had been during the tournament’s first two days.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) One court over, however, Cheyenne Mountain’s No. 2 singles player Paul Jones took care of business to ensure that the Indians clinched sole possession of the team championship. His 6-1, 6-2 win over Mullen’s George Henry Hanzel was the first match off the court.
With plenty of time to play, Cheyenne Mountain was the boys tennis champion for the first time since 2012. The Indians finished with 85 points. Mullen was second with 57 and Niwot came in third with 43.
“Coach told us the story yesterday about how a few years ago they needed just one point to win state and they didn’t get it,” Jones said. “It was really important to get that one point and I got it and it feels good.”
This is the 17th championship for the school’s boys tennis team and the 98th team championship in school history. With two more wins, Cheyenne Mountain becomes the second school in the state to win 100 team titles. But that’s a conversation for a later day. Saturday was about Adams’ boys and a win he wasn’t sure he’d ever see.
“When the group that won our last title graduated, I knew it would be a long time, if ever, that we’d get another one,” Adams said.
But this group that was able to do it was one that Adams couldn’t be happier to see hoist championship gold.
“You look at Joey and Paul, who are captains, and they couldn’t be more gracious human beings,” Adams said. “They’re just the nicest guys. They don’t have that ego and strut that you sometimes see among the best tennis players on your team.”
The nice guys were the beneficiaries of honesty from another nice guy. Cheyenne’s Oliver Muhl claimed the No. 3 singles title but found himself in a battle with D’Evelyn’s Carter Smith on Friday.
During the tie-breaker in the first set, an official ruled a call in favor of Smith. The sophomore informed the official that the call was a mistake and it was good in favor of Cheyenne Mountain. That call gave Muhl the set and he would go on to win the match.
That act was a major factor in D’Evelyn claiming this year’s Vicky Matarrazo Sportsmanship Award, an award that spectators of all teams applauded as Smith accepted it on behalf of his team.
Like the individual or team championship, that didn’t happen by accident. It’s like Adams told his team, leave nothing to chance.
Nobody at state tennis did. Championships were earned and integrity was maintained.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
No. 3 Holyoke beats No. 8 Wray in top-10 1A football matchup
(Courtesy of Daniel Stoeber) Holyoke secured an important top-10 win on Friday against rival Wray.
The Dragons, ranked No. 3, beat No. 8 Wray 34-14.
“Rivalry games always add an element of intensity,” Holyoke coach Dustin Sprague said. “I was very proud of how our kids played for all four quarters. Our defense made some great plays for us tonight and offensively we capitalized on them. It was a great team win and we have a great group of seniors that have worked very hard to get here.”
After Wray tied the game midway through the third quarter, Holyoke broke free with 20 second-half points to remain unbeaten.
The Dragons responded with a touchdown right after Wray tied the game with a 1-yard rushing score from Miles Sprauge. That gave Holyoke a 20-14 lead going to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Blake Mosenteen punched in a 1-yard touchdown and also returned an interception 38 yards for a score.
Miles Sprauge also had a passing touchdown, and Mike Ramos had a rushing and receiving score for Holyoke. Luis Chafino also had two interceptions for the Dragons.
Junior Arambula led Wray with two rushing TDs, and an interception.
Holyoke moves to 7-0 with the win, and is tied atop the North Central with Limon at 3-0.
Wray is now 5-2.
“Holyoke played a great game,” Wray coach Levi Kramer said. “They have tremendous athletes and are very well coached. Hat’s off to them.”
(Courtesy of Daniel Stoeber) -
Here’s who qualified for the state softball tournaments at regionals
More photos. (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com) The regional softball tournaments were completed on Saturday in all three classifications:
As a result, the following teams have qualified for the state tournament, which will be Oct. 25-26 at Aurora Sports Park.
An asterisk indicates that the team won its region. All regional champions will be seeded Nos. 1-8 at the state tournament.
The state brackets will be released on Monday.
[divider]
Class 5A
- No. 1 Rock Canyon*
- No. 2 Columbine*
- No. 5 Rocky Mountain*
- No. 6 Broomfield*
- No. 9 Fossil Ridge*
- No. 10 Arapahoe*
- No. 13 Legacy*
- No. 14 Brighton*
- No. 4 Loveland
- No. 7 Chatfield
- No. 8 Smoky Hill
- No. 16 Lakewood
- No. 18 Legend
- No. 22 Arvada West
- No. 28 Valor Christian
- No. 30 Ralston Valley
[divider]
Class 4A
- No. 1 Golden*
- No. 2 Holy Family*
- No. 3 Pueblo South*
- No. 5 Wheat Ridge*
- No. 6 Silver Creek*
- No. 10 Mead*
- No. 20 Elizabeth*
- No. 24 Roosevelt*
- No. 4 Pueblo County
- No. 7 Pueblo Central
- No. 8 D’Evelyn
- No. 11 Rifle
- No. 12 Erie
- No. 14 Coronado
- No. 15 Evergreen
- No. 17 Mesa Ridge
[divider]
Class 3A
- No. 1 University*
- No. 2 Basalt*
- No. 3 Brush*
- No. 4 Strasburg*
- No. 5 Riverdale Ridge*
- No. 6 Eaton*
- No. 7 Sterling*
- No. 8 Limon*
- No. 9 Montezuma-Cortez
- No. 10 Rocky Ford
- No. 11 The Academy
- No. 12 Lyons
- No. 13 Cedaredge
- No. 14 Fort Lupton
- No. 15 Lamar
- No. 16 La Junta
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5A boys tennis: Morgan Schilling and Regis Jesuit win championships
More awards photos. (Paul Soriano/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — It was a day of firsts — and seconds — for Morgan Schilling and the Regis Jesuit boys tennis team.
Regis Jesuit won its second-straight Colorado 5A boys tennis state tournament Saturday at Gates Tennis Center, beating Cherry Creek by a team score of 83-70.
Schilling led the charge for the Raiders by winning his first state championship in No. 1 singles. The RJ junior, who lost in the 2018 No. 1 singles final, prevailed over Luke Silverman of Fairview, 6-4, 6-3. (Find photos of the awards ceremony here.)
Last year’s disappointment certainly fueled Schilling this season.
“Last year I shook his hand, went to my bench and started crying,” he admitted of his 2018 loss to Christian Holmes of Chatfield. “I couldn’t help myself. I was devastated.
“In the months after, I thought about it everyday,” Schilling added. “Honestly, I didn’t really want to play tennis like a month after the final. I was just so down on myself. [Today] is a lot different feeling than last year. I’m smiling now.”
The Raiders are the first repeat champions since Cherry Creek won six titles in a row between 2011 and 2016. Overall, Regis Jesuit has won five 5A boys team championships (1991, 2000, 2010, 2018 and 2019).
Regis Jesuit, which entered the day with a slim 69-64 advantage in the team scores, benefitted from wins in three of four head-to-head championship matches against the Bruins.
In No. 2 singles, RJ’s Andy Schuiling beat Creek’s Matthew Batmunkh, 6-4, 6-2, while in No. 3 singles, RJ’s Cameron Kruep defeated Nick Svichar, 6-3, 6-2.
In No. 4 doubles, Alexander Samuelson and Nathan Tolva of Regis Jesuit edged Nathan Henden and Ben Zhang of Cherry Creek, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
“It’s the first time for us, so it’s very exciting,” said Regis Jesuit head coach Laura Jones of her team’s repeat success. “We knew what to expect and we knew that we could win. It was just a matter of going out there and taking care of business.
“I am super proud of the way the kids came to play today,” she added. “I look at Cameron and Andy, and those kids are representing us for the first time. To get out there and just carry us on their shoulders, really … they did such a good job. I’m so proud of them.
“I feel so blessed to have the opportunity, to not only work at Regis Jesuit, but to be involved with this tennis team … such good kids, such great families. I am just so proud of them and so happy for them.”
Silverman, a junior, won the first two games of the day before Schilling regrouped and finished with a first-set win.
“I had a tough warmup today,” Schilling said. “I felt really tight and nervous. … I served poorly and double-faulted in that first game. And he played lights out in the first couple of games. He just went for it. I kinda got overwhelmed a little bit. Then I just settled down, caught my breath and started playing [better].”
Schilling won the first three games of the second set before Silverman roared back to tie it up, 3-3.
“I knew I had to fight,” said Silverman, who advanced to the quarterfinals last year as a sophomore. “I just had to get my feet moving again and get myself back in the match.”
But Schilling never lost his composure. He held serve to go up 4-3, then broke Silverman’s serve to gain a 5-3 advantage. Schilling then finished off the match with an ace, a yell and a smile.
“I was really nervous,” he said of match point. “My heart started beating really fast. I was up 40-love, so I felt comfortable. I just needed one big serve. I got it, and luckily he put it a little bit far.
“I’ll remember that point forever,” Schilling said. “It was awesome.”
It was much the same feeling for Jones.
“Almost 365 days ago … he lost a super tough, emotional match to Christian Holmes right out here on this same court,” she recalled. “And it became his goal, that minute that he walked off that court, to come back out here and walk away with that state championship.
“He works super hard, on both his game and his mental game,” Jones continued. “I’m just so proud of where he is and how dominant he was throughout, not just the tournament, but the entire year. He just went out there and took care of business. What a great kid. I am so blessed to coach [him].”
The day’s bright spot for Cherry Creek came in No. 1 doubles, as Aram Izmirian and Kiril Kostadinov defeated Regis Jesuit’s Grigor Karakelyan and Conor Kaczmarczyk in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-2.
In No. 2 doubles, Nick Solimene and Truman Osburn of Valor Christian defeated Mason Heimel and Will Franks of Denver East, 6-2, 6-1.
In No. 3 doubles, Cherry Creek’s Holst brothers (William and Blake) outlasted Maxim Kokoshinksy and Jake Wicks of Fairview.
Valor Christian finished in third place in the team competition with 46 points, followed by Fairview (29) and Denver East (27).
(Paul Soriano/CHSAANow.com) -
4A boys tennis: Aspen looking to crown first champion
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) PUEBLO — Liam Sunkel might be in for a rough weekend if Friday doesn’t go his way. The No. 3 singles player for Aspen is one of two Skiers singles players to advance to the Class 4A boys tennis semifinals.
He wants to take home a medal for sure, but he’s playing for a bit more than just that.
“My girlfriend said she would dump me if I didn’t win this tournament,” Sunkel said.
Seems like a little much, but he said with a laugh and quickly countered that they’re always competitive and that he delivered a similar ultimatum as she went to play in a club soccer tournament this weekend.
“Yeah, I told her if they don’t win their tournament that we’re done so it works on both ends,” he said.
It’s unlikely that the relationship ends this week due to what happens in two separate athletic events. But Sunkel would prefer to not take any chances because there is so much more at stake. Both he and Alex Mosher have hopes of bringing home the first gold medals in the program’s history.
“We’ve had some players place around third in the past but I’m looking at getting past that this year,” he said.
At No. 2 singles, Mosher is looking to do the same thing. But his first-round win, while important for his personal mission of winning, had a far bigger impact than just an advancement to quarterfinals.
He took down Niwot’s Sam Keronen 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the first round. The Cougars took second as a team last year and with qualifiers in all seven positions, they looked like a favorite to win it all this season. But Mosher’s win may have shifted momentum to Cheyenne Mountain.
“I haven’t really processed (the full impact) yet,” Mosher said. “It’s been a pretty chaotic day for me.”
That’s for certain. He dropped his fist set in the second round to Colorado Academy’s Caleb Aguirre before rallying to get a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
Aguirre was responsible for Mosher’s only loss in the regular season so getting retribution in the state tournament was a big confidence.
“I was a little nervous coming into this match since I had already played him,” Mosher said. “I just kept my focus and powered through. I never lost my confidence.”
Keronen still has a chance to put up points for Niwot in the team race since Mosher is playing in the semifinals. If Mosher can advance to the championship, the Cougars team title hopes will remain alive. It’ll just be a tough task with No. 3 and No. 4 doubles missing out on semis as well.
But heading into Saturday it’s Cheyenne Mountain in the lead with 21 points. A win would give the Indians their first boys tennis championship since 2012.
It’s a big goal for coach Dave Adams and his boys, but everyone knows that there is still plenty of work to be done.
“A lot of these boys have been on teams that haven’t had this kind of success,” Adams said. “It’s been nine years, so they know (what’s at stake).”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
No. 2 Golden boys soccer claims back-to-back 4A Jeffco titles
ARVADA — Golden senior Josh Colin wanted the Demons to clinch the Class 4A Jeffco League boys soccer title in style Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Colin put the eventual game-winning goal into the back of the net in the 73rd minute to break a 1-1 tie late in the second half. Colin added a second goal — 10th of the season — in the 78th minute to seal a 3-1 victory and wrap up back-to-back conference titles for the Demons (12-1-1, 5-0 in league).
Golden senior Joaquin Garfias (11) battles near the sideline with Evergreen sophomore Landon Freeman (19) during the first half Thursday at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “It means so much. We’ve been working so hard since the summer. All that work paid off,” Colin said after Golden’s 9th straight victory. “Our mentality is to win every single game. We want to continue this at state.”
It took a long run and great long feed from Golden junior Daniel Erger to set up Colin’s first goal that gave the Demons their first lead of the game. Coming after a corner kick by Evergreen (5-9, 3-3), Erger pushed the ball up field. Near midfield he launched a long pass to Colin on the opposite side of the field.
“He (Colin) had been calling it all game,” Erger said of sending the long pass. “I put as much as I possibly could on it. The wind might have taken it a little bit. I’m super glad he put it in the back of the net. It was an awesome close to the game.”
Colin was able to slip a low shot past Evergreen goalie Keaton Gressman. The shot hit the inside of the left post and into the back of the net.
“I wanted to keep on running because I saw a big gap,” Colin said talking about the go-ahead goal. “I saw Daniel control the ball and I just starting yelling at Daniel to send it. I just wanted to score and lead this team to a win.”
Golden — No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com 4A boys soccer rankings — had a chance to clinch the 4A Jeffco League title last year against Evergreen, but suffered a 3-2 loss. The Demons eventually wrapped up the conference title win a victory over Wheat Ridge in the league finale last year.
Golden junior Daniel Erger (9) attempts to break toward the goal as Evergreen junior Rouven Ringeling (18) hold his ground. Golden had two late goals to grab a 3-1 victory over Evergreen. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “Evergreen is always a tough team. It’s a great program. I have so much respect for Ross (Evergreen coach Ross Fowler) and those boys,” Golden coach Larry Harding said. “They took us down last year. It was nice to get them this year.”
Evergreen was No. 38 in the RPI standing entering the game. The best chance to make the 32-team 4A state tournament field was to take runner-up in 4A Jeffco to grab an automatic playoff bid.
It was looking good for the Cougars early with a goal from junior Cody Couch in the 2nd minute. However, Golden tied it up in the 17th minute with a rocket volley into the back of the net by senior Nate Thompson.
“It was a heck of a game,” Harding said. “I didn’t know which way it was going to go.”
Golden has one conference game remaining. The Demons face rival Wheat Ridge next Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Lakewood Memorial Field before heading to the postseason the following week.
“Our goal all season has been to get as many wins as possible and go out as hard as we can every single game,” Erger said. “The rivalry game against Wheat Ridge is going to be fun hopefully we’ll come out with a win as well.”
Evergreen is finished with league play, but had a non-league game next Thursday on the Cougars’ home field against Denver West (7-4-1). It’s going to be a wait-and-see situation for Evergreen when it comes to making the postseason field.
Golden senior Nate Thompson (2) is greeted by teammates after he scored in the 17th minute in the first half to tie Evergreen at 1-1 in the conference battle Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) -
Photos: No. 9 Heritage football cruises to win over Aurora Central
4A No. 9 Heritage football beat Aurora Central 56-6 on Thursday night.
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Photos: D’Evelyn boys soccer edges Wheat Ridge
D’Evelyn boys soccer beat Wheat Ridge 2-1 on Thursday.