DENVER — Pueblo County’s Josiah Nava won a huge quarterfinal match during the state wrestling tournament on Friday, edging Windsor sophomore Will Vombaur.
It was a match that easily could have been contested in the finals, or at least the semifinals. But, as it was, the two met up in Friday’s quarterfinals in the Class 4A 113-pound bracket.
Nava, who won the 4A 106 title in 2015, beat a fellow returning champion in Vombaur, who won 4A’s 106 title last season. He advances to face Shane Coffey of Canon City in Friday evening’s semifinals.
The 113-pound bracket in 4A is one of the toughest in the entire tournament. In addition to Nava and Vombaur is Pueblo East sophomore Jace Trujillo, the reigning champion in the bracket.
Trujillo pinned Air Academy’s James Benson in 58 seconds in his quarterfinal match.
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Willits through to the semifinals
(Katie Pickrell/CHSAANow.com)
Hunter Willits, who is seeking to become CHSAA’s 20th four-time state champion, beat Greeley Central’s Justus Strand in the quarterfinals.
Willits pinned Strand in 1:47. He will face Cheyenne Mountain senior Luke White in the semifinals later Friday.
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2A & 3A notes
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Meeker heads the 2A team race with 72 points, with Rocky Ford (70.5) sitting in second. John Mall (60) and Hotchkiss (52) are also in contention.
The 3A team race is tight, with Alamosa heading the way with 49 points, and Valley just behind with 48.5. Jefferson (39), Centauri (37), La Junta (35), Sheridan (35), Lamar (33) and Platte Valley (32) are all close.
Delta’s Logan Church upset Mullen’s Sam Deseriere, the top seed in 3A 285 pounds, via an ultimate tiebreaker, 3-2. Deseriere had been undefeated this season, and was the reigning champion in the classification.
Elsewhere in the 3A 285 bracket, which is loaded, returning champion Ricky Ayala of Sheridan and unbeaten Sam Westbrook of Bayfield both advanced out of the quarterfinals and will meet in the semifinals.
Casey Turner of Meeker upset the top seed in the 2A 170 bracket, pinning Diego Reyes of Rocky Ford. Turner, though, is the defending champion in the division. He finished second at his regional, and thus could not be seeded in the top four of the bracket.
Rocky Ford’s Jacob Rodriguez had a 14-second pin in the first round of the 2A 106 division on Thursday. Friday, he did more of the same, pinning Wray’s Cole Rockwell in 45 seconds. Rodriguez is on a quest for his third state title.
John Mall’s Jonathan Andreatta escaped an upset in the 2A 126 quarterfinals. He led Wiggins’ Cameron Holm 4-3 late in the third period, and held on for a 5-3 win. Andreatta is a two-time champion.
Two other two-time returning champions advanced to the semifinals: Alamosa’s Isaiah Delacerda (3A 126) and Fort Lupton’s Jody Sandoval (3A 132).
Centauri’s Joe Chavez advanced to the 3A 120 semis by pinning Platte Valley’s Varrion Ciddio in 34 seconds.
Highland freshman Logan Lewis earned a hard-fought place in the 2A 106 semifinals. He beat Holly’s Austin Crum, 10-8, in sudden victory.
Sky Carlson of Soroco, a former basketball player, is into the semifinals in 2A 195 following two consecutive pins. Friday morning, he pinned Crowley County’s Tristan Laver in 1:45.
Del Norte’s Natalie Benavides, the lone girls to qualify for the state tournament this season, was eliminated in the 2A 138 consolation bracket by Crowley County’s Jarod Bauer.
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4A & 5A notes
Defending champion Pueblo County leads the 4A race with 89 points. Cheyenne Mountain and Pueblo East are tied for second with 65.
Pomona, the reigning 5A team champ, leads that race with 85.5 points. Brighton (61.5 is second), and Grand Junction (59.5) is third.
The semifinal in 5A 132 should be a great one. It will match returning champions after both won in the quarterfinals: Arvada West’s Dayton Marvel vs. Pomona’s Theorius Robison.
Pueblo County’s Grant Willits, who has won two previous state championships, pinned Greeley Central’s Zeke Alirez in 2:23 to reach the 4A 132 semifinals.
Poudre’s Jacob Greenwood, another two-time champion, pinned ThunderRidge’s David Opheim in 5A 138 to advance.
Three of the four quarterfinals in 4A’s 120 division ended in pins. Advancing were Pueblo County’s Nathan Bonham, Canon City’s James Ruona and Windsor’s Dominick Serrano. Pueblo East’s Andrew Lucero also won via a major decision, 9-0.
Erie’s Ernie Quintana beat Discovery Canyon’s Jared Turner in sudden victory to reach the 4A 138 semifinals.
As he tries to become the first individual champion from Niwot since 1993, senior Tommy Stager had a quick pin in the 4A 145 quarters. Stager beat Pueblo South’s Elias Espinoza in 59 seconds.
Glenwood Springs’ Myles Wilson remain unbeaten, and he did it quickly in the quarterfinals. The senior, also a returning champion, beat Vista PEAK’s Jayden Smith in 43 seconds. He had an 18-second pin in the first round.
Cheyenne Mountain’s Deonte Bridges pinned Dominic Knost of Lewis-Palmer in 33 seconds.
Grand Junction’s Josiah Rider continued his torrid pace in the 5A 145 bracket. He won his match in 52 seconds, a day after a 30-second pin in the prelims.
Mountain Vista’s Trent Schultz had a 42-second pin in the 5A 195 quarterfinals. He had a 38-second pin in the prelims. His brother, Cohl, of Ponderosa, also advanced in 5A 220.
Prairie View’s Brendon Woolsey won an ultimate tiebreaker over Grandview’s Robert Woods in 5A 195 to reach the semifinals.
Pomona’s Brandon Micale had the fastest pin of the quarterfinals, taking Smoky Hill’s Ryan Campbell down in 23 seconds.
Valor Christian boys basketball is the new No. 1 in Class 4A. The Eagles escaped Evergreen in a 54-53 win last week.
The previous top team in the CHSAANow.com 4A rankings, Pueblo West, wasn’t so lucky. The Cyclones lost to Pueblo South 67-64 after being down 34-19 at halftime. Pueblo West didn’t fall too far however, sliding to the No. 2 spot.
That Pueblo South team got some recognition for the upset as they joined the 4A poll at No. 8.
3A also added a new team to the rankings. Manual came in at No. 10 in this week’s CHSAANow.com rankings.
In 5A, Doherty and Grandview swapped places, with the Spartans rising from No. 7 to No. 5. Doherty won its second-straight league title after beating Rampart. Grandview dropped after its loss to No. 4 Eaglecrest.
Dawson received one first place vote as they rose from No. 9 to No. 6 in the 2A poll. The top three teams remained the same in 2A.
Crowley County entered the 2A rankings at No. 8.
In 1A, Longmont Christian moved from No. 6 to No. 4, swapping with Flagler.
Weldon Valley dropped out, making room for Primero to jump into the rankings at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. These are the final rankings of the regular season.
Pueblo West does not like falling out of the top spot of the Class 4A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.
For the second time in three weeks, the Cyclones have regained the No. 1 spot after falling out (without a loss) of it.
Valor Christian jumped a couple of spots to land at No. 2. But that’s where most of the consistency in the 4A poll ends.
Holy Family made a five-spot jump to break into the top five and the bottom half of the poll saw three new teams. Northridge is in at No. 6, Lewis-Palmer is back in the poll at No. 8 and Sierra also makes its return at No. 9.
ThunderRidge has shown no desire to drop out of the top spot of the 5A, despite the solid play of the rest of the teams in the top-five, each of whom also held onto their spots.
Doherty re-enters the rankings at No. 7 this week, the only new team to enter the poll.
Resurrection Christian remains the No. 1 team in 3A, but Colorado Springs Christian jumps up to No. 2 thanks to a last-second with over this week’s No. 4, Manitou Springs.
At No. 10, Machebeuf is the lone newcomer in the 3A rankings.
(Katie Pickrell/CHSAANOW.com)
Highland and Sedgwick Country remain the top two teams in the 2A rankings, but the No. 3 spot has a new look in the form of Del Norte.
The 2A poll had no new teams this week.
The poll in 1A overall looks very similar to what it was last week. Holly and Cheyenne Wells remain at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
Sierra Grande jumped one spot to No. 3 and Rocky Mountain Lutheran also jumped a spot to come in at No. 8.
Like 2A, there were no new teams in the 1A rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
AURORA — Jim Lucas, an assistant principal at Pine Creek High School, has been elected as the next president of CHSAA’s Board of Directors.
Lucas’ appointment will be made formal at the Legislative Council meeting on Thursday. He will become the 61st Board president, succeeding Boulder’s Eddie Hartnett.
Lucas will serve as Board president during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. His term will begin in June 2017.
“It’s going to be exciting, and it’s going to be challenging,” Lucas said on Wednesday night. “It’s humbling to be selected.”
Lucas currently represents the Colorado Association of School Executives on CHSAA’s Board of Directors, and has since 2011. He will be the first Board president from the Colorado Springs area since Widefield’s Shelli Miles was president from 2009-11.
Lucas has a wide range of experience at both small and large high schools, as well as public and private high schools, ranging from being a coach to a teacher to an administrator. He has spent time at a number of Colorado high schools, including Columbine, Crowley County, Custer County, and Florence. (He was principal at both Custer County, from 1996-99, and Florence, from 2000-08.)
He has been at Pine Creek ever since, including roles as interim athletic director and assistant principal.
Lucas says his wide-ranging experience will help him have a well-rounded viewpoint as Board president, including time at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where he got his master’s degree in athletic administration.
“I have a soft spot in my heart for rural schools, just because I’ve worked in them. And I understand the big metro schools,” Lucas said. “Ultimately I think it will help as I lead the Board. Those experiences will help guide all of us, and guide myself.”
Lucas has twice previously served as a Board president for the Colorado Association of Secondary School Principals, of which he’s been a member since 2003.
“I think that will help me, having that experience with CASSP,” Lucas said.
Lucas said one of his focuses as president will be to help ease the transition from retiring CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico to the next commissioner.
“I want to spend some time with that (new commissioner) and kind of give them some historical background of the Board of Directors,” Lucas said. “I want to see a smooth transition.”
CHSAA’s Board of Directors, formerly known as the Executive Committee, has been around in some form since the Association was formed in 1921.
Lucas applied to be Board president in December, writing a letter to CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico.
The Board considered two candidates during an executive session on Thursday, and then voted to elect Lucas president.
While serving on the Board, Lucas has served on a variety of CHSAA committees, and helped to rewrite the Association’s personnel handbook.
It’s been hard not to pay attention to Sand Creek boys basketball this season. They have one of the top players in the state in D’Shawn Schwartz and now, they are the No. 1 team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.
The Scorpions unseat defending champion Pueblo West, who regained the No. 1 position a week ago.
Silver Creek made an impressive four-spot jump to break into the top five.
Holy Family is the only new team to break into the poll, landing at No. 10.
ThunderRidge remains the No. 1 team in 5A, beating Douglas County in its only game last week.
Basalt jumps to No. 7, three spots better than last week.
Strasburg is the only new team in the 3A poll, rounding it out at No. 10.
Highland keeps its spot at No. 1 in the 2A poll and beat No. 5 Akron on Friday, further showing that they can contend for a state title.
At No. 8, Crowley County is the only new team to the 2A rankings.
Holly remains the No. 1 team in 1A with Cheyenne Wells and Flagler holding their spots at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Peetz (No. 7) and Longmont Christian (No. 10) are the two newcomers to the 1A poll.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Doherty 33, Fort Collins 16, Chaparral 6, Denver South 4, Cherokee Trail 3, Rampart 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sand Creek (6)
14-1
138
2
2-0
2
Pueblo West (6)
13-1
135
1
3-0
3
D’Evelyn
13-2
129
4
3-0
4
Valor Christian (3)
11-4
112
3
2-0
5
Silver Creek (1)
11-1
87
9
3-0
6
Pueblo South
10-4
67
8
2-0
7
Golden
12-3
66
5
1-1
8
Mead
12-3
45
6
1-1
9
Vista PEAK
11-3
35
7
2-1
10
Holy Family
11-4
34
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Northridge 30, Sierra 23, Pueblo East 10, Lewis-Palmer 8, Durango 7, Mesa Ridge 6, Evergreen 3.
Dropped out
Sierra (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Resurrection Christian (9)
13-0
170
1
2-0
2
Manitou Springs (3)
11-0
156
2
2-0
3
Sterling (2)
10-2
137
3
2-1
4
Colorado Springs Christian (5)
10-2
134
4
2-0
5
Alamosa
9-1
118
5
1-0
6
Kent Denver
11-2
99
6
2-0
7
Basalt
9-1
52
10
1-0
8
DSST-Stapleton
10-1
38
8
2-0
9
Faith Christian
8-4
36
7
1-1
10
Strasburg
8-2
31
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
DSST-Green Valley Ranch 26, Machebeuf 21, Lutheran 13, Bayfield 4, The Vanguard 4, Weld Central 2, Jefferson Academy 1, La Junta 1, Manual 1, The Pinnacle 1.
The 2016 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
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Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
For the most part, the defending state champions come into the 2016-17 basketball season as the big dogs in the yard.
Pueblo West, Colorado Springs Christian, Sanford and Fleming all took the top spot in their respective CHSAANow.com preseason basketball polls.
The only defending champion to not hold the top spot is Overland, which did not make the top 10 in the Class 5A rankings.
The top spot in that class goes to Eaglecrest, which finished runner-up last season. Colbey Ross will be back for his senior season and will look to lead the Raptors to another state title.
Rock Canyon (No. 2), Denver East (No. 3), ThunderRidge (No. 4) all got first-place votes to start the season.
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
In 4A, the two teams that ended last season all top will start this season in the same position. Pueblo West holds the top spot in 4A with Valor Christian nipping at the heels of the Cyclones at No. 2.
Pueblo West came away with a 70-51 win over the Eagles to take the state championship. David Simental returns for his senior season at Pueblo West and is looking to turn heads as he did in last year’s state tournament.
He’d also like to win a second-straight title for the Cyclones.
Colorado Springs Christian takes the No. 1 spot in 3A after winning it’s second-straight championship. The Lions lose big man Sam Howard, but guard Justin Engesser does return for his senior year.
If the Indians win their season opener, they will set the record for most consecutive wins in state history. They currently sit tied with Ridgway, who won 73 straight games from 1993-96.
After missing out on the 2015 state title by a point, Fleming rebounded to capture last year’s 1A championship and will start the season at No. 1 as a result.
The boys basketball regular season begins Nov. 30.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Chatfield 38, Lakewood 35, Fort Collins 20, Overland 16, Smoky Hill 9, Rangeview 8, Vista Ridge 7, Chaparral 6, Rampart 6, Dakota Ridge 5, Fossil Ridge 5, Adams City 4, Far Northeast 4, Legend 3, Aurora Central 2, Coronado 2, Arapahoe 1, Cherry Creek 1, Grand Junction Central 1, Highlands Ranch 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Pueblo West (10)
0-0
153
2
Valor Christian (6)
0-0
147
3
Sand Creek
0-0
105
4
Golden
0-0
93
5
Holy Family
0-0
70
6
Sierra
0-0
54
7
Mead
0-0
51
8
D’Evelyn
0-0
43
9
Vista PEAK
0-0
42
10
Evergreen
0-0
40
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo South 33, Longmont 22, Lewis-Palmer 18, Northridge 10, Windsor 10, Silver Creek 8, Air Academy 7, Mesa Ridge 7, Mountain View 7, Denver West 4, Fort Morgan 4, Rifle 4, Durango 2, Widefield 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Colorado Springs Christian (10)
0-0
144
2
Faith Christian
0-0
97
3
Lutheran (1)
0-0
86
4
Manual
0-0
82
5
Manitou Springs (1)
0-0
76
6
Alamosa (1)
0-0
75
7
Resurrection Christian (1)
0-0
72
8
DSST-Stapleton (2)
0-0
65
9
Sterling
0-0
38
10
Colorado Academy
0-0
24
Others receiving votes:
The Pinnacle 17, Eaton 14, Bayfield 13, Jefferson Academy 12, DSST-Green Valley Ranch 11, Strasburg 11, Grand Valley 7, Platte Valley 6, Frontier Academy 5, St. Mary’s 5, Kent Denver 4, Basalt 3, Buena Vista 3, Middle Park 3, Coal Ridge 2, Ridge View Academy 2, Bennett 1, Peak to Peak 1, The Vanguard 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Sanford (7)
0-0
94
2
Paonia
0-0
85
3
Holyoke (3)
0-0
76
4
Sedgwick County
0-0
67
5
Highland
0-0
46
6
Ellicott
0-0
40
7
Ignacio
0-0
35
8
Byers
0-0
28
9
Crowley County
0-0
26
10
Burlington
0-0
24
Others receiving votes:
Meeker 11, Vail Mountain 5, Hotchkiss 3, Soroco 3, Del Norte 2, Rocky Ford 2, Dayspring Christian 1, West Grand 1, Wiggins 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Fleming (9)
0-0
90
2
Holly
0-0
81
3
Kit Carson
0-0
67
4
Shining Mountain
0-0
53
5
Cheyenne Wells
0-0
43
6
Sierra Grande
0-0
40
7
Ouray
0-0
38
8
Flagler
0-0
23
9
Rocky Mountain Lutheran
0-0
21
10
Wiley
0-0
16
Others receiving votes:
Cheraw 10, Eads 3, Primero 3, Longmont Christian 2, Nucla 2, Sangre de Cristo 2, Genoa-Hugo/Karval 1, Otis 1, Springfield 1.
