LOVELAND — Even in a game with some uncharacteristic mistakes and unearned runs for both clubs, Class 4A No. 2 Mountain View secured the Northern Conference championship over visiting No. 1 Silver Creek largely on the strength of Holden Bernhardt’s left arm and bat.
Bernhardt, one of the Mountain Lions’ trusty senior twins along with his brother Locke, went three-for-three in the batter’s box with two RBI singles while striking out 12 and giving up only two unearned runs on the mound during a 4-2 win over the Raptors at Greg Brock Field on Thursday.
A season ago, Mountain View (16-2) was in the same situation — a game away from clinching the Northern crown — but a 14-6 loss at Longmont prevented the Mountain Lions from doing so. This time around, Bernhardt and company built a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by their fourth-year stalwart, coupled that with a run on a wild pitch, and the Raptors (14-4) were never able to gain the lead in a closely contested showdown.
“Holden was dominant today,” Mountain View coach Brian Smela said. “He never really gave up any hard hits. The trouble he got into, we just couldn’t catch the ball. He pitched like a senior ace should pitch.”
Holden Bernhardt of Mountain View. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
For Bernhardt, nerves were in play early, but a pitcher sporting a 0.92 ERA going into Thursday, with an unblemished 6-0 record after the conference clincher, got into a comfort zone on the bump.
“I was a little nervous going in pitching,” he said. “After awhile I just settled down and treated them like any other team and tried to hit my spots.”
Touted as a pitcher’s duel between the capable arms of one of the Bernhardt brothers and Silver Creek’s Cole Winn or Austin Wood, Wood took to the mound for the Raptors and both pitchers flashed their ability in stretches. But, while Silver Creek’s ace had five strikeouts, his command wasn’t on cue like Bernhardt’s with a number of wild pitches and a few walks.
For Mountain View, sealing the Northern championship against some of the state’s finest teams, their first conference crown in six years, marked an achievement that both coaches and players alike set as one of the team’s ultimate goals in 2016.
“We set the goal first day of practice this year,” Smela said. “We were a game away last year. We talked about what our pathway needed to be. They stuck to the plan and were able to clinch it.”
“It’s really monumental to win this league. It’s just so tough every year. You have to be so battle-tested to be able to do it. To be able to get there, it probably won’t sink in for me for awhile.”
The teams also entered the day in a close race in the RPI standings with Silver Creek No. 1 and Mountain View No. 2. After the result, they switched places with Mountain View taking over the top spot in the 4A RPI.
They face each other again on Friday at Silver Creek in a game more for bragging rights and momentum. Only league winners earn the right to host districts next week during the start of playoffs, so anyone looking to take down the Mountain Lions, perhaps the No. 1 seed in the bracket, will have to begin at Greg Brock Field in Loveland, where the hosts have only lost once this season.
For the third time this season, Silver Creek sits atop the Class 4A CHSAANow.com baseball rankings.
The Raptors came away with two key wins last week, one against Northridge and one against Greeley Central. They’ll finish their regular with one game against Greeley Central and two against Mountain View this week.
Mountain View was the No. 1 team in last week’s poll and sits at No. 2 this week.
Denver North is the only new team in the poll, landing at No. 8.
Pine Creek holds on to their No. 1 spot in 5A. The Eagles will see action every day this week as they close out the regular season.
Ralston Valley (No. 6) and Rocky Mountain (No. 8) are the new additions to the 5A poll this week.
Eaton remains the unanimous No. 1 team in 3A.
La Junta jumped four spots this week to land at No. 6 ahead of the Tri-Peaks League crossover games this weekend.
Brush is back in the 3A poll, taking the No. 10 spot this week.
Paonia is still undefeated and as a result, still the No. 1 team in 2A.
County Line (McClave/Wiley) jumped a couple of spots to land at No. 3 and even snagged two first-place votes along the way.
Crowley County is the only new addition to the 2A poll as the Chargers land at No. 9.
Granada hung on to the No. 1 spot in 1A.
Gilpin County broke into that poll, taking the No. 10 spot this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
With some regular seasons already over, and others winding down, these will serve as the final rankings of the regular season in all classes. Postseason brackets will be released on CHSAANow.com when they become available.
For the fourth consecutive week, the top team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com baseball rankings has failed to hold on to its spot.
Mountain View is the new No. 1 team in the poll, and is the third different team in 4A to be ranked No. 1 this season.
They dropped a heartbreaker to Northridge on Wednesday before taking two games from Greeley Central in three days.
Fresh off taking control of the South Central League last Wednesday, the Pueblo West Cyclones climb to No. 2 and appear poised to make a run at state championship.
Pueblo West is No. 2 in 4A this week. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Valor Christian made a sizable jump this week, landing at No. 4, five spots up from its ranking a week ago.
Longmont breaks into the top-10 at No. 6, one spot higher than Windsor who is also new to the poll.
Pine Creek remains the top team in 5A and have still only lost once on the year. Grandview and ThunderRidge trade places at No. 2 and No. 3.
Fort Collins (No. 6) and Regis Jesuit (No. 7) each climb three spots from last week’s rankings.
Legacy and Dakota Ridge are the two new teams in 5A, coming in at No. 8 and No. 10 respectively.
Eaton remains the unanimous No. 1 team in 3A and have yet to yield their ranking at any time this season.
University made the climb from No. 5 to No. 2 after an impressive week where they went 5-0, including two wins over league rival Brush.
St. Mary’s jumped to No. 5 thanks in part of splitting a double-header with No. 3 Lamar on Friday.
Sheridan is the lone newcomer to 3A, landing at No. 9.
Paonia took six of 10 first-place votes to remain the No. 1 team in 2A. Swink made the biggest jump in the class, coming in three spots better than last week. The Lions land at No. 4 this week.
There were no new teams in the 2A poll this week.
There was no change at the top of the 1A poll as Granada remains the No. 1 team. The top five teams from last week held on to their position.
Genoa-Hugo is the only new team in the 1A poll, coming in at No. 8 this week.
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.
Pine Creek baseball is the new No. 1 team in Class 5A — one of three new teams atop the polls this week. (Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
Three out of the five No. 1 positions in the CHSAANow.com baseball rankings have a different look from a week ago.
Pine Creek takes over as the top team in Class 5A, Silver Creek returns to the top spot in 4A and Granada comes in as the new No. 1 team in 1A.
The Eagles take over as No. 1 in 5A after beating Palmer 10-0 last week, avenging a loss to the Terrors that occurred only days earlier. It is the only loss of the season for Pine Creek.
ThunderRidge is nipping right at the heels of the Eagles as they sit only nine points back in voting. The Grizzlies took down Douglas County last Wednesday in a big Continental League win.
Lakewood (No. 7) and Cherokee Trail (No. 8) are the new additions to the 5A rankings this week.
Silver Creek takes back the top spot in 4A only a week after losing a grasp on the position. The Raptors went 2-0 last week, topping Northridge and Longmont to improve their record to 9-2 overall.
The bottom half of the rankings saw an influx of new teams as Northridge comes in at No. 7, Pueblo South lands at No. 8 and Palmer Ridge rounds out the rankings at No. 10.
The still-undefeated Eaton Reds remain the unanimous No. 1 team in 3A this week.
St. Mary’s is the only new team to that poll coming off a double-header sweep of La Junta on Friday. The Pirates come in at No. 8 this week.
Paonia edged out Sedgwick County by three points to remain the No. 1 team in 2A this week. Akron and Dayspring Christian are the new additions in 2A, coming in at No. 9 and No. 10 respectively.
A 10-6 win over then No. 1 Holly on Friday was good enough to boost Granada to the top spot in the 1A poll.
Manzanola was able to break into the rankings at No. 6 while Stratton/Liberty is the other new addition, coming in at No. 10.
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 sits atop the 5A baseball rankings this week. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Chatfield was the big benefactor of two Regis Jesuit losses last week.
The Chargers come into this week as the new No. 1 team in the Class 5A CHSAANow.com baseball poll. Monday they topped Arapahoe, and had a huge Thursday showdown with the then No. 1 Raiders.
Regis Jesuit was coming off a loss to Fairview and was looking to bounce back, but a seven-run sixth inning for the Chargers was good enough to get the win. As a result, despite losing to Bear Creek on Saturday, Chatfield sits atop the 5A rankings.
ThunderRidge made the most impressive jump of the week to land at No. 2. They were the No. 9 team in last week’s poll.
Fort Collins has played well enough that it broke into the rankings this week at No. 9 respectively.
The 4A rankings also saw a new No. 1 team emerge as D’Evelyn reclaims the top spot that Silver Creek had taken a week ago.
There were two new teams in the 4A poll as Mountain View comes in at No. 5 and Pueblo Centennial rounds out the rankings at No. 10.
The Eaton Reds remain undefeated on the year and also remain the No. 1 team in the 3A poll. The top four teams from a week ago held on to their spot this week.
The Academy was the only new team to break into the 3A rankings, landing at No. 10.
Paonia swept all four games they played last week to hold on to their No. 1 ranking in 2A.
Front Range Christian, who remains undefeated on the year at 8-0, breaks into the 2A polls at No. 9. The Falcons were the only newcomer this week.
Holly is still the No. 1 team in 1A, getting five of nine first-place votes.
Fleming jumped two spots to land at No. 2 and Gilpin County is the only new team in the 1A poll, landing at No. 8.
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.
LYONS — A snow-filled and blustery March has done its best to delay the track and field season in Colorado.
While a number of meets have been canceled or postponed, the Longmont Invitational, always one of the most stacked invites of the season, was merely pushed from Saturday to Monday and moved from Longmont to Lyons.
With the meet on — in the snow-capped foothills at a venue with magnificent views — many of the state’s top individuals and teams competed like it. In fact, there were two all-classification Colorado records broken.
Air Academy senior Katie Rainsberger, the University of Oregon recruit with an effortless stride, was competing in her first outdoor meet of the season. Just two weeks ago, she shattered the all-time Colorado record in the mile while winning the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet in 4:36.61, the third-fastest time ever by an American high school girl.
Air Academy’s Katie Rainsberger. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
On Monday, the records kept on coming as Rainsberger set a new standard in the 1,600-meter run as her 4:44.31 took down Cherry Creek senior Jordyn Colter’s all-classification best, which was set at state last season (4:46.22). Then, Rainsberger shattered the meet record in the 800 with a time of 2:11.80, winning by five seconds over Chantae Steele (2:16.84), a freshman from The Classical Academy.
Rainsberger, the Nike Cross Country National Champion in the fall, has traveled around the country for competitions during her career for the Kadets, but said it was special running in front of a Colorado crowd again.
“I think this one is definitely special in that it was in my home state,” she said. “Every lap people were cheering and the announcer was pushing me on. Having all these people in Colorado supporting me made it all that more special.”
Rainsberger, who also ran a leg on the winning 4×400 relay (4:06.07, top time in 4A), said she trained through this meet with a hard workout just a couple of days ago. Her time in the 1,600 seemed to catch even her a bit off-guard this early in the season.
“I was actually running it more as a workout,” she said. “I am at the point in my season where I’m fit, but I’m not race sharp. I wanted to come out here today and get some state qualifiers. I trained through this meet. It’s really exciting to see where I’m at, but I think there’s more.”
As for the other Colorado record broken on Monday, Andrea Willis, a senior for The Classical Academy and a two-time defending state champion in the pole vault (4A in 2015, 3A in 2014), inched past a 2008 record set by Elizabeth Stover of Longmont (13-4.0) by going 13-4.25. Willis owns another record of her own as her 13-7.25 at the Air Force Indoor Open on February 6 was the best-ever indoors by a Colorado girl.
The Classical Academy’s Andrea Willis. (Courtesy of the Willis family)
“It means a lot,” Willis, a University of Kansas recruit, said excitedly. “When I started vaulting my sophomore year, my coach said I could someday maybe break the state record. I didn’t think that was possible, but last year I started jumping a little higher. I wasn’t 100 percent last year. I had some back issues. I wanted to jump it last year.
“I landed on the mat and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m now the state record holder.’ It’s one of the best feelings ever.”
On a day with almost no wind and temperatures in the 50s, a number of other Longmont Invite records were broken.
Alex Miller of The Classical Academy (110 hurdles, 14.63), Caleb Ojennes of Palmer Ridge (200, 21.63), Paul Roberts of Lyons (3,200, 9:18) and Gift Chinda of Thompson Valley (triple jump, 46-7.25) all set new standards for a meet that was the state’s most competitive event thus far this spring.
The Classical Academy girls also broke the meet record in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:43.51.
As for team results, the Loveland girls racked up 108 points in winning a 23-team meet. They won six girls events on the day (200, 300 hurdles, triple jump, long jump, 4×800 relay, 800 sprint medley relay).
The Classical Academy was the girls team runner-up with 67, and the Titans won the boys team crown with 103.5 points. Mountain View was second with 71.
PUEBLO — Durango had a comfortable 20-7 lead after the first quarter. The problem is, it was too comfortable a lead.
Mountain View battled back and the end of the game produced a gritty battle that had the Demons coming away with a 65-60 to advance to the Class 4A Sweet 16.
“Oh my goodness, we survived that one,” Demons coach Alan Batiste said. “We got undisciplined and we’re a disciplined team. But we got undisciplined and we started freelancing.”
The Demons (17-7 overall) were able to spread the ball around the perimeter early, which was key to their jumping out to an early lead.
Seth Gilleland knocked down two 3-pointers in the first while Terrance Trujillo and Lucas Baken added one apiece. The Demons shot six total 3-pointers in the first quarter and made those four.
“We came out a little tentative in the first quarter,” Mountain Lions coach Micheal Jobman said. “They shot the ball extremely well. Coming in, I didn’t think they’d shoot the ball that and they did.”
But the Mountain Lions put a quick stop to that trend in the second quarter. Durango only made two total field goals while Mountain View found its stroke, matching the 20 points that the Demons had put up in the first quarter.
“We were a little too comfortable as it showed,” Demons guard Terrance Trujillo said. “After that, our coaches told us what to do and we were calm.”
Trujillo finished the game with 12 points but it was the seven that came from the free throw line in the fourth quarter were the most important points the Demons tallied on the night.
The Mountain Lions had certainly done their scouting as Trujillo had only hit 1-6 from the charity stripe during the Demons’ league tournament last weekend.
But stepping to the line Friday, he knew he was much better suited to help his team.
“That’s what I worked on all week,” Trujillo said. “I told my teammates that would never happen again.”
The Demons were able to hold off a late rally from Mountain View that included Jose Orrantia banking a couple of 3-pointers to keep the game within two possessions. But ultimately the clock ran out and Durango held on to advance.
[divider]
(1) Pueblo West 84, (8) Mesa Ridge
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Pueblo West was able to weather a storm that hit at the start of both halves to beat Mesa Ridge 84-73.
The Cyclones (21-3 overall) will face Durango at 2 p.m. at Pueblo West High School
The Grizzlies (12-12) jumped out to a 14-2 lead thanks to a couple of big 3-pointers from Dylan Mileto. Once the Cyclones settled down, they took a 37-29 lead into halftime before another offensive onslaught from the Grizzlies struck.
Mesa Ridge scored 29 points in the fourth quarter, sending the game into the final eight minutes at a 58-58 stalemate.
But Pueblo West got to the free throw line often and David Simental knocked down all 12 of his attempts and the Cyclones were able to advance to Saturday’s Sweet 16.
“Overall as a team, it probably doesn’t show that we’re great free throw shooters,” Cyclones coach Robert Tyler said. “Usually in the fourth quarter, we put the ball in the hole and that’s huge for us.”
Meeker’s T.J. Shelton, left, will wrestle for a fourth state title on Saturday night after winning in the semifinals on Friday. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — T.J. Shelton will have a shot at a fourth-straight wrestling championship on Saturday night.
Shelton, the Meeker senior who has won titles his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons, pinned Paonia’s Jeramiah Hillman in the semifinals of the Class 2A 170-pound bracket at the state wrestling tournament on Friday night. The match lasted 3 minutes and 58 seconds.
Now, Shelton has a chance to join elite company and become the state’s 19th four-time champion. He will face Centauri’s Chris Martin in the final.
Shelton has advanced to the finals with three pins, including a match earlier Friday in the quarterfinals.
Two sets of twin brothers advance to Saturday’s finals
Matt Finesilver gets his arm raised after winning his 152-pound semifinal match. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
The first person ton congratulate Cherry Creek senior Matt Finesilver on his win in the 5A 152-pound semifinal match was his twin brother, Josh.
Both Finesilver brothers will be wrestling for state titles Saturday night. Josh had advanced earlier in the 126-pound bracket and is looking to win his first championship.
Matt won the 152-pound title last year.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Matt said. “I probably get more nervous to watch his matches than I do to wrestle in mine.”
If the post-match behavior is any indicator, Josh probably feels the same way. Having already advanced, Josh was pacing around like a madman as he waited on his brother.
In 4A, another set of twin brothers will be trying to bring home individual titles. Grant and Hunter Willits each won state championships in 2014, but Grant was disqualified last year after missing weight the morning of quarterfinals.
On track for three titles
Heading into Friday night’s semifinals, there were eight wrestlers who had a chance to win three titles. After the semis, all eight of those remain on track.
John Mall junior Jonathan Andreatta narrowly advanced to the championship match in 2A 120 with a 6-3 win over Moises Juarez of Monte Vista.
Pueblo County’s Hunter Willits, another junior, also won, as mentioned above via his 14-1 major decision.
The six others? Well, all pinned their respective opponents:
Paonia’s Bo Pipher (2A 145) over Highland’s Bryson Fogg in three minutes.
Berthoud’s Jimmy Fate (3A 160) beat Sergio Campos of Hotchkiss in 1:16.
Dalton Robertson of Weld Central (3A 182) pinned Sterling’s Patrick Holtzhauser in 1:49.
Sam Turner of Discovery Canyon (4A 138) beat Thompson Valley’s Braydon Besse in 1:04.
Fort Morgan’s Toby McBride (4A 285) fell Montrose’s Sam Distel in 29 seconds.
Parker Simington of Thompson Valley (4A 160) over Pueblo East’s Zion Freeman in 2:25.
Pomona’s Tomas Gutierrez also entered the tournament with two previous championships, but he fell in the quarterfinals of 5A’s 120-pound bracket.
How other returning champions fared
Aside from that group, every other returning champion that was alive entering the semifinals advanced to a final.
That means that on Saturday evening, a total of 24 wrestlers will have a chance to repeat as champions. The breakdown is as follows: There are six returning wrestlers still alive in both 2A and 3A, nine from 4A, and three remaining in 5A.
Barker’s tournament comes to an end
Kaley Barker, the seventh girl to qualify for the state wrestling tournament, was eliminated from the competition with a loss to Thompson Valley’s Kasey Gault in the second round of the consolation bracket of the 4A 106 field.
Gault won, 11-5.
Barker became just the fourth girl to win a match at the tournament in the first round of the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
Team race update
The closest race is shaping up to be in 2A, where Centauri and Meeker head into Saturday tied with 110 points. Centauri has four finalists, and Meeker has three. And, of course, the two teams will face off in the 170-pound final as Shelton seeks his fourth championship.
Narrowly behind them in third place is Rocky Ford with 104.5 points.
In 3A, two-time defending champion Valley looks to have a firm grip. The Vikings lead the field with 112 points, ahead of second-place Dolores Huerta’s 91.5.
Pueblo County continues to head the 4A race, and now has 157 points. Greeley Central is second with 105.
Likewise, Pomona has held firm in 5A with 100 points. Pine Creek has 78 points, and is second. Legacy is third with 74.
Notables
Highland senior Morgan Fogg advanced to the final in 2A’s 126-pound bracket with a pin of Paonia’s Sackett Chesnik in 3:46. He is actually a defending champion, having won 4A’s 113 title last season while at Thompson Valley. Fogg transferred to Highland.
Buena Vista’s Keegan Wentz pinned his opponent, Ethan Barnes of Norwood/Nucla in 15 seconds in the 2A 220 semifinals to reach the final. Wentz is a returning champion, having won 2A’s 182 title last season.
Centauri’s Zach Martin ended a perfect season for Merino’s Trevor Elliott in the 2A 106 semifinals with a 6-0 decision. Elliott is now 33-1. Martin will wrestle for a title on Saturday.
Another unbeaten lost for the first time when Widefield’s Kris Davis beat Aron Pino Valenzuela of Littleton in sudden victory. Davis will wrestle for a title in 4A’s 220-pound division.
DENVER — Kaley Barker became the seventh female to compete at Colorado’s state wrestling tournament on Thursday evening.
Yet the enormity of joining such rare company seemed like a bigger deal to everyone else but Barker, a sophomore at Mountain View.
“I don’t necessarily give myself any props for being a girl and being here,” she said with a humble shrug in the tunnels underneath the Pepsi Center concourse. “I’m here like everyone else trying to meet my goals.”
Barker lost her first match in the Class 4A 106-pound bracket on Thursday, a 15-1 major decision to Greeley Central’s Ben Euresti. She now moves to the consolation bracket, which begins Friday afternoon.
Thursday’s appearance marked Barker’s first at the tournament. She finished sixth at the regional round a season ago, narrowly missing out on a berth.
“It was an awful feeling knowing that if I would’ve won one more match, I would’ve been here last year,” Barker season. “So I was like, ‘I can’t go down again, I have to do this, and I have to meet my goal to get to state.’”
Barker, right, congratulates her opponent, Ben Euresti of Greeley Central after their match. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Barker did just that, finishing third at 4A’s Region 3 last weekend. It punched her ticket to this season’s tournament.
Barker did attend last year’s event — as a fan supporting her twin brother, Braden — “but I wasn’t on the mat,” she said. (Braden qualified again this season at 170 pounds, and won his first match.)
So there was some adjustment to the first time out on Thursday.
“I feel some of the tournaments we were at earlier in the season and even through club are bigger than this, but it’s not the level we’ve been wrestling at,” Barker said. “I had to get used to that.
“The first match, obviously, didn’t go as I planned,” she added. “There’s always (Friday) and Saturday.”
With Barker qualifying this season, it continued a streak of having at least one female participant at the tournament since 2009. Included in that group are Denver East’s Maya Nelson, who qualified that past two seasons, and Grand Valley’s Cody Pfau, a three-time qualifier.
“It’s really cool to know that I’m not the only one that’s been here,” Barker said.
And though she doesn’t want to make a big deal out of the fact the she’s the seventh female qualifier, Barker does recognize the impact her appearance here will likely have on younger girls.
“It’s always great to inspire little girls,” she said. “They obviously know that this is not a full girls sport. You don’t have to be a guy to be successful at this sport, obviously. There’s been successful girls all around the world. We’ve proven it.”
T.J. Shelton pins Custer County’s Edgar Pedigo in the quarterfinals on Friday. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Meeker senior T.J. Shelton, who is aiming for a fourth wrestling championship, cruised to the semifinals with a win on Friday morning.
Shelton, wrestling in Class 2A’s 170-pound bracket, pinned Edgar Pedigo of Custer County in 1:12 to secure the quarterfinal win. He also pinned his opponent in the first round.
Shelton is set to face Jeramiah Hillman in the semifinals, which begin around 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Hillman has also pinned both of his opponents in the first two rounds.
Greeley Central’s Ben Euresti rallies from down 12-0
Ben Euresti had himself a quarterfinal comeback.
He found himself down early to Pueblo County’s Nathan Bonham, a freshman who was favored coming into the 106-pound quarterfinal match. And in no time, Bonham showed exactly why. Before Euresti knew what had happened, he found himself down 5-0 and knew that he had to start turning things around.
“He was so long that I had to adjust my style to see what he was doing,” Euresti said. “He gave me a perfect little head right there and I took advantage of it.”
By that point, Bonham had a 12-0 lead. But Eurseti was able to get Bonham’s shoulders on the mat and register a pin despite nearly being the victim of a technical fall.
The Greeley Central junior will face Windsor freshman Will Vombaur in the 4A semifinals Friday night.
Ponderosa’s Hunter Matney ends Tomas Gutierrez’s bid at third title
The plan for Ponderosa junior Hutner Matney was simple: keep it close.
He was able to do just that in his 5A 120-quarterfinal battle with two-time state champion Tomas Gutierrez. The Pomona senior held a 2-1 lead in the third period, but little did he know that Matney had him right where he wanted him.
“I could feel him start to wear down a little bit,” Matney said. “That’s when I turned it on and went full speed.”
This is Matney’s third year at the state wrestling tournament and he has never won a championship. He fell in the 106-pound finals in 2015 to Pomona’s Dayton Marvel.
After taking down Gutierrez in Thursday’s early session, he feels good about his odds at coming away with with the 5A 120 title.
“The kid I wrestle next (Poudre’s Job Greenwood) I’ve beaten so I should be good to go there,” Matney said. “Then it’s just one-by-one, match-by-match.”
Mountain View’s Kaley Barker wins in consolation bracket
Mountain View’s Kaley Barker. More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Kaley Barker, who became the seventh girl to wrestle at the state tournament Thursday, won her first round consolation match on Friday afternoon.
Barker pinned her opponent, Evergreen’s Connor Williams in 4:00. She now advances to the second round of the consolation bracket and will face Thompson Valley sophomore Kasey Gault on Friday night.
Of the seven girls who have qualified for state, just two — Soroco’s Lauryn Bruggink in 2010 and Grand Valley’s Cody Pfau in 2013 — have ever won multiple matches.
Defending champion Rocky Ford sits in second place in the 2A team race. Enriquez Romero won his consolation match on Friday. More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Meeker trailed Rocky Ford by 2.5 points after the first day of competition on Thursday. But, with five wrestlers advancing to the semifinals and two more advancing in the consolation bracket, the Cowboys have jumped into the team lead with 63 points following the early session on Friday.
Rocky Ford, the defending champion, is now second with 59.5 points, while Centauri remains in third with 58.
Meeker has won eight team wrestling championships, the most recent coming when it captured 2A in 2005. That was actually the third of three-straight titles.
Valley aiming for a third-straight 3A title
Valley has won the past two team championships in 3A, and the Vikings seem intent on doing it again.
The team led the 3A race after the first day of competition, and it remains there following the quarterfinals. Valley has placed six wrestlers into the semifinals and has 64 points.
Dolores Huerta has moved up to second place in 3A with 51.5 points.
The most recent three-time champion was Paonia (2012-14) in 2A. And prior to Valley’s run in 3A, Alamosa won three-straight 3A titles from 2011-13.
Pueblo County in control of 4A
The Willits brothers aren’t going just for individual titles. Their run to the semifinals has Pueblo County in the lead for the 4A team title with 82 points as semifinals are slated to begin Friday night.
Greeley Central trails by only eight, sitting at 74 points.
Cheyenne Mountain, Mesa Ridge, defending 4A team champion Thompson Valley and Pueblo East are all locked in a battle for control of third place with the four teams being separated by only seven points.
Pomona has a grip on 5A race
Pomona was ranked No. 1 in 5A by On The Mat for most of the season. Through the first two sessions at state wrestling, the Panthers are living up to that billing.
Pomona led the team race after Day 1 action, and continues to do so following Friday’s early session. The Panthers have 59 points, ahead of second-place Legacy (46). Ponderosa sits third with 44.5 points.
Arvada West, the two-time defending champion, is 21st with 14 points.
The Panthers’ last title came in 2013, just prior to Arvada West’s recent run.
Returning champs, unbeatens continue to roll
Each of the returning champions in 4A and 3A moved to the semifinals. Likewise, all of the unbeaten wrestlers in each of those classes, as well as 2A, also advanced.
2A featured seven returning champions, and five undefeated wrestlers. Six returning 2A champions are still alive. On Friday, Limon’s Jayden Hilferty (285 pounds) lost in the quarterfinals. Only one 2A wrestler, Paonia’s Bo Pipher, a 145-pounder, is a returning champion who is also unbeaten at 46-0.
In 3A, there are six returning champions, as well, and three unbeatens. Likewise, the classification only has one returning wrestler who is unbeaten: Dalton Robertson of Weld Central, who is now 43-0 in the 182-pound field.
In 4A, there are 10 returning champions and five unbeatens. Two, Thompson Valley’s Parker Simington (160) and Fort Morgan’s Toby McBride (285), fit into both categories.
The 5A returning champions took a hit. As noted above, two-time champ Tomas Gutierrez fell to Ponderosa’s Hunter Matney. His teammate, Dayton Marvel lost to Riley Garner-Orr of Grand Junction Central on a 4-2 decision. Heading into semifinals, three returning champions remain.
There were no unbeaten wrestlers in 5A heading into the tournament.
Notables
Pueblo County’s Grant Willits. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Pueblo County’s Grant Willits, on a mission after missing weight at state a year ago, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0 win over Windsor’s Sam Zdenek in the 4A 126 bracket. Willits was a champion two years ago at 106 pounds.
Willits’ twin brother, Hunter, himself a two-time champion, moved to the semifinals with a 10-0 major decision over Colin Saiz of Denver South at 4A 152.
For the fourth year in a row, Cherry Creek will have at least one Finesilver brother wrestling in the semifinals. This also marks the third-consecutive tournament that at least two of the Finesilver brothers have made the semifinals. This year, twins Josh (126) and Matt (152) have both advanced.
Of the schools with one qualifier, just five advanced their lone wrestler to the semifinals: Dolores, Holy Family, Centaurus, Douglas County, and Horizon.
The semifinals in all classes will begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Pepsi Center. The 2A/3A consolation bracket resumes at 5:45 p.m., and the 4A/5A consolation does so at 7:15 p.m.
