Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 2 are below.
Valor Christian running back Christian McCaffrey is the player of the year in Class 5A. (Mark Adams)
The 2013 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 coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Find more information here.
The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.
DENVER — Paonia’s Jesse Reed has an opportunity to accomplish a feat only seventeen Colorado high school wrestlers have achieved in history.
The Paonia junior will look to join the select group of four-time state champions next season after claiming his third state crown Saturday evening at the Pepsi Center.
Reed faced off against Swink’s Austin Coy in the 126-pound weight class. The match was the premier showdown of the 2A state finals. Reed was 39-0 on the season, Coy 32-0, and both had won their first three matches of the state tourney convincingly.
“Game plan was to score quick, score early,” said Reed, but neither wrestler was able to gain the upper hand in the first two periods.
“Of course, it was 0-0 going into the third, but I was looking for that tilt,” Reed said. “I knew that tilt would be there, so I hit it and it gave me a 4-0 match. That really changed the whole match right there.”
But Coy was a tough customer throughout and wouldn’t go away. The Swink junior made it 4-2 with 1:10 remaining, but Reed attacked again and forced Coy into a 6-2 deficit with forty seconds left.
Reed went into defensive mode and prevented any big points from Coy the rest of the match. Coy made a last second desperate attempt for points and made it 6-4 with seven seconds left, but Reed, learning his lesson from teammate, Josh Altman, who lost in a last second, heartbreaking 120 pound semifinals match Friday night, turtle-shelled and held on.
“It’s smart,” Reed said about his method of defense with seven seconds remaining. “You don’t want to get tossed and lose. That came out in my best friend Josh Altman’s match in the semis. He was up and he got thrown with three seconds left and he ended up fourth when he probably could’ve gotten first.”
Reed was able to hold on and complete a dominant 40-0 season. He took time to reflect on his already storied career at Paonia and his run of success at the state tournament.
“It’s tough every year,” Reed said. “My freshman year was probably tougher, because I was a freshman. Just mentally, that’s probably why it was tougher for me to go in there and beat the senior in the finals. This year, it was tough again, but I came through.”
The Paonia junior won the 113-pound division as a freshman, the 120-pound division as a sophomore, and the-126 pound division as a junior.
Two freshman wrestlers familiar with each other started the finals competition off with a bang in the 106 pound weight class. John Mall’s Jonathan Andreatta entered the title match 37-1 on the season, a very impressive campaign for the first year high school student. Ignacio’s Stocker Robbins was 37-6 on the season. The talented freshman knew each other all too well.
“We wrestled in middle school a lot,” Andreatta said. “He’s beaten me like three times. In middle school I beat him twice and then I beat him earlier this season by two points.”
Andreatta was in control throughout the state championship match and won by pin in 3:41.
“I went out there and was focusing on my takedowns,” John Mall’s freshman champion said after the win. “I got him taken down, I went to a turn, and I kept going and I caught him on his back a few times. I was able to finally pin him.”
Andreatta was mostly speechless afterwards and in awe described his victory as simply, “Unbelievable, unbelievable.”
Meeker’s T.J. Shelton knew what it was like to be in Andreatta’s shoes last season when he claimed the 160-pound state title as a freshman. Wrestling at 170 pounds this year, Shelton pinned all four of his opponents on the way to his second state championship. He topped off his dominant weekend with a pin of Lyons’ Jon Hickman in 4:41.
“It feels great,” Shelton said. “It feels the same as winning the first one. It was a lot similar. I went in there with the same kind of head. I wanted to take it and defend it.”
Shelton completed a 32-2 sophomore season and was pleased with his performance throughout the year.
“It was pretty good,” the Meeker wrestler said. “I got a slow start. I had an injury early and I couldn’t wrestle the first tournament. Other than that, I just progressed. I wrestled some really tough kids. One kid was ranked sixth in the nation, kicked my butt, and taught me a few lessons.”
“I’ve got track season now,” Shelton added. “I can’t really celebrate. I have to keep rolling.”
Other highlights of Saturday’s 2A action included Baca County’s Johnny Loflin defending his 195 pound state crown with a hard fought, hard-nosed 7-3 decision over Rocky Ford’s Nate Finnell. Loflin placed 5th, 2nd, 1st, and 1st at the state tourney during his outstanding career at Baca County.
Loflin’s first cousin, Luke Loflin, a junior at Baca County, lost to fellow junior Blake Denton of Swink in a tough 3-2 state championship battle at 145 pounds.
Stratton’s M.C. Griffin closed his high school career with his first state championship and a 33-1 senior campaign. Griffin earned his crown with a 3-2 decision over Swink’s Brody Wisemon in the 182 pound weight class.
Burlington’s Jon Satterly, a sophomore and relatively unknown wrestler who didn’t win his regional title, surprised the 220 pound field by making a run all the way to the finals match. Satterly succumbed to Center’s Luis Mariscal, a senior, by pin in one minute and fifty five seconds in the finals, but certainly had a tremendous tourney run. Satterly closed the season 29-21. Mariscal went 33-4 his senior year.
Paonia’s machine of a wrestling program won their third consecutive state championship and fifth in school history with 180 points. All five of the Eagles’ wrestlers in the finals were victorious as Reed won the 126 pound weight class, Bo Pipher won the 132 class, Ty Coats won the 152 class, Zach Milner won the 160 class, and Tony Darling won the 285 class.
Sophomore Pipher, junior Milner, and seniors Coats and Darling were all first-time state champions for Paonia.
Baca County was second as a team with 112.5 points, Meeker was third with 98.5, and Sedgwick County/Fleming finished fourth with 88.5 points.
The 126-pound weight class final was the climax of the evening in 2A. Jesse Reed and Austin Coy’s bout lived up to its lofty billing between two undefeated juniors and was a fantastic finish.
Reed admitted after the match that he is already thinking about making history as a four-timer.
“I definitely have four-time on my mind, but there’s a lot of hard work that has to come before that,” Reed said. “I have to work harder than I did this year.”
Reed exemplified the hard working, passionate Paonia powerhouse with a stalwart third individual state championship on Saturday evening in Denver.
The Classification and League Organizing Committee meeting was Tuesday. (Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — Valor Christian’s athletic programs will reside in the Jefferson County League for the 2014-16 cycle.
The school, which is independent of a league during the current two-year cycle, had requested to join the Centennial League. And though the Centennial previously denied Valor’s request through a vote at a league meeting, there was still a chance that move would be approved at Tuesday’s Classification and League Organizing Committee (CLOC) meeting.
However, at the meeting, CLOC voted to not approve Valor’s move to the Centennial. Instead, through a 6-4 vote, it placed the Eagles in the Class 5A Jeffco League. Valor previously played in the 4A Jeffco from 2010-12. Their teams will continue to compete at the 4A level.
“That’s our job: to put them in a league. They had to be in a league,” CLOC chair Tom Arensdorf said after the meeting. “Every member has the right to be in a league after they’ve done their probationary period. They were not placed in a league two years ago … because basically their membership was in jeopardy. We felt it was best at that time not to put them in a league. No one wanted them, but the reasons for not wanting them were based on past issues that were pretty valid.
“In this past two-year cycle, Valor has done a lot of things to correct those issues. And they deserve to be placed in a league. That’s this committee’s job, to get them in a league.”
So Valor, finally, has a league for all of it’s sports — excepting football, which is still awaiting a conference. (That alignment will be finalized later in November.)
But that doesn’t mean it was easy.
(Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
Valor athletic director Rod Sherman spoke briefly at the meeting about the reasons his school sought to join the Centennial. He also said, in part, “We believe now is the time for Valor’s transition from an independent status to being a full-time member of a league. It would be an honor for us to be a member of the Centennial League; there’s much we can learn. We believe we have respected the process of being placed and we humbly request placement in the Centennial League.”
A long discussion ensued, with Centennial and Jeffco reps also speaking, and emphasizing Valor Christian’s private status. Then, CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico spoke up.
“We’ve had a public-private school discussion going on for over two years now,” Angelico said. “I’m afraid I’m to blame for that because I wanted that to be an open and above-board discussion, rather than all the back-biting that was going on behind the scenes. If I would have known that it would have turned into this bickering that will never end, I think I would have stopped it … and not allowed it to start. There’s no end to this.
“A couple of points I need to make: There is no written or unwritten policy of any sort regarding public and private schools and league placement,” Angelico continued. “Secondly, in the last 24 months, I would say to you, that since that discussion started, it’s not the private schools I’m worried about. … The private school people have heard loudly your message of discontent. Their response has been one of that I can’t complain about. Whatever it takes to be above-board and avoid issues, they’re doing. That applies to Valor doubly. They’ve hired a consultant, they’ve done everything I’ve asked. To the point that last night, in our discussions, we talked about, ‘Well Valor had four ADs show up at the (All-School) Summit.’ I said, ‘Yeah, they did. I told them to, and they did what they were told.’
“I think we have our priorities goofed up and have kind of started turning around what we’re supposed to be about,” he added. “This isn’t a public/private school issue. I hear loudly that it’s an issue about unfair advantage or differences in schools. … Frankly, I would just like to get this conversation back to what it’s about: somebody needs a home. The fact that they’re a public or private school is not the reason you place them in a conference. Nor has it ever been. Let’s talk about what’s the best fit.
“The association has certainly survived with several public and private schools together in the same league. I just want to center this. This becomes a ‘Who can win the argument?’ not, ‘What’s the best thing?’ And I think we need to go back to what are we supposed to be doing here. The committee is charged with placing a school, and they will place a school, and they’ll have to do it to somebody’s chagrin.”
Shortly after, the committee broke into a private session, and then for lunch. When they came back, the vote on Valor request to join the Centennial League was quickly called. Three CLOC members abstained, three voted in favor of the request, and seven against.
Moments later, committee member Rich Wildenhaus from Erie proposed moving Valor to the 5A Jeffco League. There was no discussion from the audience, and the vote ended with six agreeing with the move, four against it and three abstaining. The entire process was swift.
(Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
“Honestly, that surprised me,” Arensdorf said afterward. “Over the last two days, we probably discussed this issue as a committee for three-and-a-half hours — because whatever decision was made by the committee was going to be unpopular with some schools and cause some angst within leagues. There is no perfect fit.
“We went through a process that, if the first request did not pass, we — as a committee, it’s our responsibility to come up with something before the end of the day. And different committee members had different proposals,” he continued. “I was surprised that we finished that quickly. And I was surprised there was no feedback from the floor when that proposal was made by Richie Wildenhaus. I didn’t know what to expect at that point, because, as a committee, no one felt comfortable with any solution. There were no solutions that were going to make everybody happy.
“But, in the end, it is what it is, and all these people are professionals and they’ll deal with what they have to deal with and hopefully make the best situation for all the kids that participate in those programs.”
Valor Christian did approach Jeffco about joining the league prior to the CLOC meeting. Jeffco has 5A and 4A leagues.
“Right now, the CLOC committee voted for them to be in 5A Jeffco. I think that discussion still needs to happen,” Jim Thyfault, Jefferson County’s district athletic director, and a member of CLOC, said after the meeting. “Since we do have a 4A option, I think that needs to be discussed.
“I respect Rod Sherman and the people at Valor, I really do. They were in our league before. And, you know what? We’ll all be very professional about it, and I’m sure they will be, too.”
CLOC’s actions on Tuesday still need to be confirmed by the Legislative Council in January.
More league changes
Earlier, Burlington’s request to join the Lower Platte League was denied. That league had previously voted 9-0 against allowing Burlington admittance. CLOC voted 11-2 against overruling that vote. So Burlington will stay in the Union Pacific League.
Approved league changes:
(Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
Broomfield (Northern to Front Range)
Canon City (South Central to Colorado Springs Metro)
The Classical Academy (Tri-Peaks to Colorado Springs Metro)
Clear Creek (3A Frontier to 2A Frontier)
Ellicott (Tri-Peaks to Black Forest)
Highland (Patriot to Mile High)
Holy Family (Metro to Tri-Valley)
Littleton (Continental to Jeffco)
Lyons (Patriot to Mile High)
Manzanola (Southeastern to High Plains)
Northridge (Tri-Valley to Northern)
Skyview Academy (Independent to Metro 3A)
Swallows Charter Academy (Independent to Santa Fe)
Twin Peaks Charter (New school, joining Mile High)
Vanguard (Black Forest to Tri-Peaks)
New members
Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy’s request for membership was denied. The school has a unique schedule to allow its students to train on the mountain during the week — training from 8 a.m. to noon, and then attending classes from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. each Tuesday through Friday during the winter.
However, after a lengthy discussion, the committee said they were uneasy going down the road of adding a sports academy as a member.
“It seems so fundamentally different than what our membership is now,” said committee member Mark Kanagy, Windsor’s athletic director.
The committee did approve membership for Caprock Charter Academy in Grand Junction, as well as Denver School of Science & Technology – Green Valley Ranch, and Venture Preparatory School in Denver.
Playdowns
The overwhelming majority of playdowns were approved, save for Abraham Lincoln football (5A to 4A), Estes Park football (2A to 1A) and Palmer football (5A to 4A). Approved playdowns:
(Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
Adams City football (5A to 4A)
Alameda football (5A to 4A)
Antonito football (8-man to 6-man)
Aurora Central football (5A to 4A)
Boulder softball (5A to 4A)
Centaurus volleyball (4A to 3A)
Central (Grand Junction) football (4A to 3A)
Civa Charter boys/girls basketbal, volleyball (2A to 1A)
Denver North football (3A to 2A)
Dolores Huerta girls basketball (3A to 2A)
Greeley Central softball (4A to 3A)
Greeley West boys soccer (5A to 4A)
Miami-Yoder football (8-man to 6-man)
Mitchell football (4A to 3A)
Montbello girls soccer (5A to 4A)
Montezuma-Cortez soccer (4A to 3A)
Montezuma-Cortez football (3A to 2A)
Nederland football (1A to 8-man)
Niwot football (4A to 3A)
Rifle boys/girls soccer (4A to 3A)
Roosevelt boys soccer (4A to 3A)
Skyline softball (4A to 3A)
South Park football (8-man to 6-man)
Noteable
The committee set the 1A/2A cutoff at 92 students. So schools with 92 and below will be 1A in basketball and all other sports, while those with 93-240 students will be 2A.
Fairview is the No. 1 seed in 5A. (Courtesy photo)
The groundwork, as is so often the case, was laid four years ago. Tom McCartney saw it in his freshmen then. Those freshmen are now seniors, and that group has Fairview seeded No. 1 overall in the Class 5A football playoffs.
“We knew that it was a special group,” McCartney, Fairview’s coach, said Sunday morning. “We also knew that for them to do the things and reach some of the goals they’ve set, you’ve got to have junior compliments. You want to know that your juniors are also part of that.
“We’ve been kind of waiting on this group of seniors for a while, and a lot of them have gotten a lot of playing time as sophomores and juniors,” he continued. “When you get in those kinds of battles against teams like Pomona and Ralston Valley, and Legacy and Arvada West and Boulder — and Grandview in the playoffs last year, and Regis the year before — all of those experiences help. So, yes, to be honest with you, we’ve seen this coming from this particular group. We knew this was a talented group.”
The Knights were the lone 5A team to finish the regular season unbeaten (9-0). They were ranked No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com football poll in recent weeks, but were No. 1 in Wild Card points during that stretch, and finished atop the final Wild Card standings released Sunday morning.
And so, when the 5A bracket was unveiled, it was Fairview in the No. 1 spot. (See the full bracket.)
“It feels awesome,” McCartney said. “It’s playoff football. We’re just going to prepare. We understand that if you win you move on, and if you don’t you’re done. We want to keep playing. The best way to keep playing is to be prepared and to improve.”
Fairview draws No. 32 Mountain Vista (3-6) in the first round. The two teams played in 2010 and 2011, both Mountain Vista wins.
“Our seniors, when they were freshmen, played them. And so we know a little bit about them,” McCartney said. “We’ve got a ton of respect for coach (Ric) Cash. His teams are always prepared. They’re always hard-nosed.”
Rounding out the top-5 seeds in 5A were No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Cherry Creek, No. 4 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
The top 16 seeds host in the first round, meaning No. 6 Cherokee Trail, No. 7 Columbine, No. 8 Pomona, No. 9 Chatfield, No. 10 Grand Junction, No. 11 Mountain Range, No. 12 Doherty, No. 13 Prairie View, No. 14 Rangeview, No. 15 Ralston Valley and No. 16 Douglas County will get home games.
The 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man brackets were also released on Sunday.
Brush is 2A’s top seed. As the top-8 host in the first round, No. 2 Manitou Springs, No. 3 Platte Valley, No. 4 Faith Christian, No. 5 Gunnison, No. 6 Bennett, No. 7 Kent Denver and No. 8 Florence will all get home games.
Also qualifying in 2A were No. 9 Strasburg, No. 10 Lamar, No. 11 Olathe, No. 12 Fort Lupton, No. 13 Aspen, No. 14 Ridge View Academy, No. 15 Jefferson and No. 16 The Academy.
In 1A, Buena Vista got the top seed. No. 2 Limon, No. 3 Centauri, No. 4 Paonia, No. 5 Monte Vista, No. 6 Hotchkiss, No. 7 Yuma and No. 8 Platte Canyon will also host first-round games.
Additional 1A qualifiers were No. 9 Resurrection Christian, No. 10 Rye, No. 11 Burlington, No. 12 Cedaredge, No. 13 Colorado Springs Christian, No. 14 Wray, No. 15 Lyons and No. 16 Front Range Christian.
Hoehne is 8-man’s top seed. Also hosting in the first round will be No. 2 Dayspring Christian, No. 3 Norwood, No. 4 Simla, No. 5 Caliche, No. 6 Kiowa, No. 7 Sargent and No. 8 Dove Creek. Also qualifying were No. 9 Sanford, No. 10 Vail Christian, No. 11 Merino, No. 12 Walsh, No. 13 Akron, No. 14 West Grand, No. 15 Fowler and No. 16 Granada.
Liberty/Stratton grabbed 6-man’s top seed. Also qualifying were No. 2 Hi-Plains, No. 3 Eads, No. 4 Prairie, No. 5 Otis, No. 6 Peetz, No. 7 Hanover and No. 8 Flagler
LIMON — The Limon Badgers, ranked No. 2 in 1A by CHSAANow.com, totaled more than 500 yards total offense in downing Burlington 35-14 at Lloyd Gaskill Field. The game was Limon High School’s 51st Homecoming win in 68 tries.
With the win, Coach Mike O’Dwyer’s Badgers start the season 4-0, while Glynn Higgs’ Cougars fall to 1-3.
But miscues by the Badgers throughout the game gave life to the Cougars, who came back in the second half to make a game of it.
In the first half, Gavin Liggett was the key to Limon’s 21-0 lead. At 9:12 in the first quarter, Liggett scored from 21 yards out, but his PAT try missed, leaving Limon up 6-0 after one quarter. Liggett, who scored on a 38-yard run late in the second, ran for 117 yards in the first half.
Kerigan Kappel scored early in the second on a 6-yard run and Liggett added a two-point conversion to make it 14-0 in favor of the home team. Liggett’s 38-yard sideline to sideline romp and subsequent PAT made it 21-0 Limon at halftime.
Burlington, looking for a big defensive stand late in the third, saw Ligget slip around left end and ramble 92 yards for a touchdown. His PAT made it 28-0 and Limon looked to be cruising along.
The Cougars kept the pressure on, though, when Martin Torres rumbled off tackle for 58 yards and a score with 40.7 seconds left in the third. A Jonathan Lopez PAT made the score 28-7.
The fourth quarter saw both teams move up and down the field, with Burlington ultimately threatening at the 1-yard-line at 3:20 when Chance Carlin and Eloy Sandoval missed on a handoff. Liggett recovered the fumble and it looked like the game might be over. One the very next play, Liggett mishandled the snap and the Cougars’ Lopez fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. His PAT made it 28-14 and the Cougars were right back in the game with 3:10 remaining.
(Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
Several long passes and timely runs had Limon at Burlington’s 20-yard line with about 1:40 left. Liggett took a knee, but on the next two plays, Burlington’s defense stifled two attempts by Kappel. So, with 1:01 remaining Liggett dropped back to pass and hit Kappel in the end zone for a 22-yard score. His PAT made it 35-14.
Carlin moved the Cougars to midfield, but his final last gasp throw went just out of the reach of Mitchell Richardson and time ran out.
In end, Liggett had run nine times for 214 yards and three TDs, while completing 6-of-11 passes for 105 yards and the scoring toss to Kappel. He was intercepted by linebacker Josh Satterly in the third quarter.
Kappel had 155 yards on 23 carries and one TD, but also caught the TD pass. Luke Meier added 58 yards for the Badgers, while James Larson had 13. In all, Limon ran for 440 yards on 39 carries. The Badgers lost four of five fumbles.
(Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
For the Cougars, Torres pounded out 108 yards on 12 carries including his 58-yard TD run. Sandoval had 68 yards on 16 carries, while Nik Reese added 4 yards and Carlin 2. Carlin was 9-of-17 for 96 yards and one interception. Burlington lost one of two fumbles.
Limon plays host to Las Animas next Friday at 7:00 p.m., while Burlington plays host to Calhan Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Wheat Ridge has overtaken Pueblo East atop the Class 4A CHSAANow.com softball poll.
The Farmers, off to an 8-0-0 start, were No. 2 last week but moved up to No. 1 by virtue of a 6-0-0 week which included a 7-2 victory over Pueblo East, last week’s top-ranked team.
Elsewhere, Douglas County went from unranked to No. 3 in the 5A poll, which also added Ralston Valley (No. 8) and Fossil Ridge (No. 9).
Loveland 24, Arvada West 14, Chatfield 14, Grand Junction 12, Cherokee Trail 7, Bear Creek 4, Rampart 4, Castle View 2, Denver East 2, Mountain Vista 2, Prairie View 2, Standley Lake 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Wheat Ridge (6)
8-0-0
84
2
6-0-0
2
Pueblo East (3)
5-2-1
79
1
2-2-1
3
Erie
5-2-1
75
3
3-2-1
4
Ponderosa
6-1-0
60
4
4-1-0
5
Frederick
4-2-0
42
5
1-2-0
6
Silver Creek
6-2-0
32
8
4-2-0
7
Broomfield
4-4-0
25
–
3-3-0
8
Berthoud
4-1-0
24
7
2-1-0
9
D’Evelyn
3-0-0
16
10
1-0-0
10
Niwot
1-2-0
12
6
0-2-0
Others receiving votes:
Discovery Canyon 10, Mullen 9, Pueblo South 7, Montrose 6, Valor Christian 5, Mountain View 2, Palmer Ridge 2, Pueblo West 2, Roosevelt 1, Sand Creek 1, Weld Central 1.
