PUEBLO — Of the 101 team state championships that Cheyenne Mountain now lays claim to, boys wrestling is a new one.
Never before had the school put together a solid enough season on the mat that a wrestling championship trophy was heading to the display case.
Volleyball? Several. Baseball? Multiple. Football? One very legendary run back in 1963.
Perhaps Cheyenne Mountain’s first wrestling title will carry as much folklore around Colorado Springs as that football championship. Uncertainty was the word of the 2021 season as the COVID-19 pandemic raised questions over whether or not a season could even happen.
Once it got off and running, Cheyenne Mountain quickly established itself as a top team in the state. The team entered the season as the No. 3 team in the rankings. But when all was said and done, it stood at the top of the podium.
En route to the team championship, it won two individual titles with Nico Gagliardi taking the 195-pound title with a pin over Montrose’s Raul Martinez. Jake Boley took the 220-pound championship when he pinned Broomfield’s Morgen Watt.
Nicholas Grizales (126) and Jesse Boley (285) each reached their championship matches, but couldn’t capture titles. Still, their road to the finals played a crucial role in Cheyenne Mountain capturing the team title.
Soren Herzog (182) took third, Raife Manjarrez (145) took fourth and Chase Johnsonn (132) took fifth. But even without individual medals, they still get to go home champions after their efforts helped bring the team point total to 123.5.
Pueblo County narrowly too second as a team as Richard Palomar took third in the 152-pound bracket to break a 100-100 tie with Pueblo East.
Elsewhere in the classification, five wrestlers entered the tournament as defending state champions and three of them claimed a second title.
Loveland junior Kobi Johnson won his second title and will have a chance to go for three in a row as a senior next year. He beat Mesa Ridge’s Frankie Gallegos by a 14-5 major decision to claim his title.
Pueblo East sophomore Weston Dalton was hoping to win a second title to keep his hopes for four alive, but Loveland’s Cody Thompson got a 11-4 decision to win the state title in 138. With Dalton’s loss, the class of 2023 will be the first class to not produce a potential four-time state champion since 2013. Woodland Park junior Brady Hankin won his third title Friday night, so the class of 2022 already has a shot to get a four-timer.
Seniors Vance Vombaur (Windsor) and Isaias Estrada (Thomas Jefferson) defended their titles to become two-time champions.
It is with sadness that the Colorado High School Activities Association pays its respect to a long-time Denver Prep League coach and CHSAA Hall of Fame member.
Former Thomas Jefferson football and track coach Herman Motz passed away last weekend, but his presence cannot be forgotten.
Motz compiled a 135-30-1 at Thomas Jefferson from 1976-89, earning 12 state playoff appearances, 9 DPL titles, six final four appearances and winning two state titles. The first came in 1980 when TJ beat Cherry Creek 20-19 and the second in 1989 when the Spartans beat DPL rival Montbello 34-32.
Truly an old school coach, Motz used to walk to and from the school each day. It gave him time to think, he told others. He was inducted into the CHSAA Hall of Fame in its Class of 2005.
Motz coached football and track & field for over 20 years, earning numerous honors. He has been a clinician for numerous football clinics from 1977 to 1990 and has held virtually every office available in the Colorado High School Coaches Association and was named Coach of the Year seven times. He was inducted into the CHSCA Hall of Fame in 1991.
Motz was a member of the CHSCA Board of Directors and received the Don Des Combes Award, the highest honor that CHSCA can bestow. He was the original editor and producer of the CHSCA’s “The Colorado Coach.”
DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis made good on his pledge to attend the first day of high school sports competition.
Polis visited the DPS Invitational at Wellshire Golf Course on Thursday morning, a tournament that marked the first day high school sports competition in the state since the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic shut down athletics in mid-March.
“It’s great to have high school sports back,” Polis said. “High school sports are a big part of who we are, and it drives a lot of kids to be part of their school environment, to socialize, to learn those skills that are so important in the work force: being a member of a team, leadership, stepping up when you need to be part of the whole.
“It’s great that high school sports are back, really due to the hard work of Coloradans. The fact that Coloradans are being safe, they’re wearing masks, they’re staying six feet from others,” Polis continued. “We see that in having lower viral numbers than a lot of the other states that are hot spots. Part of that reward for that is that kids are going to have all of the different high school sports season that we have, and they’ll have an opportunity to participate in organized high school sports this year.”
The DPS Invitational included 15 teams: Denver North, Erie, Cherry Creek, Cheyenne Mountain, Arvada West, Regis Jesuit, Denver East, Lakewood, Denver South, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Rock Canyon, Boulder, Northfield and Conifer.