Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
The 2017 all-state girls soccer teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They 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.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
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Class 5A
(Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
Player of the year: Haley Schueppert, Mountain Vista
The 2016-17 all-state wrestling teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created based upon results at the state meet. Coaches of the year were selected by team performance at the state meet, as well.
Wrestlers of the year were determined by a formula which took the following information into account: season record; season winning percentage; type of wins at state (pin, tech fall, major decision); strength of a weight classification’s bracket; and multiple championships.
Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.
DENVER — Valley wrestling won its fourth-straight Class 3A state championship Saturday night. The Vikings previously won in 2014, 2015, 2016 and now 2017.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was getting that four-peat,” senior Aaron Trujillo said. “It’s one of the biggest things in making history in our town, school, team, and all of Colorado. We’ve been working hard all year long and we got that four-peat.”
Heading into the championship matches, just 3.5 points separated first and third place, with Valley leading Alamosa and Jefferson. That margin was even slimmer with five matches left as Joshua Flanagan entered the ring for his match in the 170 bracket.
“I knew how close it was, it never escaped my mind,” said first-year Valley coach Ryan Linsacum. “We knew Alamosa was going to be a tough pill to swallow. From the beginning of the season, we knew they were top dog. Jefferson, I was not prepared for. Those guys put together a heck of a tournament.”
Trujillo said Linsacum told the team throughout the year to “keep working hard in the wrestling room, it’ll pay off here.”
It paid off. Flanagan won 5-4 over and unofficially celebrated the team championship with Linsacum, putting Valley up 102.5 to 98 ahead of Alamosa.
“Everybody had the same focus from day one of the season; and that was a four-peat,” Linsacum said. “I put all the credit in my kids hands. They knew what was at stake, they knew what needed to be done, and they came here and did it.
Jefferson sat at 95 with no shot to win the title, but a shot at second place in the 220 match with Oscar Lopez facing Grand Valley’s Evan Hoff. Lopez’s 10-5 sudden victory gave the Saints the points they needed to leap Alamosa in the team scores.
The final team scores were: Valley, 102.5; Jefferson, 99; Alamosa, 98.
A big swing match came in the 132 final, pitting Valley’s Brandon Damian and Jefferson’s Kyle Cisneros head to head. Sisneros took the win and gave Jefferson separation.
“We knew that was a very important match,” Linsacum said. “Sometimes things happen for a reason, you know, put a little extra stress on us. Aaron and Josh all year have welcomed that stress. They’ve never faltered from their gameplan, regardless of the situation.
The Vikings fought right back in the 145 bracket as Aaron Trujillo capped his career with back-to-back individual titles.
“Its so big,” Trujillo said. “At the beginning of the season, my ultimate goal was to get that second state title, and I’m more pumped than ever that I got that. I knew I was going to take it at this weight class and I did.”
All that was left was Flanagan to win his match at 170 and Valley was able to hold on to the team championship.
“It did come down to that 170 match,” Linsacum said. “We were 1-1 with that kid on the season. So, that was the make it or break it time. We had a gameplan going in and we accomplished what we needed to accomplish.”
Valley had two individual champions: Flanagan at 170 and Trujillo at 145. Trujillo won the 138-pound final last year and earned his fourth team championship ring Saturday night.
“(Trujillo) was part of a state championship team his entire high school career, not many people can say that,” Linsacum said. “He’s gonna be missed. He’s going to be hard to replace. He’s one of those kids that you dream about as a coach.”
“You can’t coach kids to the style that Aaron Trujillo has. You either have it or you don’t.”
Freshman Jaziah Whaley also took third place in a hard-fought 4-3 tiebreaker win in the 152 division.
“Right now we’re relishing in this and we’re super excited for what we’ve accomplished, but tomorrow it’s back to the drawing board,” Linsacum said. “Let’s get five, let’s get one for the thumb.”
Isaiah DelLaCerda. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Alamosa’s Isaiah DeLaCerda and Fort Lupton’s Jody Sandoval II became three-time champions. DeLaCerda pinned A.J. Serna in the 113 bracket, while Sandoval II beat Moises Juarez in the 126 bracket.
“I was nervous more for the first and the second more than I was for this one,” DeLaCerda said. “I’ve always said that I don’t know if I deserve to be with names like Sonny and Cody (Yohn) and all those guys.”
Of course, DeLaCerda is referring to former Alamosa three-time champions Sonny and Cody Yohn.
DeLaCerda watched his brother, Elijah DeLaCerda lose a tough match in the 106 bracket to Fort Lupton’s Jacob Duran just before his match. He gave off an aura of controlled anger and let it out on his opponent.
“We were hoping that we could both come away with a title today, so I went out there upset that he didn’t get it,” DeLaCerda said. “I went out there and had to do it for both of us. I was fighting extra hard for that.”
DeLaCerda put himself with exactly those wrestlers he named Saturday.
Sandoval II came away with a 2-0 win. As for what was going on in his head, Sandoval II kept pushing himself to persevere.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
“I had to keep working, the match wasn’t over yet,” Sandoval II said. “So, keep on working, keep on pushing.”
The thoughts about a possible three-peat came into his head right before the match, but Sandoval II let it carry him rather than weigh him down.
“After the 113-pounder won it, and they announced it, it got in my head that this is my third,” Sandoval II said.
In the 285 bracket, Delta’s Logan Church made his way through the one and four seeds, but was unable to claim the title over Sheridan’s Ricky Ayala. Ayala was the 220 champion last year, and now adds the 285 title to his accolades.
In 195, Alameda’s Fabian Estrada pinned Ridge View’s Deven Mosman.
Centauri’s Joe Chavez won his 120-pound match by major decision, 17-3. Holy Family’s Kolsen Welham added his own title win by major decision in the 160 bracket.
In the 138 bracket, Noah Hermosillo of Eagle Valley topped former 2A title holder Quinton Montague.
Eaton’s Isaiah Salazar won a close 3-1 match at 152 over Jimmy Laconte, and La Junta’s William Tyler beat Nathan Johns of The Classical Academy 3-2 in 182.
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
A week after being upset by Eaglecrest, Grandview had a big bounce-back win against Cherry Creek.
The ninth-ranked Wolves got rushing touchdowns from Hayden Blubaugh and Gunnar Lamphere, then relied on a stout defense to secure the 17-6 win.
“It was a great bounce-back week for our kids, and our defense really stepped up tonight,” Grandview coach John Schultz told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show.
Blubaugh, the Wolves’ star running back, gave his team a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 57-yard run. No. 7 Cherry Creek responded in the second quarter with a rushing score from Trey Windham.
Grandview added a field goal before the half to lead 10-6 at the break. Lamphere, the quarterback, added his TD in the third quarter.
“It was a good grind-it-out victory for our offense,” Schultz said.
But the Eagles refused to go away. They scored 16 unanswered points in five minutes to tie the game at 44, and the teams headed to overtime deadlocked there.
Mead got perhaps the best win since the program was restarted in 2010, topping city rival Longmont in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
“We just kept plugging. That’s kind of the mantra we’ve been using,” Mead coach Jason Klatt told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids just didn’t get ratted. We’ve shown a resiliency, and our kids don’t really care if we’re down two touchdowns, or seven points. It doesn’t matter. We just kept on plugging and I’m really proud of our kids tonight.”
“I’m so proud of our defensive staff and our defensive kids,” Klatt said. “We really just hung in there tonight, and we started gaining confidence as the game wore on that we could stop them.”
Mead tied it up on Riley Glynn’s third passing touchdown, and four minutes later Evan Hanson returned an interception for a score to give the Mavericks the lead.
Nathan Mackey had three total touchdowns, including two rushing scores and one receiving.
It was Mead’s third-straight win after dropping its season-opener.
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8-man: (1) Sargent 22, (5) Norwood 20
The new No. 1 team Sargent held firm with a big top-5 win.
“It was a total team effort. They jumped out ahead 6-0, and we just kept battling and battling,” coach Trevan Pepper told the Scoreboard Show.
The Farmers led 22-8 early in the third quarter, and then 22-14 as the fourth quarter started, but they were able to hold on.
Sargent made a stop on a two-point attempt in the fourth quarter to win.
“We had it timed out well in practice and it was just like second nature down there because we’d done it already so many times,”Boudron told the Durango Herald after the game.
Durango’s Dawson Marcum then ended the game with an interception on Bayfield’s possession in overtime.
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3A: (7) Silver Creek 20, (10) Roosevelt 10
The Raptors improved to 4-0 with a big top-10 win.
“It’s a huge win,” Silver Creek coach Mike Apodaca told the Scoreboard Show. “We had the opportunity to play Roosevelt eight-to-ten times over the last few years, and we’ve never been able to beat them at their place. For our program in general, that was a big win and a step in the right direction.”
Silver Creek led most of the way, though it was only 7-3 at halftime, and Roosevelt did take a brief 10-7 lead in the third quarter.
“Our defense kept us in it,” Apodaca said.
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Notables
High winds affected a number of games across the state, to the point that they caused the postponement of the Rye/John Mall game, according to Rye AD Beth Burns. The winds were so bad that several cars had their windows blown out, one soccer goal slid on the field, and another blew over the fence. The two teams will play Saturday at 1 p.m.
6-man No. 2 Kit Carson beat No. 5 Cheyenne Wells 22-14. The game featured a 20-minute lightning delay, and a big rain storm late in the fourth quarter. “To our kids’ credit, they really hung on and persevered and came up with the win,” coach Jim Trahern told the Scoreboard Show.
A top-5 showdown in 1A ended with No. 2 Strasburg beating No. 4 Limon 43-12.
Another top-10 matchup in 4A saw No. 9 Ponderosa handle No. 10 Rampart, 37-6. “Our team is starting to click a little bit,” Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen told the Scoreboard Show.
Snow made its first appearance at a game this season, when Grand Valley hosted Aspen. Grand Valley won 48-34.
In 2A, No. 7 D’Evelyn picked up a good win by topping No. 10 Platte Valley 22-12.
1A No. 5 Bennett edged No. 10 Burlington 15-13.
Centauri got a big 26-12 upset win against 1A No. 6 Buena Vista. “They were fired up and ready to go, and they did everything we asked them to do,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show of his defense.
Pikes Peak Christian upset No. 10 West Grand 20-8 in 8-man. The keeps all-time wins leader Chris Brown at 309 career wins.
Cheraw knocked off No. 7 Sierra Grande in 6-man.
Legacy football won its second game in a row after the tragic bus accident that shook the community. This night, the Lightning beat Horizon 38-21.
Lutheran beat Falcon in overtime, 21-14.
Pueblo West made a late stand to secure a 20-13 win over Dakota Ridge. Dakota Ridge was at the 6-yard-line with 17 seconds remaining.
Faith Christian had a 98 1/2 yard touchdown tonight in a 34-7 win over Brush. Freshman Isiah Kroll hit senior Brandon Herman.
4A No. 8 Windsor trailed at the half, but rallied to beat Greeley West 28-7.
The 2015-16 all-state boys basketball players of the year. (Photos: Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com; Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com; Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The 2015-16 all-state boys basketball 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 week-long vote of coaches.
A specific player of the year vote was held in each class, as was a vote for coach of the year.
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Class 5A
Overland’s De’Ron Davis is the 5A boys basketball player of the year. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
The premier Colorado high school basketball program of the 1960s and ’70s, the team fell on hard times when Denver Public Schools shut the school down.
The Thunderbolts brought pride back to the program on Thursday, defeating Colorado Academy 70-66 at the Denver Coliseum in the Class 3A Great 8.
Colorado Academy had beaten Manual twice during the regular season, by 30 and 12 points. The difference Thursday, according to freshman Jadedon Bradley, was effort.
“They know what’s up,” T-Bolts coach Anson Ramiro said. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride, shutting down the school.”
The players, only one of which is a senior, understand the importance of Manual basketball to the community.
The Thunderbolts went on a 23-point scoring splurge in the second quarter to overtake the Mustangs 38-29 at half.
Colorado Academy answered by outscoring the T-Bolts 17-2 through the first half of the third quarter, but Manual closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run to retake the lead 49-48 entering the fourth.
The Mustangs pulled to within three twice but the Bolts hit the offensive boards and got free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Bradley finished with 26 points to lead all scorers.
“We’re trying to get Manual back on top,” he said.
As for Ramiro, he believes in his young team.
“We’re changing history,” he vowed.
Alamosa knocked off No. 1 seed DSST-Stapleton. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Alamosa, however, pulled off the upset of the day to open the 3A boys state basketball tournament on Thursday.
The Mean Moose outscored top-seeded Denver School of Science and Technology-Stapleton in overtime to overtake the Knights 73-70.
Alamosa put on a furious fourth-quarter rally, scoring 29 points to tie the game at the end of regulation.
The Mean Moose spread the wealth with six players scoring at least eight points, Ryan Brubacher leading the way with 19.
DSST got a monster game from Blake Pullen, who led all scorers with 26.
Lutheran got on top of Grand Valley early in defeating the Cardinals 66-55.
A balanced scoring effort saw Will Willis lead the way with 19 points; Josh Bjorgum added 18 and Tanner Rich 14.
Grand Valley got 13 apiece from John Parker and Tanner Magee.
Lutheran boys basketball beat Grand Valley in the Great 8. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Colorado Springs Christian upended third seed Manitou Springs 48-41.
The Mustangs held the lead through most of the first half until a late surge gave the Lions an 18-16 halftime lead.
CSC extended its lead in the third quarter and went up 35-25 a half-minute into the fourth, but Manitou quickly pulled to within three before a couple of clutch baskets sealed the win for CSC.
It was the Lions’ second victory over Manitou this season.
“It was very similar to the first time we played them (a 47-36 CSC win),” Lions coach Mark Engesser said of the Mustangs grabbing a lead and CSC coming back just before the half.
Engesser’s son Justin, a junior forward, said it was a matter of he and his teammates adapting to a state tournament atmosphere.
“It was just settling in and adjusting to what they were doing,” said the younger Engesser, who tied for team-high scoring honors with Samuel Howard; each had 14 points.
The Mustangs’ Cole Sienknecht led all scorers with 15.
Grand Valley and Manitou Springs play a consolation game at 10:15 a.m. Friday, followed by DSST and Colorado Academy at 1:30 p.m.
In the semifinals, Alamosa and Manual meet at 5:30. The last game of the day at 8:30 features Lutheran and Colorado Springs Christian.
