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Tim Yount of On The Mat provides weekly wrestling rankings for teams and individuals in all weight classes. To see individual rankings, you can subscribe to On The Mat’s full rankings.
To subscribe via PayPal, choose your subscription option on this page click on the corresponding PayPal button. To subscribe by mail or fax and pay by personal check, click here for a printable subscription form. Email Tim Yount at tim@onthematrankings.com with questions.
EDGEWATER — Platte Canyon jumped out to a 20-0 lead after the first quarter, and then went on to beat Jefferson 36-6 in a Class 1A matchup on Saturday.
Nearly one month into the new season, Class 1A football already has its usual suspects — defending state champ Strasburg, along with Crowley County, Peyton, Paonia and Limon, just to name a handful of 2017 playoff teams — off and running with either undefeated marks or winning records.
And there, right in the middle of those programs, sits another, hopeful to be in that same discussion a few years from now.
Jefferson, which came into the season with a 37-game on-field losing streak — the Edgewater school got a forfeit win in 2015 — is one of the season’s early surprise stories, starting 3-0 and injecting plenty of hope for the future.
“We knew this year coming up was going to be our year to really step up and play competitive football,” said first-year head coach Matthew Mallon, the former offensive coordinator who took over for Joseph Zaba just weeks before opening kickoff. “In the past, we were losing games 76-0, but we kept grinding. Last year, we lost by less in the fourth quarter. I could see a turnaround coming.”
Jefferson had reclassification request to 1A approved at last November’s Classification and League Organizing Committee.
Already, Jefferson has seen the benefits and is winning games again, just like in 2013 when it started 7-0 and reached the 2A playoffs.
“It’s really crazy going from 0-9 to where we are now,” senior running back and backup quarterback Ben Alvear said. “It’s a blessing. All that hard work is finally paying off.”
The Saints, with their four-receiver offensive sets, overwhelmed their first two opponents by a combined score of 105-20. In their last game Sept. 14, Jefferson turned to its defense to hold off St. Mary’s, 7-5.
“We needed to know we could handle adversity, and we proved that here,” Mallon said. “They blitzed us up the middle, so we adjusted by throwing some bubble screens. Sometimes, you don’t learn a lot in a blowout, and that goes either way. We needed a game like this.”
Jefferson turned the ball over five times but did force three turnovers, including a game-changing fumble on a free kick following a safety that gave St. Mary’s a 5-0 lead early in the third quarter.
(Kevin Carmody/CHSAANow.com)
Junior starting quarterback and defensive back Devon Kemp scooped up the loose ball at the 30 and returned it 22 yards. The next play, he found Joe Martinez on an inside slant in the end zone to finally put the Saints on the board and ahead to stay.
The defense allowed only three first downs after that — two on penalties — to stay undefeated.
“Our defense won that game, and I knew we had that in us,” senior receiver and defensive back Kurvonte Rice said. “People around school used to joke about us. Now, they see our success, so they take us more seriously. They realize we’re good. I know we’ll get even better.”
With the development of a strong feeder program, Mallon envisions a program with staying power for when it returns to 2A.
“I knew we had to start building the program from a young age,” Mallon said. “That’s one thing we started about three years ago when I got here. We had never had that, and it’s already helped a lot.”
Jefferson football put an end to a 22-game losing streak on Friday by beating Riverdale Ridge 60-14.
The Saints, who play in Class 1A, beat the 2A Ravens, who were playing their first game in the history of the program. Riverdale Ridge is a new school in its first year of competition.
On Friday, Jefferson jumped out to a 27-7 lead at halftime, and didn’t look back en route to its first win since Oct. 22, 2015, a forfeit over KIPP Denver.
For the Saints, it was also their first on-field win since Oct. 18, 2013, a 38-21 win over Lyons. That streak spanned 47 games.
The 2018 all-state baseball 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
Mountain Vista’s Sam Ireland. (Tim Bourke/MaxPreps)
Player of the year: Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista
Coach of the year: Ron Quintana, Mountain Vista
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Brayden Brooks
Mountain Range
Senior
Garrett Declue
Arapahoe
LHP/CF
Senior
Riley Egloff
Heritage
RHP/3B
Senior
Sam Ireland
Mountain Vista
RHP/3B/1B
Junior
Niklavs Levensteins
Ralston Valley
3B/2B
Senior
Jack Liffrig
Mountain Vista
LHP
Senior
Justin Olson
Pine Creek
1B/LHP
Senior
Tanner O’Tremba
Cherry Creek
Zach Paschke
Mountain Vista
INF
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Justin Boyd
Legend
SS/CF
Junior
Matthew Boyd
Regis Jesuit
Senior
Riley Cornelio
Pine Creek
SS/RHP
Junior
Brandon Dryer
Arapahoe
LF/RHP/2B
Senior
Hayden Heinze
Rocky Mountain
OF
Senior
AJ Jergensen
Ralston Valley
OF
Junior
Arian Jimenez-Quezada
Heritage
SS/3B/RHP
Senior
Kasey Koppelmaa
Chatfield
LHP/OF
Senior
Andrew Morris
Monarch
2B/P
Senior
Josh Thompson
Highlands Ranch
P
Senior
Honorable mention:
Luke Bailey, Chaparral, OF, Senior
Jake Barber, Cherokee Trail, Senior
Simon Baumgardt, Lakewood, P/SS, Junior
Tyler Boggs, Fruita Monument, C, Senior
Alex Champagne, Heritage, SS/2B, Freshman
Colten Chase, Cherokee Trail, Senior
Dorsey Chatham, Boulder,
Pete Chronowski, Heritage, LHP/1B, Junior
Benjamin Derosiers, Castle View, LHP/1B/CF, Senior
Ozzie Dominguez, Aurora Central, P/1B, Senior
John Emerson, Denver East, Junior
Tanner Garner, Broomfield, Senior
Zach Goodman, Arapahoe, C/OF/UTIL, Senior
Jake Greiving, Legend, C/OF/3B, Junior
Zach Harstad, Loveland, 1B/LHP/OF, Junior
Calvin Hunt, Ralston Valley, RHP, Junior
Jenner Kehe, Lakewood, P/OF/SS, Sophomore
Cam Kennedy, Smoky Hill, CF/3B/2B, Junior
Reese Lansville, ThunderRidge, RHP/INF, Senior
Cale Lansville, ThunderRidge, RHP/INF, Freshman
Grant Magill, Mountain Vista, C, Junior
Jayden Martinez, Grandview, OF/DH, Junior
Nick Merone, Rock Canyon,
Trey Morrill, Fruita Monument, P/OF, Senior
Cade Nelson, Rocky Mountain, INF/P, Junior
Drew Norsen, Fort Collins, OF/LHP, Sophomore
Jay Onken, Pine Creek, OF/RHP, Senior
Ryan Overboe, Legacy, LHP/1B/RF, Senior
Quentin Parr, Cherry Creek,
Mike Polson, Mountain Range, Senior
Henry Rock, Fairview, Junior
Tyler Schultz, Cherry Creek,
Frankie Shearn, Columbine, OF, Senior
Ross Smith, Legacy, RHP/RF, Senior
Drew Stahl, Mountain Vista, INF, Junior
Ryan Stohr, Dakota Ridge, RHP/1B, Junior
Zach Sulyma, Eaglecrest, 3B/C, Senior
David Velasquez, Brighton, SS/P/3B, Senior
Wyatt Wendell, Rock Canyon,
Reggie Williams, Douglas County, Senior
Kevin Zapanta, Overland, 2B/1B/RHP, Senior
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Class 4A
Valor Christian’s Josh Danyliw. (Paul DiSalvo/MaxPreps)
Kent Waryan, Laura Probst, Chris Peterson, Liz Armbrustmacher and Kevin Williams (not pictured) were inducted into the Jeffco Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday at the Arvada Center. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Laura Probst never won a state championship.
The 2002 graduate of Arvada West High School finished runner-up 11 times in state cross country and track individual races. However, 16 years after leaving Jeffco and after a stellar soccer career at Texas A&M University, Probst was inducted into the Jeffco Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday afternoon at the Arvada Center — along with Chris Peterson, Liz Armbrustmacher, Kevin Williams and Kent Waryan.
“It’s incredibly special. Part of the reason it was so unexpected,” said Probst, who is now a primary care doctor at a Veterans Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. “Being a student-athlete in Colorado and Jefferson County was such an important time in my life, but it seem so far in the past.”
Despite all the second-place finishes, Probst’s attitude was always positive.
“I think you have to remember why you are doing it and what it is all about,” said Probst, who won the coveted Freddie Joe Steinmark Award in 2002. “For me I was competing against myself. As long as I knew I gave my best and left it all out on the track I was satisfied.”
Chris Peterson
The Jefferson High School graduate might have been a little ahead of his time. The sharp-shooting basketball guard led the state in scoring his senior year in guiding the Saints to an appearance in the Final 4 of the state tournament.
Peterson’s youngest son —Lakewood High School graduate Kolton Peterson — broke the all-time Class 5A 3-point record just a few years ago. All the scoring Chris Peterson did in his time in the mid-1970s came without the 3-point line in existence.
“I thought it was going to be a roast at first,” Peterson said during his speech. “My boys were all sitting around last tonight and said I would probably be the first basketball player to go into the (Jeffco) Hall of Fame who never made a 3-point shot.”
Peterson went on to coach softball at Green Mountain, along with boys basketball at Arvada West.
Liz Armbrustmacher
This Evergreen High School graduate was apart of the volleyball juggernaut the Cougars build under coach Lo Hunter in the 1980s, which included a 182-match winning streak.
Armbrustmacher went on to play Indiana University before returning to Jeffco. She led Lakewood High School to a remarkable run starting in the late 1990s.
“All of us in this room understand the impact of sports and activities,” said Armbrustmacher, who is still a teacher at Lakewood. “The lessons learned and taught on the field, the court, the pitch, the diamond and the track that those lessons learned expand far more than the game.”
Kevin Williams
Williams was a seven-time state champion in cross country and track at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. He still holds the Class 4A state record in the 3,200-meter run that he set his senior year in 2008 with a time of 9:06.27.
“Looking back at my athlete career a feel very lucky to have attended Jefferson County and D’Evelyn,” Williams wrote in a statement read by his high school track coach Micah Porter. “When I arrived at D’Evelyn in 7th-grade and I no idea I would become a distance runner and how big of a role that would play in my life.”
Williams went on to run at the University of Oklahoma from 2008-13 where he had three consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. He is currently the head cross country coach at North Texas University and assistant track coach for the Mean Green.
Kent Waryan
Waryan came to Jeffco in the mid-1970s. He was a teacher, coach and administrator at a number of schools before retiring a handful of years ago from the district. He spent his final years at Jeffco at the athletic director at Wheat Ridge and Lakewood before sharing duties with Kevin Land as the Executive Director of Athletics and Activities in Jeffco.
Jim Thyfault, current Executive Director of Athletics and Activities, said that Waryan served as a mentor to so many current athletic directors in Jeffco.
“The scoreboard is not the most important thing and communication,” Waryan said of the two valuable things his wife has taught him over the years.
[divider]
Pomona graduate Ryan Marquez, middle, stands with family members after receiving the 5A Jeffco Male Athlete of the Year and Freddie Joe Steinmark Award at the 32nd Annual Jeffco Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Jeffco Athletics 2017-18 Awards
Athletes of the Year
Jeffco 5A Male: Ryan Marquez, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Female: Camilla Emsbo, Lakewood
Jeffco 4A Male: Adam Thistlewood, Golden
Jeffco 4A Female: Kristina Schreiber, Evergreen
Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Coach of Male Sports: Jay Madden, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Coach of Female Sports: Tracey Boychuk, Pomona
Jeffco 4A Coach of Male Sports: Brian Kula, Valor Christian
Jeffco 4A Coach of Female Sports: Amy Bahl, Evergreen
Assistant Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Male Sports: Shane Fugita, Dakota Ridge
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Female Sports: Steve Hadley, Lakewood
Jeffco 4A Asst. of Male Sports: Brian Zehnder, Standley Lake
Jeffco 4A Asst. of Female Sports: Ali Meyers, Evergreen
Fred Steinmark Team Award
Jeffco 5A: Ralston Valley
Jeffco 4A: D’Evelyn
Paul Davis Sportsmanship Award
Jeffco 5A: Bear Creek
Jeffco 4A: Golden
