(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — Moments after Centauri narrowly wrapped up the team title, Eyan Chavez put an exclamation point on the night for the Falcons.

Tied 0-0 after three periods in the final match of the Class 2A boys wrestling state tournament, Chavez, a junior, earned a 2-0 sudden victory win against Peyton’s Clint Brown to win a championship in the 145-pound division.

Minutes later, Chavez and Centauri were posing with the gold trophy as they earned the program’s third title and first since winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.

The title was only locked up after the second-to-last match of the event.

Heading into the placing matches, Centauri led the team race with 92 points. Cedaredge and Wray were just behind at 84, and Buena Vista also in the hunt with 81.5.

Things only tightened as the placing matches continued, wrestling two weights at a time. Through the first six weights of the final session, Centauri and Cedaredge were deadlocked with 95 points apiece. Buena Vista sat in third with 87.5 points, and Wray was fourth with 84.

Through eight weights, Centauri inched ahead of Cedaredge at 97-95. Through 10, the lead expanded to 100-95. Through 12 weights, the team race stayed the same.

Then, finally, as the 145- and 152-pound divisions wrapped up and the tournament concluded, the picture was finally clear: Centauri had won the title, The final margin? 104 points to Cedaredge’s 99.

Chavez was the lone individual title for Centauri, but the Falcons had seven wresters place. Included: Riley Valdez (2nd, 106); Jordan Martin (2nd, 152); Erik Mestas (2nd, 160); Mario Vigil (3rd, 113); Zach Buhr (5th, 170); and Byron Shawcroft (5th, 182).

The tournament also featured a number of standout individual performances.

The 132-pound match was a monster battle between two two-time champions: Rye senior Michael Atencio and Lyons senior Oran Huff. Huff took a tough 3-2 decision.

Huff won 126 as a junior and sophomore, after he finished fourth place in that weight as a freshman.

Cedaredge’s Lane Hunsberger, a junior, won the 120-pound championship in sudden victory, beating returning champion Brady Collins of Wray 5-3. Collins, a sophomore, won the 106-pound title last season.

Meeker senior Colby Clatterbaugh beat two returning champions in the 195-pound bracket to claim the title. Clatterbaugh beat previously unbeaten Fabian Lopez of Sedgwick County/Fleming in the semifinals with an 8-4 decision, and pinned Adam Schulz of Crowley County in 3:49.

Wray senior Tyler Collins won his second championship in defending his championship at 152. Collins got a 7-1 decision over Centauri’s Martin.

Wray finished third as a team with 95 points. Buena Vista (89.5) took fourth, and John Mall (69) was fifth.

The 2017-18 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 and wrestlers of the year were selected by the Colorado High School Coaches Association at the state meet.

Scroll down to see the teams, or use the menu below to navigate to the class of your choosing.
[divider]

Class 5A

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Wrestler of the year: Jacob Greenwood, Poudre

Coach of the year: Cole Allison, Grand Junction

[divider]

Class 4A

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Wrestler of the year: Andrew Alirez, Greeley Central

Coach of the year: Pat Laughlin, Pueblo East

[divider]

Class 3A

(Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

Wrestler of the year: Brandon Damian, Valley

Coach of the year: Gary Ramstetter, Alamosa

[divider]

Class 2A

(Dustin Price/DustinPricePhotography.com)

Wrestler of the year: Diego Reyes, Rocky Ford

Coach of the year: Mike Jurney, Rocky Ford

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

DENVER — Hunter Willits will wrestle for a fourth-consecutive state championship on Saturday.

The Pueblo County senior won his semifinal match at the state wrestling tournament in the Class 4A 152-pound bracket against Cheyenne Mountain’s Luke White. Willits won by a 10-3 decision.

Willits will face Nathan Morris of Longmont in Saturday night’s final for a chance to become Colorado’s 20th four-time state wrestling champion. Morris beat Mead’s Caleb Mendez 4-3 in the semifinals.

Willits won 4A 132 as a freshman, 138 as a sophomore, and 152 last year.

To reach the semifinals, he pinned Grand Junction Central’s Shaun Stepisnik in the first round on Thursday, and Greeley Central’s Justus Strand in the quarterfinals earlier Friday.

[divider]

Notables

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

• A great match in 5A 132 pitted two returning champions against one another in the semifinals. Pomona’s Theorius Robison beat Arvada West’s Dayton Marvel 9-3 to reach the final.
• The 138 pound final in 4A will be something. It will match returning champion Chris Sandoval of Windsor against fellow returning champion Justin Davis of Pueblo County. Davis is also unbeaten.
• Likewise, the 5A 182 final will be electric. Pueblo County’s Dante Garcia won a tiebreak to move to the 4A 182 final. He will face Glenwood Springs’ Myles Wilson. Both are returning champions.
• The star-studded 3A 285 bracket lived up to its hype in the semifinals. Sheridan’s Ricky Ayala outlasted Bayfield’s Sam Westbrook 5-4 in the ultimate tiebreaker. Ayala will face Delta’s Logan Church in the final. Church knocked off the top seed in the quarterfinals.
• In the 5A 170 pound semifinals, Grand Junction Central’s Erminio Barrera upset top-seeded and returning champion Garrett Niel of Pine Creek.
• Pueblo County’s Grant Willits will wrestle for a third state championship. He beat Pueblo East’s Aaden Valdez 10-6 in the 4A 132 semifinal. Willits will face Cheyenne Mountain’s Mike McFadden, who beat Grand Junction Central’s Andrew Bench 4-2 in overtime.
• Rocky Ford’s Jacob Rodriguez pinned his way to the 2A 106 final. The two-time returning champion beat Landen Mayberry of Hotchkiss in 1:01. He also pinned his opponents in the first round (14 seconds) and quarterfinals (45 seconds). Rodriguez will face John Mall’s Chris McKenna.
• Greeley Central’s Josh Nira knocked off previously unbeaten Jace Trujillo of Pueblo East in the 4A 113 semifinals with a 10-4 decision. Trujillo was also a returning champion. Nira will face Pueblo County’s Josiah Nava in the final.
• John Mall’s Jonathan Andreatta will wrestle for a third state title after beating Meeker’s Tannen Kennedy in the 2A 126 semifinals with a 4-0 decision.
• Isaiah Delacerda of Alamosa, a two-time champion, beat La Junta’s Isaiah Gamez in the 3A 113 semis.
• Also aiming for a third state title is Fort Lupton’s Jody Sandoval, and he will get a shot at it after his win in the 3A 126 semifinals.
• Grand Junction’s Josiah Rider tore his way through the 145 bracket in 5A, getting his third pin of the tournament in the semifinals. Rider will face Ponderosa’s Parker Benekas in the final.
• Returning champion Aaron Trujillo picked up his third pin of the bracket in the 3A 145 semis, winning in 58 seconds. He will face Centauri’s Brandon Buhr, who pinned his opponent in 37 seconds.
• Rocky Ford’s Dillon Jaramillo reached the 2A 113 final when he pinned Sedgwick County/Fleming’s Kolton Dickinson with just two seconds remaining in the match.
• Cody Venem of Rocky Ford beat Hotchkiss’ Cody Hall in overtime, 5-3, to reach the 2A 132 final.
• Mesa Ridge’s Elijah Valdez moved to the 4A 145 final with a 4-1 tiebreak win over Mountain View’s Erik Contreras. In the championship match, he will face Niwot’s Tommy Stager, who is trying to become his school’s first champion since 1993.
• Hayden’s Christian Carson won in overtime to advance to the 2A 195 final, where he will meet John Mall’s Jason Murphy.
• Three Unified wrestling matches were held as exhibitions prior to the semifinals.
• One of the officials at the state wrestling tournament is Mikael Smith, the Nucla grad who won four state titles from 2002-05.

[divider]

Team races

• 2A: Meeker heads the pack with 127 points. John Mall (120) and Rocky Ford (118.5) are close behind.
• 3A: Valley leads with 85.5 points. Alamosa and Jefferson (75) are tied for second, and Centauri (73) sits in third.
• 4A: Pueblo County is way out in front with 183 points. Cheyenne Mountain (88) is second, with Pueblo East (80) and Greeley Central (74.5) close behind them.
• 5A: Pomona sits in first place with 148.5 points. Grand Junction is in second with 103.5. Brighton (81.5), Poudre (78), Coronado (74.5) and Cherokee Trail (72) have also amassed a lot of points.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

DENVER — Pueblo County’s Josiah Nava won a huge quarterfinal match during the state wrestling tournament on Friday, edging Windsor sophomore Will Vombaur.

It was a match that easily could have been contested in the finals, or at least the semifinals. But, as it was, the two met up in Friday’s quarterfinals in the Class 4A 113-pound bracket.

Nava, who won the 4A 106 title in 2015, beat a fellow returning champion in Vombaur, who won 4A’s 106 title last season. He advances to face Shane Coffey of Canon City in Friday evening’s semifinals.

The 113-pound bracket in 4A is one of the toughest in the entire tournament. In addition to Nava and Vombaur is Pueblo East sophomore Jace Trujillo, the reigning champion in the bracket.

Trujillo pinned Air Academy’s James Benson in 58 seconds in his quarterfinal match.

[divider]

Willits through to the semifinals

(Katie Pickrell/CHSAANow.com)

Hunter Willits, who is seeking to become CHSAA’s 20th four-time state champion, beat Greeley Central’s Justus Strand in the quarterfinals.

Willits pinned Strand in 1:47. He will face Cheyenne Mountain senior Luke White in the semifinals later Friday.

[divider]

2A & 3A notes

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

• Meeker heads the 2A team race with 72 points, with Rocky Ford (70.5) sitting in second. John Mall (60) and Hotchkiss (52) are also in contention.
• The 3A team race is tight, with Alamosa heading the way with 49 points, and Valley just behind with 48.5. Jefferson (39), Centauri (37), La Junta (35), Sheridan (35), Lamar (33) and Platte Valley (32) are all close.
• Delta’s Logan Church upset Mullen’s Sam Deseriere, the top seed in 3A 285 pounds, via an ultimate tiebreaker, 3-2. Deseriere had been undefeated this season, and was the reigning champion in the classification.
• Elsewhere in the 3A 285 bracket, which is loaded, returning champion Ricky Ayala of Sheridan and unbeaten Sam Westbrook of Bayfield both advanced out of the quarterfinals and will meet in the semifinals.
• Casey Turner of Meeker upset the top seed in the 2A 170 bracket, pinning Diego Reyes of Rocky Ford. Turner, though, is the defending champion in the division. He finished second at his regional, and thus could not be seeded in the top four of the bracket.
• Rocky Ford’s Jacob Rodriguez had a 14-second pin in the first round of the 2A 106 division on Thursday. Friday, he did more of the same, pinning Wray’s Cole Rockwell in 45 seconds. Rodriguez is on a quest for his third state title.
• John Mall’s Jonathan Andreatta escaped an upset in the 2A 126 quarterfinals. He led Wiggins’ Cameron Holm 4-3 late in the third period, and held on for a 5-3 win. Andreatta is a two-time champion.
• Two other two-time returning champions advanced to the semifinals: Alamosa’s Isaiah Delacerda (3A 126) and Fort Lupton’s Jody Sandoval (3A 132).
• Kolton Dickinson of Sedgwick County/Fleming won his first-round bout in 45 seconds. Friday, he won his quarterfinal in 44. Dickison moves to the semifinals in 2A 113.
• Centauri’s Joe Chavez advanced to the 3A 120 semis by pinning Platte Valley’s Varrion Ciddio in 34 seconds.
• Highland freshman Logan Lewis earned a hard-fought place in the 2A 106 semifinals. He beat Holly’s Austin Crum, 10-8, in sudden victory.
• Sky Carlson of Soroco, a former basketball player, is into the semifinals in 2A 195 following two consecutive pins. Friday morning, he pinned Crowley County’s Tristan Laver in 1:45.
• Del Norte’s Natalie Benavides, the lone girls to qualify for the state tournament this season, was eliminated in the 2A 138 consolation bracket by Crowley County’s Jarod Bauer.

[divider]

4A & 5A notes

• Defending champion Pueblo County leads the 4A race with 89 points. Cheyenne Mountain and Pueblo East are tied for second with 65.
• Pomona, the reigning 5A team champ, leads that race with 85.5 points. Brighton (61.5 is second), and Grand Junction (59.5) is third.
• The semifinal in 5A 132 should be a great one. It will match returning champions after both won in the quarterfinals: Arvada West’s Dayton Marvel vs. Pomona’s Theorius Robison.
• Pueblo County’s Grant Willits, who has won two previous state championships, pinned Greeley Central’s Zeke Alirez in 2:23 to reach the 4A 132 semifinals.
• Poudre’s Jacob Greenwood, another two-time champion, pinned ThunderRidge’s David Opheim in 5A 138 to advance.
• Three of the four quarterfinals in 4A’s 120 division ended in pins. Advancing were Pueblo County’s Nathan Bonham, Canon City’s James Ruona and Windsor’s Dominick Serrano. Pueblo East’s Andrew Lucero also won via a major decision, 9-0.
• Erie’s Ernie Quintana beat Discovery Canyon’s Jared Turner in sudden victory to reach the 4A 138 semifinals.
• As he tries to become the first individual champion from Niwot since 1993, senior Tommy Stager had a quick pin in the 4A 145 quarters. Stager beat Pueblo South’s Elias Espinoza in 59 seconds.
• Glenwood Springs’ Myles Wilson remain unbeaten, and he did it quickly in the quarterfinals. The senior, also a returning champion, beat Vista PEAK’s Jayden Smith in 43 seconds. He had an 18-second pin in the first round.
• Cheyenne Mountain’s Deonte Bridges pinned Dominic Knost of Lewis-Palmer in 33 seconds.
• Grand Junction’s Josiah Rider continued his torrid pace in the 5A 145 bracket. He won his match in 52 seconds, a day after a 30-second pin in the prelims.
• Mountain Vista’s Trent Schultz had a 42-second pin in the 5A 195 quarterfinals. He had a 38-second pin in the prelims. His brother, Cohl, of Ponderosa, also advanced in 5A 220.
• Prairie View’s Brendon Woolsey won an ultimate tiebreaker over Grandview’s Robert Woods in 5A 195 to reach the semifinals.
• Pomona’s Brandon Micale had the fastest pin of the quarterfinals, taking Smoky Hill’s Ryan Campbell down in 23 seconds.

Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.

[divider]

On The Mat Wrestling Rankings

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.

To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.

[divider]