3A Wrestling Week 1

By Tyler Buhr

It is finally that time of year again, small school football has wrapped up and it is time to transition to the mats. While the first official practice began on November 18^th, the first allowed competition was not until Monday the 2^nd of December, with many teams set to begin their seasons on Thursday the 5^th with several duals scheduled and then really kicking things off with weekend wrestling on the 6/7^th. Since we have no results to discuss this week, I figured we would jump into a couple of other topics of interest thus far this season; first, CHSAA released its preseason coaches’ poll for team rankings. I will talk a little about each team and what they may have returned that has positioned them in the top ten. Second, we will recap some changes going into effect this season, and last, I will mention where some of our 3A teams will be competing this week.

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CHSAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll Team Rankings

(Reminder that these are not the team rankings published by On The Mat Rankings nor are they the team rankings of the MileHigh Prep Report)

#1 Mullen

The 2024 State Title Holder is looking to go back-to-back. Mullen will be returning with the returning state champ Isaak Chavez just a junior now looking to grab another individual title, and Champion Dyess the sophomore who also looks to get his second title after taking state last season as a freshman. Both look poised to make huge contributions to the team. Also look for Senior Antonio Herrera coming back from a 5^th place finish in 2024 and 2023, Estevan Loya the state qualifying junior went 2-2 at state, Amani Fuque the senior returning from a 6^th place finish last year, as well as, Cooper Loth the Jr who was one away from qualifying for state last season. Do not be surprised if some others contribute to this team race as well.

#2 Brush

2024 State Runner-Up team finisher Brush will bring back key contributors. First off returning state champ now a senior looking to grab his second title and 4-time state placing Nick Dardanes. He is joined by Ritchie Bruno the junior coming off a state title of his own. Brush also returns Austin Ley coming back from a 3^rd place finish last season and 4^th place the year before now a junior and fellow junior Christian Astorga coming off a 5^th place finish. They will also look to gain more support from Dustin Hernandez, now a junior who barely missed out on qualifying for state last year and Axton Haswell the senior who has qualified for state a couple times. They could possibly restock with some others as well including the two-time qualifying senior Riley Tuck.

#3 Eaton

2024 State 3^rd place team finisher only 3.5 points behind Brush they bring back this season Blake Hawkins a Junior who placed 2^ndboth as Sophomore and a Freshmen he is joined by Cal Sidwell the Sr who placed 4^th as Sophomore and 3^rd as Junior as well as Paxton Pettinger sophomore 6^th place 138 lbs. last season. Eaton will be hoping to get more production from others such as; Louden Kindsfater 2-time qualifier (Junior), Dylan Paris 2-time qualifier (Junior), fellow junior Ethan Deal 2-2 at state last season, and the senior Brayden Betsworth also 2-time qualifier. Do not be surprised if Eaton again looks to make a run this year.

#4 Centauri

Finished in 5^th as a team last year, just a half a point behind Resurrection Christian and will be returning three state placers to the lineup being; senior Matthew Salazar who placed 4^th as Sophomore and 3^rd last season, sophomore Caden Casias who brought home 3^rd place in his freshmen campaign, and senior Parker Buhr who took home a 3^rd place finish last season. Centauri will look to get more production from a couple other state qualifiers from last season in senior Troy Munson as well as from junior Spencer Smith. The competitive team with a tradition of success will look to find a way to move up the standings.

#5 Resurrection Christian

Finished 4^th last season as a team they will also be returning 3 state placers to the lineup with the senior Grant Slinkard 2^nd place last year, senior Isaiah Johnson 2^nd place, and junior Samuel Stockton 2^nd place as well. They will look to get help from previous state qualifiers Max Lozano, Greyson Browning, and Decker Nicholson. Senior Joe Loecke returns to the mat as well. They will look to their leaders to provide big time and then hopefully have some others follow suit.

#6 Jefferson

7^th place team finished last season just 2.5 points behind Gunnison. They bring back the two-time state champion and one time runner up senior Sam Rosales. He is joined by 3^rd place finisher junior Isaiah Gallegos. Jefferson will also bring back the junior Aaron Quiroz Garcia who went 2-2 at state last year and was one win away from placing and will also return the state qualifier Ricky Martinez (junior).

#7 Gunnison

Finished state in 6^th place as a team, 7.5 points behind Centauri. They return a host of experienced wrestlers led off by the senior Damyon Funk who took home 2^nd place last year as well as 6^th as a sophomore. He is joined by Cody Casebolt (junior) 5^th place last season. And they will look to return to the podium the senior Brock Fry who took 2^nd as freshmen and 6^th as a sophomore and was a state qualifier last season. Gunnison will bring back two other last season qualifiers, sophomore Zach Benson and senior Kleber Flores. With several wrestlers poised to make runs at individual titles look for Gunnison to be in the mix all year long.

#8 Valley

10th place team finish last year, just half a point behind 9^th place Pueblo Central (now in 4A). They will be anchored by senior Nehemiah Whaley the runner up last season as well as other state placers; Garrett McGirl (senior) 3^rd place and Carlos Corral (sophomore) 6^th place they will look to further their position with production from the two-time qualifier junior Trenton Mestas along with fellow junior Diego Manriquez and a couple of new comers in freshmen Xavier Garcia and Rocky Hoffschneider. Would not be surprised to see Valley mixing in with the top 5.

#9 Alamosa

Finished last season in the 19^th spot as a team but are coming back strong this season with some quality underclassmen. They will be led by two returning state placers; the junior Jeremiah DeLaCerda who took home a 5^th place finish last year and senior Dyson Woodward who also grabbed a 5^th place medal last season and was one away from placing both previous seasons. Along with junior Ryan Cordova Alamosa will be bringing in a host of underclassmen that will look to make a splash this year they include sophomores Anthony Meder (qualifier) and Uriah Martinez as well as the freshmen Pablito Rodriguez and Daniel Martinez. Depth will be key for Alamosa this year as they look to jump back into the top ten ranks this season.

#10 Fort Morgan

Finished the State Tournament in the 23^rd spot as a team and will bring back one previous state placer in the senior Noah Aguirre who took 5^th place, he is joined by state qualifiers Connor Derry (So), Christofer Juan (Jr) one away from a medal and senior Ashtyn Meeks they will look to get help from the likes of junior Ben Fritzler, sophomore Jeremiah Mills, and freshmen Nowledge Harris.

Others Receiving Votes: University, Fort Lupton, Holy Family, Basalt, Grand Valley, Bennett, Alameda, Berthoud, Moffat County, and Pagosa Springs.

Changes for Wrestling

As most of you may know already there are several big changes to the High School Wrestling format starting this season, they include

3 points for takedown
Near Fall points – 2 points for two count, 3 points for a three count, and 4 points for a 4 count.
Wrestlers are inbounds if either wrestler has just one point of contact in or on the boundary line.

So, the question is what does this mean and how does each team/wrestler use it to their benefit? I am sure each team will address this in different ways based on philosophies but the facts remain, these changes are all to the benefit of the offensive wrestler, the wrestler that is good on their feet and/or can do damage from on top will find themselves scoring a lot of points. In terms of team races, it creates more opportunity for bonus point wins as it can be easier to reach that “major decision” or even so a technical fall.

Where to find some 3A wrestling week 1 (Dec 2-7)

Below are some places to watch some 3A wrestling this week, of course these are just the ones I knew about or could find information about, I am sure there are more.

Centauri vs Brush Dual 12/5 at 5 pm

Wizard Duals in Windsor CO 12/7

3A Teams attending: Berthoud, Eaton, Timnath

3^rd Annual TITAN CUP – The Classical Academy, Colorado Springs CO 12/7

3A Teams attending: The Classical Academy, Elizabeth, Manitou Springs, Weld Central

Buena Vista Demon Duals – Buena Vista CO 12/7

3A Teams attending: Basalt, Bennett, Centauri, Florence, Salida

Chuck Annand Invitational – Akron CO 12/7

3A Teams attending: Brush, Eaton, Fort Morgan, Strasburg, University

Greeley West High School Dual Tournament – Greeley CO 12/7

3A Teams attending: Holy Family, Platte Valley

Maverick Duals – Grand Junction CO 12/7