Let’s get it on.
Colorado’s wrestling tournament, which has evolved into the undisputed prep king in terms of a championship following, hits the Pepsi Center this week with all its pageantry and testosterone.
Money, too — it’s the only high school sports event that can afford to drink from Stan Kroenke’s Can.
The three-day roll beginning Thursday afternoon is another sure thing to highlight the school year.
More than 40,000 spectators are expected to attend — 17,000 or so for the finals Saturday night.
What’s the appeal? Among the 21 sanctioned sports, wrestling best balances an individual athletic endeavor in a team setting; is the premier head-to-head offering; requires Marine-like endurance, strength and ingenuity; and transforms from a sport that generally draws a modest fan following during the regular season into the hottest ticket of the weekend for teenagers. Most any student-athlete, including a growing number of girls, can enter the sport, which has weight classes from the tiny (103 pounds) to the large (275). That goes for the schools, too, from Creede to Cherry Creek.
The colors and styles of the uniforms shine brightly at the Parade of Champions, which commands an early-arriving crowd — they start marching in at 6:30 p.m. Saturday but don’t begin wrestling until about 7:10, and no one seems to mind. Wrestling also has some of the better names. Regis has Denzel Washington and Nucla hopes to ride Ty Sickels (I’m not kidding). It’s also legitimate — nothing is staged or rehearsed, although it’s arguably the most efficiently run event of the year.
Teamwise, the 2007-08 season, the 73rd on record, has included another long list of challengers, led by Class 5A’s Ponderosa, which has won the past five championships, and 4A Alamosa, which is working on its third in succession. The chase is interesting. It frequently is quality vs. quantity. Some fans may tremble when a program qualifies in each of the 14 weights, although securing a team title can be accomplished with fewer than half a dozen.
Loveland 130-pounder Tyler Graff will be bidding for his fourth championship, which would make him the 15th Coloradan to win out as a high-schooler. He is 36-0 this season and has lost only twice in his career. Fort Lupton’s Saul Guerrero (135) and Alamosa’s Cody Yohn (171) are going for third titles.
On Thursday, Classes 3A and 2A begin preliminaries at 3 p.m., with 5A and 4A at 7:15. A busy Friday starts at 10 a.m. with a series of quarterfinals and consolations, followed by semifinals at 7:15 p.m. The semis are among of the toughest rounds in high school sports to make — wrestling contains few Cinderella stories.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
TIGERS CLINCH HOME ICE
CC to host WCHA playoff series.
Colorado College, idle over the weekend, has clinched home ice for the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
Now the Tigers will focus on winning the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champs.
CC is tied with red-hot North Dakota at a league-leading 33 points but has played two fewer games. The Fighting Sioux, who swept the University of Denver last weekend to become the second of five teams to clinch home ice and extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1), have four WCHA regular-season games left. The Tigers play six more.
TV GAME OF THE WEEK
Hockeytowners in town.
Tonight’s (6 p.m. start) NHL game between Colorado and Detroit at the Pepsi Center will be the Avalanche’s second nationally televised game in seven days. Last Tuesday’s game against Anaheim also was on Versus.
The injury-riddled Avalanche is 0-3 against the mighty Detroit Red Wings this season and has not scored a goal in its past two games against the NHL’s best team.
Tonight the Avs get their fourth and final regular-season chance.
The closest game between the teams took place Jan. 8 at Detroit, where the Red Wings prevailed 1-0. The Avs lost 4-2 at the Pepsi Center on Dec. 27 and, most recently, Detroit prevailed 2-0 at home on Feb. 1. The Red Wings have outscored the Avs 7-2 in the season series.
The Avs, who lost 2-1 on Sunday at Chicago for their third straight defeat, continue a busy week Wednesday at Anaheim and Friday at Phoenix.
WEEK IN PREVIEW
Nuggets play three games in five days.
Denver’s NBA team returns from the all-star break with a game Tuesday against visiting Boston. The Nuggets (32-20) play Friday at Chicago and Saturday at Milwaukee.
Tuesday’s game against the Celtics should be a beauty. Boston (41-9) has the NBA’s best record.
Strong start for Pioneers.
The 20th-ranked DU men’s lacrosse team, coming off a 15-5, season- opening victory over No. 16 Colgate, hosts No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday.
The Pioneers rolled over Colgate behind a combined nine goals from junior Cliff Smith and freshman Jamie Lincoln.
“This win was a great way to start our season,” DU coach Jamie Munro said in a release. “We knew Colgate was a highly ranked opponent, and we came out to prove ourselves.”
Mike Chambers
