DENVER—Ponderosa started strong Thursday in its quest for a sixth straight state team wrestling championship at the 73rd annual Class 5A tournament.
The Mustangs, led by coach Tim Ottmann, who will cap his 25-year career by retiring at the end of the season, advanced nine of their 10 wrestlers to the quarterfinal round.
The perennial 5A wrestling powerhouse finished the preliminaries with 27 points. Loveland was in second place with 20 points, while Centaurus and Legacy were tied with 17. Rocky Mountain rounded out the top five with 15 1/2 points.
There were no major surprises in the 5A opening round as all seven returning champions, including Ponderosa’s Jake Snider and Zeke Hofer, advanced.
Snider, the champ last year at 125 pounds, earned a 16-1 technical fall over Legacy’s Vince Gallegos in the 140-pound bracket.
Hofer, who won at 103 pounds in 2006, beat Green Mountain’s Cort Siegele, 11-5, at 125 pounds.
Loveland star, Tyler Graff (37-0), who is attempting to become the 15th wrestler in state history to win four wrestling crowns, had a solid start. He shouldered Fairview’s Gavin Patt in 1:34.
Graff’s teammate, Josh Kreimier (39-0), and ThunderRidge senior, James Breidel (38-0), also remained unbeaten at 119 pounds and 189 pounds, respectively.
The Class 5A quarterfinals begin at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by the semifinal round at 7:15 p.m.
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