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The 2017 CHSAA state wrestling tournament kicked off Thursday afternoon at the Pepsi Center, with four classifications totaling 896 wrestlers in preliminary action. Here are five things to know from the first day.

on track for 12th team title

Rocky Ford advanced 11 of its 14 wrestlers to the Class 2A quarterfinals and sat in first place with 37.5聽points. It was a solid day for the Meloneers, who along with Class 3A Alamosa (the Maroons advanced four of their 12 wrestlers) in are in pursuit of a record 12th team championship.

Trevor Smith quickly advances to quarterfinals

Paonia heavyweight聽Trevor Smith recorded the fastest pin of the聽2A/3A prelims, earning a victory 10 seconds into his Class 2A opening match. Smith improved to 33-3 on the season as he looks to build off last year’s third-place finish at 195.

Class 3A team title chase still wide open

In Class聽3A, leads the team race with 21 points, followed by Valley (19.5) and Jefferson (19). Platte Valley’s eight qualifiers were highlighted聽by senior 195-pounder聽Jeremiah Land (42-4) and sophomore 132-pound Dylan Yancey (38-4), both of whom posted commanding victories in the preliminary round. Meanwhile, Valley advanced seven of its nine qualifiers to give it the inside track to the team title,聽while聽Jefferson sent all five of its guys聽to the quarterfinals.

‘s Willits brothers dominate opening matches

Pueblo County senior Hunter Willits’ bid to become the 20th wrestler in state history to win four individual state titles started smoothly with a first-period聽pin over ‘s Shaun Stepisnik at 152. Twin brother Grant Willits 鈥� in pursuit of a third state championship 鈥� rolled to a 16-1 tech fall victory at 132 over ‘s Mario DeLara as the Hornets finished the day atop the Class 4A standings.

Stacked Class 4A 113-pound bracket

Also in Class 4A, keep an eye on the 113-pound bracket that contains three former state champions. Pueblo County junior聽Josiah Nava (24-7, 2015 champ at 106) advanced to the quarterfinals to take on Windsor sophomore聽Will Vombaur (24-2, 2016 champ at 106). And on the other end of the bracket, sophomore Jace Trujillo (37-0, 2016 champ at 113) looked ready for a repeat title run with a first-period pin of freshman Brennan McBride.