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His legacy blossoming by the year, Jacob Greenwood understood his rivals were collected like storm clouds. As a two-time Colorado state wrestling champion, the junior from Poudre High could see them coming for his crown.

“I was waiting for it,” the 17-year-old said. “I knew there would be something crazy coming at me. I was ready.”

Crazy came late in the third period Saturday. Greenwood sat on a sizable lead over Coronado sophomore KJ Kearns in the 138-pound final and Kearns grew desperate. He leaped like an electrified spider right at, and over, Greenwood’s head. Greenwood calmly watched the threat go by on his way to a third consecutive state title.

Greenwood (31-3), who capped his third state title season with a 16-5 major decision victory, teed up the state’s only potential four-time champion for next season. This year, though, was no breeze.

“I definitely felt the pressure a little bit,” he said.

Greenwood had just watched his brother Job, a Poudre sophomore, fall in a tight-fought 126-pound final to Arvada West’s Cody Fatzinger. The Greenwoods are a family affair, a wrestling dynasty through and through, with their own working club. A loss to one hits them all.

Jacob, he said, had ground to make up. “I’m a little emotional,” said Jacob, after hugging Job on his way off the mats. “I had to win it for him. I’m choked up. I said I was proud of him.”

The elder Greenwood’s path to a third title started as an underdog freshman, when he upset his way to a 126-pound championship. Since then, he has been a No. 1 seed throughout. In the first round Thursday, though, he was nearly pinned in the first round by Grandview sophomore Dylan Ranieri.

“I saw my life flash before my eyes,” Greenwood said. “It’s part of the plan. I’m not surprised.”

He survived and advanced. And now one more season remains to cement a legacy.

Fatzinger’s victory for Arvada West spoke to the difficulty of winning even one title. The senior medaled in each of his first three seasons at the state tournament, but without a championship. He finally won the top spot Saturday by edging Job Greenwood, 3-2.

“I worked harder,” said Fatzinger (35-3), yelling a “whoo” in between deep sighs. “I’ve been training 19 years for this one moment. It’s finally here.”

Three wrestlers completed undefeated seasons in impressive fashion. Trent Schultz, a Mountain Vista senior, used overtime to edge Cherokee Trail senior Zeke Silva at 195 pounds. Schultz finished his final season 40-0. And Castle View junior Malik Heinselman improved to 44-0 with a 23-9 major decision over Grand Junction freshman Dawson Collins.

His Castle View teammate, junior Tate Samuelson, interrupted Pomona’s victory parade with a 4-1 victory over Panthers senior Nolan Krone. Samuelson improved 44-0.

But Pomona won a fifth state team championship and second in a row after wrapping the title earlier in the day.

The Panthers added to their dominance with individual titles early in the night from Justin Pacheco, a 3-0 decision over Coronado’s Stephen Dabelko at 113; Colton Yapoujian, a 5-0 victory over Broomfield’s Darren Green at 120; Theorius Robison, a 3-2 decision of Grand Junction’s Dylan Martinez at 132; and Jason Romero, an 11-5 win over Cherokee Trail’s Josh Richardson at 160.

One late kick

Malik Heinselman cruised to an undefeated record in the Class 5A 106-pound division this season. But he didn’t quite breeze to a title. The Castle View junior found himself in a tight spot Saturday.

Grand Junction freshman Dawson Collins nearly flipped the tide with a near-pin in the second periods. Collins, who reached the final with consecutive shutout decisions after a first pin earlier in the tournament, proved to be a tough task.

“I was shocked,” Heinselman said. “He’s a strong kid.”

Heinselman (44-0) survived and, in the end, cruised to a 23-9 major decision. Late in the third, Collins made a move to pin Heinselman on his back. But Heinselman threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes to end in a flourish.

“I had to fight through it,” Heinselman said. He is now a two-time state champ.

Bring the house down

The annual parade of champions that wrangles in the wrestlers vying for titles on the final day of the Colorado state tournament ends in silence. It is a tight ball of anxiety waiting for matches to start.

On Saturday at the Pepsi Center, that silence ended in a rousing display. Kayla Hruby, a 17-year-old singer from Broomfield High, tore through the nervousness with a muscular and moving Star Spangled Banner. By her final notes of “home of the brave,” the crowd burst into applause.

“It’s deafening, almost, that silence,” Hruby said. “But after that, that was the loudest crowd that I’ve heard from after an anthem.”

Hruby started singing anthems at Broomfield as a sophomore. Now she sings before professional boxing events and at the Colorado National Speedway in Dacono. This, though, was her biggest stage. “That was the most awesome anthem I’ve done yet.”

Class 5A championship results

106 pounds — Malik Heinselman, Castle View, Jr. (44-0) major dec. Dawson Collins, Grand Junction, Fr. (42-3), 23-9.

113 — Justin Pacheco, Pomona, So. (34-9) dec. Stephen Dabelko, Coronado, Sr. (37-2), 3-0.

120 — Colton Yapoujian, Pomona, So. (38-4) dec. Darren Green, Broomfield, Fr. (34-8), 5-0.

126 — Cody Fatzinger, Arvada West, Sr. (35-3) dec. Job Greenwood, Poudre, So. (30-10), 3-2.

132 — Theorius Robison, Pomona, So. (33-1) dec. Dylan Martinez, Grand Junction, Jr. (40-4), 3-2.

138 — Jacob Greenwood, Poudre, Jr. (31-3) major dec. KJ Kearns, Coronado, So. (39-6), 16-5.

145 — Josiah Rider, Grand Junction, Jr. (38-1) pinned Parker Benekas, Ponderosa, Jr. (37-7), 1:35.

152 — Gabriel Dinette, Lakewood, Jr. (41-1) major dec. Josh Betts, Rocky Mountain, Jr. (29-7), 10-2.

160 — Jason Romero, Pomona, Sr. (37-7) dec. Josh Richardson, Cherokee Trail, Sr. (38-12), 11-5.

170 — Tate Samuelson, Castle View, Jr. (44-0) dec. Nolan Krone, Pomona, Sr. (37-10), 4-1.

182 — Jimmy Weaver, Coronado, Sr. (41-1) dec. Jayden Woodruff, Ponderosa, Jr. (21-3), 2-1.

195 — Trent Schultz, Mountain Vista, Sr. (40-0) dec. Zeke Silva, Cherokee Trail, Sr. (28-3), 3-1 OT.

220 — Cohl Schultz, Ponderosa, So. (45-1) dec. Max Gonzales, Cherokee Trail, Sr. (41-2) 7-0.

Hwt. — Gabriel Baumgartner, Grandview, Sr. (39-8) dec. Tanner Aitken, Brighton, Sr. (40-3), 4-2 OT.

Team scores (top 25) — Pomona 192.5, Grand Junction 141.5, Brighton 124.5, Poudre 102, Castle View 79, Coronado 78.5, Grandview 77, Cherokee Trail 72, Ponderosa 70.5, Adams City 70.

Monarch 63, Arvada West 54.5, Broomfield 50, Rocky Mountain 49.5, Lakewood 45, Legacy 39, Mountain Vista 34.5, Doherty 31, Prairie View 30, Fruita Monument 23.

Overland 20.5, Thunder Ridge 19, Mountain Range 17, Fossil Ridge 16, Rampart 15.