The 2018 Colorado high school state wrestling tournament got underway on Thursday afternoon, with preliminaries for Classes 2A-5A at the Pepsi Center. Here are five things to watch heading into the most important rounds yet to come on Friday and Saturday:
Greenwood goes for four-peat
Poudre’s Jacob Greenwood is on the cusp of becoming the 21st wrestler in Colorado high school history and the first from Fort Collins to do so. The senior is 31-3 and is the top-ranked wrestler in the 5A 145-pound bracket; brother Job (37-5 at 132) and cousin Brody (40-3 at 138) are also capable of deep tournament runs.
Pomona, Grand Junction title chase
Pomona and Grand Junction, the two programs that have been billed as the 5A team title frontrunners since the preseason, both lived up to those expectations and may keep the crowd on the edge of its seat well into Saturday night. According to On The Mat wrestling guru Tim Yount, the two-time defending Panthers are over the Tigers.
Undefeated guys to watch
While having a blemish on your record isn’t necessarily a bad thing — many of the state’s top guys took losses at premier in- and out-of-state tournaments — there’s always a little something extra on the line when an undefeated season is up for grabs. According to heading into Thursday, there are two perfect wrestlers in 2A (Dahlton McGhree, Fowler; Sky Carlson, Soroco), three in 3A (Anthony Quintana, Buena Vista; Jaziah Whaley, Valley; Logan Church, Delta), three in 4A (Dominick Serrano, Windsor; Andrew Alirez, Greeley Central; Jacob Williams, SIlver Creek) and two in 5A (Cohlton Schultz, Ponderosa; Josiah Rider, Grand Junction).
Pueblo County aims for three-peat
It’s going to be tough for any team in any classification to outshine the this weekend, as coach Eddie Soto’s crew qualified 10 guys for the tournament, including three defending state champions in junior Brendon Garcia (42-2 at 106), senior Josiah Nava (34-10 at 120) and senior Dante Garcia (25-2 at 220).
Several on path to three-peat
A handful of wrestlers are going for their third title: Alirez (22-0 at 4A 145), a Greeley Central junior, Pomona junior Theorius Robison (36-1 at 5A 132), Ponderosa junior Schultz (46-0 at 5A 285) and Pueblo County’s Garcia, in addition to Castle View senior Malik Heinselman (42-2 at 5A 120), Grand Junction senior Josiah Rider (32-0 at 152) and Lakewood senior Gabe Dinette (35-2 at 5A 160).
