USA Wrestling staff to present the 20th annual Colorado Springs Metro Championships this weekend
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
In late 2000, a group of USA Wrestling employees decided to give back to the local community where they worked, by hosting a high school wrestling tournament for the schools in the greater Colorado Springs area.
The idea was well received by the coaches and schools in the community, and numerous staff members chipped in to make it a reality. The first Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships was hosted at Doherty High School in early 2001.
The concept was that USA Wrestling hosts dozens of regional and national tournaments every year, and had the ability to bring all of the schools together without making them have to do anything but compete. The administration at Doherty High School proved to be highly supportive, making the event run smoothly. A video stream was provided, and local media came out to cover the event regularly.
It quickly became a tradition in the Pikes Peak sports community, where athletes and teams could compete for bragging rights in the city.
This afternoon marks the historic 20th Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships. There will be as many as 27 teams competing over the next two days.
Here are a few highlights from the first 19 years of this special event:
* Doherty High School, which has hosted 18 of the previous 19 Metro Championships. In 2019, the event was hosted by Coronado High School, while Doherty had construction in its facilities.
* The event included a future Olympic wrestling champion, when Henry Cejudo of Coronado High School won the Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships in 2005 at 119 pounds. Cejudo was an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling in 2008, just three years later in Beijing, China.
* There have been only seven schools to win this prestigious event. Pine Creek has seven titles, Widefield and Coronado have three, Doherty and Cheyenne Mountain boast two titles and Discovery Canyon and Mesa Ridge have one COS Metro title each.
* There have been only two four-time COS Metro individual champion. The first was Geordan Martinez of Pine Creek, who won titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Most recently, Patrick Allis of Discovery Canyon became only the second four-time Colorado Springs Metro champion, winning in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Martinez went on to wrestle at Boise State, where he was a Div. I All-American, and finished at Oklahoma State. Allis is currently a freshman at Western Colorado University.
* Over the first 19 years of the event, there have been 19 three-time champions and 28 two-time champions.
* Seven of the 2019 champions are eligible to return and seek to repeat (with last year’s weight class): Avelino Mota of Widefield (106), James Brown of Falcon (120), Angel Flores of Coronado (132), Ben Bancroft of Rampart (138), Tyler Beauperthuy of Doherty (152), Draygan Colonese of Pine Creek (170) and Jared Volcic of Mesa Ridge (195). Flores is a two-time champion with titles in 2018 and 2019.
* In the most recent On The Mat rankings (of Jan. 16), there are three teams who are ranked in the state and entered in the 2020 COS Metro: No. 5 Mesa Ridge (4A), No. 6 Cheyenne Mountain (4A) and No. 9 Pine Creek (5A).
* No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the state who are expected to compete this weekend, based on the On The Mat Rankings, are Brady Hankin of Woodland Park (No. 1 in 3A at 120 pounds), Cole Gray of Woodland Park (No. 1 in 3A at 170 pounds), Nick Gagliardi of Cheyenne Mountain (No. 1 in 4A at 195 pounds and Tyson Beauperthuy of host Doherty (No. 1 in 5A at 170 pounds),
Admission for adults is $20 for all tournament passes. Student admission is priced at $5 for all tournament passes.
High schools that are invited to compete in this tournament are: Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs Christian, Coronado, Discovery Canyon, Doherty, Falcon, Fountain/Ft. Carson, Harrison, James Irwin CHS, Lewis Palmer, Liberty, Manitou Springs, Mesa Ridge, Mitchell, Palmer, Palmer Ridge, Peyton, Pine Creek, Rampart, Sand Creek, Sierra, St. Mary’s, The Classical Academy, Vista Ridge, Widefield and Woodland Park.
Awards will include individual medals for 1st through 8th place in each weight class, team awards for the top four teams, Outstanding Wrestler awards for lower and upper weights, Outstanding Underclassman, Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year (Senior), Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and Manager of the Year.
All of the bouts from the 2020 Colorado Springs Metro Championships will be streamed live on TrackCast located on TrackWrestling.com.
Twenty years is a long time, and USA Wrestling thanks all of the volunteers who have helped put this tournament together over the years, and applauds the athletes, coaches and school officials who have made this a major success. Over the years, a number of Senior-level USA Wrestling athletes have come by to help support the local wrestling community.
Special thanks to all of the USA Wrestling staff and their families who have put in the extra time to serve the youth of their community. It has made a major impact.
2020 COLORADO SPRINGS METRO CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, January 24th
Session 1: 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.- Champ RD 1 and RD 2, Consolation RD 1 and RD 2
Saturday, January 25th
Session 2: 9:00 a.m. - Quarter Finals and RD 3 Consolations
Session 3: 10:00 a.m.* – RD 4 Consolations
Session 4: 12:00 p.m.* – Semifinals and RD 5 Consolations
Session 5: 1:30 p.m.* – Consolation Semifinals
Session 6: 2:30 p.m.* – 3rd, 5th, and 7th place
Session 7: 6:00 p.m. – Championship Finals
*Approximate start time
2019 COLORADO SPRINGS METRO WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS
106 - Avelino Mota (Widefield) dec. Andrew Peltier (Rampart), 12-6
113 – Jett Strickenberger (Discovery Canyon) pin Richard Ortiz (Mitchell), 1:36
120 – James Brown (Falcon) pin Chase Johnson (Cheyenne Mountain), 1:04
126 – Patrick Allis (Discovery Canyon) maj. dec. Taylor Vasquez (Fountain Fort Carson), 11-3
132 – Angel Flores (Coronado) pin Clint Brown (Falcon), 1:51
138 – Ben Bancroft (Rampart) dec. Cole Stephenson (Lewis Palmer), 4-3
145 – Kevin Hooks (Cheyenne Mountain) dec. Isaiah Brown (Mesa Ridge), 6-3
152 – Tyler Beauperthuy (Doherty) maj. dec. Zeke Terrazas (Coronado), 12-3
160 – KJ Kearns (Coronado) tech. fall Caleb Sherrill (Falcon) 15-0
170 – Draygan Colonese (Pine Creek) pin Kenneth Guinn (Mesa Ridge), 0:28
182 – Brady Badwound (Air Academy) tech. fall Michael Cornelius (Liberty), 17-2
195 – Jared Volcic (Mesa Ridge) pin Charlie Cook (Lewis Palmer), 3:05
220 – Atsamaz Pliev (Sierra) pin Grant McCluan (Falcon), 2:37
285 – Nate Mesa (Harrison) pin Jackson Webber (Doherty), 3:30
2019 Team Standings
1 Cheyenne Mountain, 221
2 Mesa Ridge, 178
3 Falcon, 171.5
4 Coronado, 170.5
5 Lewis Palmer, 146
6 Doherty, 141
7 Pine Creek, 140.5
8 Discovery Canyon, 122
9 Air Academy, 118.5
10 Fountain Fort Carson, 105
11 Rampart, 101
12 Widefield, 92
13 Harrison, 70.5
14 Colorado Springs Christian, 52
15 Peyton, 46
16 Sierra, 41
17 James Irwin CHS, 40
17 Liberty, 40
19 Vista Ridge, 39.5
20 Mitchell, 35.5
21 Sand Creek, 32
22 Palmer Ridge, 29.5
23 Palmer, 6
MULTIPLE CHAMPIONS
Four-time Champions (2)
Geordan Martinez, Pine Creek, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Patrick Allis, Discovery Canyon, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Three-time Champions (19)
Gabe Burak, Coronado, 2003, 2004, 2005
Chris Branch, Doherty, 2004, 2005, 2006
Cole Nash, Coronado, 2004, 2005, 2006
Kory Johnson, Pine Creek, 2005, 2006, 2007
Ethan Martinez, St, Mary’s, 2006, 2007, 2008
Gabrian Martinez, St. Mary’s/Pine Creek, 2007, 2008, 2009
Josh Martinez, Pine Creek, 2009, 2010. 2011
Carter McElhany, Coronado, 2009, 2010, 2011
Nick Adams, Discovery Canyon, 2008, 2010, 2011
Jared Rieck, Coronado, 2008, 2010, 2011
Josh Schoenberger, Fount/Ft. Carson, 2010, 2011, 2012
A.J. Rees, Discovery Canyon, 2011, 2012, 2013
Alex Smith, Pine Creek, 2010, 2012, 2013
Adrian Mack, Discovery Canyon, 2012, 2013, 2014
Jordan Martinez, Pine Creek, 2014, 2015, 2016
Sam Turner, Discover Canyon, 2014, 2015, 2016
Jason Hanenberg, Air Academy, 2015, 2017, 2018
Garrett Niel, Pine Creek, 2016, 2017, 2018
KJ Kearns, Coronado, 2017, 2018, 2019
Two-time Champions (28)
Josh Garibay, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Kalin Mellers, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Brandon Wilson, Liberty, 2001, 2003
Kyle Huskin, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Dominic Williams, Harrison, 2001, 2002
Kellen Griswold, Widefield, 2002, 2003
Jeff Wilson, Manitou Springs, 2002, 2003
Brandon Knight, Widefield, 2002, 2003
Vinny Vigil, Widefield, 2004, 2005
Micah Burak, Coronado, 2006, 2007
Ben Hicks, Pine Creek, 2006, 2007
Ely Martinez, St. Mary’s/Pine Creek, 2007, 2009
Chad Stich, Lewis Palmer, 2008, 2009
Devin Hightower, Widefield, 2008, 2009
Dan Barringer, Lewis Palmer, 2009, 2010
Nick Burghardt, Coronado, 2009, 2011
Terrell Stanley, Widefield, 2010, 2011
Trenton Watson, Pine Creek/Coronado, 2012, 2013
Derrik Ortiz, Pine Creek, 2012, 2013
Jess Hankin, Coronado, 2013, 2014
Brandon Supernaw, Doherty, 2013, 2014
Taylor White, Pine Creek, 2014, 2015
Samuel Freeman, Mesa Ridge, 2015, 2016
Stephen Dabelko, Coronado, 2016, 2017
Peter Isais, Pine Creek, 2016, 2017
Maverick Keigher, Doherty, 2017, 2018
Jett Strickenberger, Discovery Canyon, 2018, 2019
Angel Flores, Coronado, 2018, 2019
All-time Team Titles
Pine Creek (7), 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
Widefield (3), 2001, 2002, 2005
Coronado (3), 2008, 2010, 2111
Doherty (2), 2003, 2004
Cheyenne Mountain (1), 2017, 2019
Discovery Canyon (1), 2013
Mesa Ridge (1), 2018
The idea was well received by the coaches and schools in the community, and numerous staff members chipped in to make it a reality. The first Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships was hosted at Doherty High School in early 2001.
The concept was that USA Wrestling hosts dozens of regional and national tournaments every year, and had the ability to bring all of the schools together without making them have to do anything but compete. The administration at Doherty High School proved to be highly supportive, making the event run smoothly. A video stream was provided, and local media came out to cover the event regularly.
It quickly became a tradition in the Pikes Peak sports community, where athletes and teams could compete for bragging rights in the city.
This afternoon marks the historic 20th Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships. There will be as many as 27 teams competing over the next two days.
Here are a few highlights from the first 19 years of this special event:
* Doherty High School, which has hosted 18 of the previous 19 Metro Championships. In 2019, the event was hosted by Coronado High School, while Doherty had construction in its facilities.
* The event included a future Olympic wrestling champion, when Henry Cejudo of Coronado High School won the Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships in 2005 at 119 pounds. Cejudo was an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling in 2008, just three years later in Beijing, China.
* There have been only seven schools to win this prestigious event. Pine Creek has seven titles, Widefield and Coronado have three, Doherty and Cheyenne Mountain boast two titles and Discovery Canyon and Mesa Ridge have one COS Metro title each.
* There have been only two four-time COS Metro individual champion. The first was Geordan Martinez of Pine Creek, who won titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Most recently, Patrick Allis of Discovery Canyon became only the second four-time Colorado Springs Metro champion, winning in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Martinez went on to wrestle at Boise State, where he was a Div. I All-American, and finished at Oklahoma State. Allis is currently a freshman at Western Colorado University.
* Over the first 19 years of the event, there have been 19 three-time champions and 28 two-time champions.
* Seven of the 2019 champions are eligible to return and seek to repeat (with last year’s weight class): Avelino Mota of Widefield (106), James Brown of Falcon (120), Angel Flores of Coronado (132), Ben Bancroft of Rampart (138), Tyler Beauperthuy of Doherty (152), Draygan Colonese of Pine Creek (170) and Jared Volcic of Mesa Ridge (195). Flores is a two-time champion with titles in 2018 and 2019.
* In the most recent On The Mat rankings (of Jan. 16), there are three teams who are ranked in the state and entered in the 2020 COS Metro: No. 5 Mesa Ridge (4A), No. 6 Cheyenne Mountain (4A) and No. 9 Pine Creek (5A).
* No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the state who are expected to compete this weekend, based on the On The Mat Rankings, are Brady Hankin of Woodland Park (No. 1 in 3A at 120 pounds), Cole Gray of Woodland Park (No. 1 in 3A at 170 pounds), Nick Gagliardi of Cheyenne Mountain (No. 1 in 4A at 195 pounds and Tyson Beauperthuy of host Doherty (No. 1 in 5A at 170 pounds),
Admission for adults is $20 for all tournament passes. Student admission is priced at $5 for all tournament passes.
High schools that are invited to compete in this tournament are: Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs Christian, Coronado, Discovery Canyon, Doherty, Falcon, Fountain/Ft. Carson, Harrison, James Irwin CHS, Lewis Palmer, Liberty, Manitou Springs, Mesa Ridge, Mitchell, Palmer, Palmer Ridge, Peyton, Pine Creek, Rampart, Sand Creek, Sierra, St. Mary’s, The Classical Academy, Vista Ridge, Widefield and Woodland Park.
Awards will include individual medals for 1st through 8th place in each weight class, team awards for the top four teams, Outstanding Wrestler awards for lower and upper weights, Outstanding Underclassman, Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year (Senior), Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and Manager of the Year.
All of the bouts from the 2020 Colorado Springs Metro Championships will be streamed live on TrackCast located on TrackWrestling.com.
Twenty years is a long time, and USA Wrestling thanks all of the volunteers who have helped put this tournament together over the years, and applauds the athletes, coaches and school officials who have made this a major success. Over the years, a number of Senior-level USA Wrestling athletes have come by to help support the local wrestling community.
Special thanks to all of the USA Wrestling staff and their families who have put in the extra time to serve the youth of their community. It has made a major impact.
2020 COLORADO SPRINGS METRO CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, January 24th
Session 1: 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.- Champ RD 1 and RD 2, Consolation RD 1 and RD 2
Saturday, January 25th
Session 2: 9:00 a.m. - Quarter Finals and RD 3 Consolations
Session 3: 10:00 a.m.* – RD 4 Consolations
Session 4: 12:00 p.m.* – Semifinals and RD 5 Consolations
Session 5: 1:30 p.m.* – Consolation Semifinals
Session 6: 2:30 p.m.* – 3rd, 5th, and 7th place
Session 7: 6:00 p.m. – Championship Finals
*Approximate start time
2019 COLORADO SPRINGS METRO WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS
106 - Avelino Mota (Widefield) dec. Andrew Peltier (Rampart), 12-6
113 – Jett Strickenberger (Discovery Canyon) pin Richard Ortiz (Mitchell), 1:36
120 – James Brown (Falcon) pin Chase Johnson (Cheyenne Mountain), 1:04
126 – Patrick Allis (Discovery Canyon) maj. dec. Taylor Vasquez (Fountain Fort Carson), 11-3
132 – Angel Flores (Coronado) pin Clint Brown (Falcon), 1:51
138 – Ben Bancroft (Rampart) dec. Cole Stephenson (Lewis Palmer), 4-3
145 – Kevin Hooks (Cheyenne Mountain) dec. Isaiah Brown (Mesa Ridge), 6-3
152 – Tyler Beauperthuy (Doherty) maj. dec. Zeke Terrazas (Coronado), 12-3
160 – KJ Kearns (Coronado) tech. fall Caleb Sherrill (Falcon) 15-0
170 – Draygan Colonese (Pine Creek) pin Kenneth Guinn (Mesa Ridge), 0:28
182 – Brady Badwound (Air Academy) tech. fall Michael Cornelius (Liberty), 17-2
195 – Jared Volcic (Mesa Ridge) pin Charlie Cook (Lewis Palmer), 3:05
220 – Atsamaz Pliev (Sierra) pin Grant McCluan (Falcon), 2:37
285 – Nate Mesa (Harrison) pin Jackson Webber (Doherty), 3:30
2019 Team Standings
1 Cheyenne Mountain, 221
2 Mesa Ridge, 178
3 Falcon, 171.5
4 Coronado, 170.5
5 Lewis Palmer, 146
6 Doherty, 141
7 Pine Creek, 140.5
8 Discovery Canyon, 122
9 Air Academy, 118.5
10 Fountain Fort Carson, 105
11 Rampart, 101
12 Widefield, 92
13 Harrison, 70.5
14 Colorado Springs Christian, 52
15 Peyton, 46
16 Sierra, 41
17 James Irwin CHS, 40
17 Liberty, 40
19 Vista Ridge, 39.5
20 Mitchell, 35.5
21 Sand Creek, 32
22 Palmer Ridge, 29.5
23 Palmer, 6
MULTIPLE CHAMPIONS
Four-time Champions (2)
Geordan Martinez, Pine Creek, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Patrick Allis, Discovery Canyon, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Three-time Champions (19)
Gabe Burak, Coronado, 2003, 2004, 2005
Chris Branch, Doherty, 2004, 2005, 2006
Cole Nash, Coronado, 2004, 2005, 2006
Kory Johnson, Pine Creek, 2005, 2006, 2007
Ethan Martinez, St, Mary’s, 2006, 2007, 2008
Gabrian Martinez, St. Mary’s/Pine Creek, 2007, 2008, 2009
Josh Martinez, Pine Creek, 2009, 2010. 2011
Carter McElhany, Coronado, 2009, 2010, 2011
Nick Adams, Discovery Canyon, 2008, 2010, 2011
Jared Rieck, Coronado, 2008, 2010, 2011
Josh Schoenberger, Fount/Ft. Carson, 2010, 2011, 2012
A.J. Rees, Discovery Canyon, 2011, 2012, 2013
Alex Smith, Pine Creek, 2010, 2012, 2013
Adrian Mack, Discovery Canyon, 2012, 2013, 2014
Jordan Martinez, Pine Creek, 2014, 2015, 2016
Sam Turner, Discover Canyon, 2014, 2015, 2016
Jason Hanenberg, Air Academy, 2015, 2017, 2018
Garrett Niel, Pine Creek, 2016, 2017, 2018
KJ Kearns, Coronado, 2017, 2018, 2019
Two-time Champions (28)
Josh Garibay, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Kalin Mellers, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Brandon Wilson, Liberty, 2001, 2003
Kyle Huskin, Widefield, 2001, 2002
Dominic Williams, Harrison, 2001, 2002
Kellen Griswold, Widefield, 2002, 2003
Jeff Wilson, Manitou Springs, 2002, 2003
Brandon Knight, Widefield, 2002, 2003
Vinny Vigil, Widefield, 2004, 2005
Micah Burak, Coronado, 2006, 2007
Ben Hicks, Pine Creek, 2006, 2007
Ely Martinez, St. Mary’s/Pine Creek, 2007, 2009
Chad Stich, Lewis Palmer, 2008, 2009
Devin Hightower, Widefield, 2008, 2009
Dan Barringer, Lewis Palmer, 2009, 2010
Nick Burghardt, Coronado, 2009, 2011
Terrell Stanley, Widefield, 2010, 2011
Trenton Watson, Pine Creek/Coronado, 2012, 2013
Derrik Ortiz, Pine Creek, 2012, 2013
Jess Hankin, Coronado, 2013, 2014
Brandon Supernaw, Doherty, 2013, 2014
Taylor White, Pine Creek, 2014, 2015
Samuel Freeman, Mesa Ridge, 2015, 2016
Stephen Dabelko, Coronado, 2016, 2017
Peter Isais, Pine Creek, 2016, 2017
Maverick Keigher, Doherty, 2017, 2018
Jett Strickenberger, Discovery Canyon, 2018, 2019
Angel Flores, Coronado, 2018, 2019
All-time Team Titles
Pine Creek (7), 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
Widefield (3), 2001, 2002, 2005
Coronado (3), 2008, 2010, 2111
Doherty (2), 2003, 2004
Cheyenne Mountain (1), 2017, 2019
Discovery Canyon (1), 2013
Mesa Ridge (1), 2018
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