73rd Annual CHSAA
State Wrestling Championships
at the Pepsi Center
Thursday/Friday/Saturday, February 21, 22 & 23, 2008

Wolves Finish Third
Team scores - 1. Ponderosa 160, 2. Loveland 128, 3. Grandview 89, 4. Rocky Mountain 82.5, 5. Centaurus 80, 6. Legacy 78.5, 7. Northglenn 70, 8. Pomona 59.5, 9. Coronado 54, 10. Lakewood 48, 11. Grand Junction 40.5, 12. Durango 39, 13. Denver East 38, 14. Central (G.J.) 27, 16. Rampart 36, 17. ThunderRidge 34, 18. Chaparral 33, 19. Douglas County 32.5, 20. Standley Lake 29, T21. Air Academy 27, T21. Poudre 27, T21. Regis 27, 24. Heritage 24, T25. Boulder 22, T25. Doherty 22, 27. Sand Creek 21, T28. Fruita Monument 20, T28. Lewis-Palmer 20, T30. Mitchell 18, T30. Pine Creek 18, T30. Smoky Hill 18, 33. Palmer 16.5, 34. Highlands Ranch 15.5, 35. Aurora Central 14, 36. Dakota Ridge 12, 37. Arvada West 11, 38. Overland 10, 39. Adams City 9, T40. Fairview 5, T40. Wasson 5, T42. Arapahoe 4, T42. Fort Collins 4, T44. Bear Creek 2, T44. Gateway 2, T44. Horizon 2, 47. Rangeview 1

 

State Brackets Are Posted
(February 17, 2008)
State brackets have been posted on the CHSAA website.  <brackets>

The 4A/5A preliminary round is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 7:15 PM.

Aurora Sentinel-State Brackets Set (2/17/8)
Denver Post-Prep Royalty (2/18/8)
Tim Yount Predictions (2/20/8)
Aurora Sentinel-Aurora Wrestlers (2/21/8)

Aurora Sentinel-Regis (2/21/8)
Aurora Sentinel-Title Shots (2/22/8)
Rocky Mtn News-Semi's (2/22/8)
Aurora Sentinel-Two Wolves (2/23/8)
Denver Post-5A (2/23/8)
Aurora Sentinel-Another Pair (2/27/8)
Aurora Sentinel-Satisfaction (2/27/8)

RESULTS

State 2008
(February 22, 2008)
The 73rd Colorado High School Activities Association State wrestling tournament got underway at 7:15 PM on Thursday night, February 21, for class 5A and Grandview won half of their matches in the opening round.

The First Day
John Godin met Junior Romero from Denver East for the third time this season and Godin continues to close the gap. Godin lost by fall to Romero at the Grandview duals and by a 5-12 score at the Moffat County duals. Godin was so close to turning Romero late in the third period which would have put him ahead and possibly changed the outcome. Eric Wilson won by decision at 112's. Patrick Brown gave up a takedown in the opening seconds of his match and then promptly reversed and pinned his opponent in 1:10. Bryce Lucherini would not be denied in his match against Region 3's champion, Derek Stearns from Northglenn. The match was either tied or a one point difference until the very end. Lucherini gave up 4 points in penalties, had his nose plugged to stop the bleeding but, through pure strength and determination, he prevailed, 10-7. Cody McCutcheon had a tough go with Region 2's champion and lost by fall in the first. Perhaps the most bizarre story involves the Wolves 189 pounder, Jacob Bomareto. Bomareto tore ligaments in his ankle in a gym class incident on Wednesday, was rushed to the emergency room where he was given ibuprofen which he is allergic to, spent another six hours in the ER while the doctors reversed the allergic reaction. He weighed-in on Thursday while using crutches to walk with and was doubtful to compete. But, the desire to compete was too much for Bomareto to hold back and much like Patrick Brown at the 2007 State Tournament, Bomareto took the mat with an obvious physical limitation and wrestled well even though he lost the match 3-5. Penn Wade had a tough first round draw in Grand Junction's returning state champion, Robert Tucker. Wade gave up too many points early in the match and could not make them up while Tucker stalled through the second and third periods. 285 pounder Cody Gilmore pinned Pine Creek's Cole Fritz in 24 seconds.

The Second Day

Day two was a big day for the Wolves. They picked up five wins on the consolation side and valuable points when Penn Wade won twice by fall and John Godin won a match by fall. Eric Wilson and Patrick Brown won by decision on the championship side of their brackets and advanced to the semi-final match where they met up with tough opponents. Wilson met Rocky Mountain's returning 103 pound state champ, Jeremy Schmitt, and won by fall in the first period of overtime. Brown used all four periods in overtime to defeat Ponderosa's freshman standout, Austin Gabel, by one point. Grandview's conditioning was an obvious advantage in both overtime contests. Cody Gilmore added more valuable points with two wins by fall and the Wolves ended the day in third place with 73 points.

The Third Day

John Godin and Penn Wade came up one round short of placing in the top six when they lost their first round on Saturday. Bryce Lucherini won his first round match and then lost two to finish in the sixth place spot.

For the first time in school history, the Wolves had three wrestlers walk in the "parade of champions" and compete for the championship. Eric Wilson was up first against Northglenn's returning state champion, Philip Grout. Grout came into the match with a 44-1 record. The match was scoreless at the end of the third period and once again, Wilson won in overtime. Patrick Brown was paired up against Pomona's returning state champ, Nick Jones, who finished third at Reno and came into the championship match with a record of 38-2. Jones won his second state title by major decision over Brown. Cody Gilmore was the Wolves third finalist in the 285 pound weight class. Most people, including "On The Mat" analyst Tim Yount, expected to see Ponderosa's Taylor Stam wrestle Gilmore for the championship but, Stam lost to Sand Creek's Ray Hatchett in the quarter finals. Gilmore defeated Hatchett 4-1.

Grandview ended the tournament in third place with 89 points. This was the teams best finish.