2/17/2008 11:26:00 PM   
AURORA STATE WRESTLING
FIRST ROUND MATCHES
At the Pepsi Center, Feb. 21

Class 5A

103 pounds

Upper bracket: William Montrey, Aurora Central, fr. (28-12) vs. Mark Dubberly, Legacy, soph. (27-13)

Lower bracket: John Godin, Grandview, soph. (21-10) vs. Junior Romero, Denver East, soph. (33-9)

112 pounds

Upper bracket: Rian Fry, Brighton, jr. (26-12) vs. Eric Wilson, Grandview, jr. (34-5)

125 pounds

Lower bracket: Nolan Myers, Smoky Hill, sr. (40-5) vs. Gabriel Metzler, Mitchell, jr. (32-6)

130 pounds

Upper bracket: Josh Christopher, Overland, jr. (13-7) vs. Tito Laureles, Rocky Mountain, jr. (32-5); LaDaris Mungin, Gateway, soph. (31-11) vs. Steven Kelly, Ponderosa, soph. (33-8)

Lower bracket: Joe Jones, Smoky Hill, sr. (38-8) vs. Nick Wells, Doherty, sr. (35-11); Nick Burghardt, Coronado, fr. (30-8) vs. Danny Bieshaar, Regis, sr. (43-4)

135 pounds

Upper bracket: Ty Mackey, Rangeview, jr. (11-10) vs. Patrick Brown, Grandview, sr. (21-6); Daniel Armijo, Aurora Central, sr. (40-4) vs. Zach Atencio, Regis, jr. (35-9)

140 pounds

Lower bracket: Matt Bethka, Grand Junction, sr. (33-10) vs. Powell Slinkard, Regis, jr. (33-11)

145 pounds

Lower bracket: Alex Escalante, Central (G.J.), sr. (23-10) vs. Justin Freeman, Gateway. jr. (32-7)

152 pounds

Upper bracket: Bryce Lucherini, Grandview, sr. (28-13) vs. Derek Stears, Northglenn, jr. (22-8)

Lower bracket: Denzel Washington, Regis, fr. (32-7) vs. Zach Bekkedahl, Poudre, jr. (25-2)

160 pounds

Lower bracket: Cody McCutcheon, Grandview, sr. (16-12) vs. Danny Mitchell, Legacy, jr. (35-5)

171 pounds

Upper bracket: Ethan Myers, Smoky Hill, sr. (31-9) vs. Adam Katz, Boulder, sr. (35-5)

189 pounds

Upper bracket: Jake Bomareto, Grandview, jr. (26-15) vs. Joe Giron, Pomona, jr. (19-16)

215 pounds

Upper bracket: Penn Wade, Grandview, jr. (31-12) vs. Robert Tucker, Grand Junction, sr. (33-2)

285 pounds

Upper bracket: Cole Fritz, Pine Creek, jr. (15-16) vs. Cody Gilmore, Grandview, sr. (34-4)

Class 4A

152 pounds

Lower bracket: Daniel Jordan, Cherokee Trail, sr. (28-13) vs. Sam Snyder, Montrose, soph. (29-7)
Wrestling: State tournament brackets set
Twenty-two Aurora qualifiers part of 5A/4A draw

By Courtney Oakes
The Aurora Sentinel

AURORA | A day after regional wrestling tournaments were completed around the state, the Colorado High School Activities Association released pairings for the 5A and 4A state wrestling tournaments.

Twenty-one 5A wrestlers and one 4A wrestler from Aurora qualified for the tournament, which runs Feb. 21-23 at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.

In regional qualifying tournaments around the state on Feb. 16, the city had four regional champions and had at least one wrestler qualify in all 5A weight classes except for 119 pounds.

Aurora's highest concentration of qualifiers is at 130 pounds and 135 pounds, where there are four city wrestlers in each bracket.

At 135 pounds, there are two all-Aurora first-round matches. Grandview senior Patrick Brown, the Region 1 champion, takes on Rangeview junior Ty Mackey and Region 2 runner-up Zach Atencio of Regis squares off against Aurora Central senior Daniel Armijo, the third-place finisher at Region 3.

Regis senior Danny Bieshaar, who placed fifth at state last year, headlines Aurora's group in the 130-pound classification. He lost the Region 2 championship match to Rocky Mountain's Tito Laureles, dropping him into the same half of the bracket with undefeated Loveland superstar Tyler Graff. The two could meet in the quarterfinals if Bieshaar (43-4) gets past Coronado freshman Nick Burghardt and Graff (36-0) handles Fairview's Gavin Patt as expected.

The other three 130-pounders are first-time qualifiers in Smoky Hill senior Joe Jones, Overland junior Joshua Christopher and Gateway sophomore LaDaris Mungin.

Jones and Mungin met in the Region 2 third-place match, with Jones prevailing. They are on opposite sides of the bracket, with Jones (38-8) opening against Doherty senior Nick Wells and Mungin (31-11) facing off with Ponderosa sophomore Steven Kelly. Christopher (13-7), the Trailblazers' lone qualifier, draws Region 2 champion Laureles in a tough first-round match.

Besides Brown, Aurora's other regional champions were Grandview's Eric Wilson (112 pounds) and Cody Gilmore (285 pounds) from Region 1 and Regis junior 140-pounder Powell Slinkard from Region 2.

Wilson (34-5), who placed third at state last year, is matched against Brighton's Rian Fry in the first round, while Gilmore opens against Pine Creek's Cole Fritz.

Slinkard begins his first state appearance against Grand Junction's Matt Bethka.

Aurora's lone 4A state qualifier is Cherokee Trail senior Daniel Jordan, who will make his second straight trip to the Pepsi Center.

Jordan (28-13) placed fourth in Region 2 on his home mat and drew Montrose sophomore Sam Snyder in the first round.

He went 0-2 last year at state.