Article Last Updated: 02/18/2008 01:51:44 PM MST

Let's get it on.

Colorado's wrestling tournament, which has evolved into the undisputed prep king in terms of a championship following, hits the Pepsi Center this week with all its pageantry and testosterone.

Money, too — it's the only high school sports event that can afford to drink from Stan Kroenke's Can.

The three-day roll beginning Thursday afternoon is another sure thing to highlight the school year.

More than 40,000 spectators are expected to attend — 17,000 or so for the finals Saturday night.

What's the appeal? Among the 21 sanctioned sports, wrestling best balances an individual athletic endeavor in a team setting; is the premier head-to-head offering; requires Marine-like endurance, strength and ingenuity; and transforms from a sport that generally draws a modest fan following during the regular season into the hottest ticket of the weekend for teenagers. Most any student-athlete, including a growing number of girls, can enter the sport, which has weight classes from the tiny (103 pounds) to the large (275). That goes for the schools, too, from Creede to Cherry Creek.

The colors and styles of the uniforms shine brightly at the Parade of Champions, which commands an early-arriving crowd — they start marching in at 6:30 p.m. Saturday but don't begin wrestling until about 7:10, and no one seems to mind. Wrestling also has some of the better names. Regis has Denzel Washington and Nucla hopes to ride Ty Sickels (I'm not kidding). It's also legitimate — nothing is staged or rehearsed, although it's arguably the most efficiently run event of the year.

Teamwise, the 2007-08 season, the 73rd on record, has included another long list of challengers, led by Class 5A's Ponderosa, which has won the past five championships, and 4A Alamosa, which is working on its third in succession. The chase is interesting. It frequently is quality vs. quantity. Some fans may tremble when a program qualifies in each of the 14 weights, although securing a team title can be accomplished with fewer than half a dozen.

Loveland 130-pounder Tyler Graff will be bidding for his fourth championship, which would make him the 15th Coloradan to win out as a high-schooler. He is 36-0 this season and has lost only twice in his career. Fort Lupton's Saul Guerrero (135) and Alamosa's Cody Yohn (171) are going for third titles.

On Thursday, Classes 3A and 2A begin preliminaries at 3 p.m., with 5A and 4A at 7:15. A busy Friday starts at 10 a.m. with a series of quarterfinals and consolations, followed by semifinals at 7:15 p.m. The semis are among of the toughest rounds in high school sports to make — wrestling contains few Cinderella stories.