With the 18th annual Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships just around the corner, up to 26 high schools in the Colorado Springs area are preparing for this year's championship, taking place January 19-20 at Doherty High School.
Cheyenne Mountain jumped three team spots from 2016 to 2017 to claim their first COS Metro title. Pine Creek had won three in a row (2014-16) and has the most COS Metro titles with seven. Only six schools have ever won the Colorado Springs Metro Championships since it was created in 2001 by USA Wrestling, as a service to the Colorado Springs area.
The first session of the competition will begin on Friday, January 20 at 4:30 pm and will continue at 9 am Saturday with the Championship Finals scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.
Admission for adults is $20 for all tournament passes. Student admission is priced at $5 for all tournament passes.
High schools that are anticipated to compete in this tournament are: Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs Christian, Coronado, Deaf and Blind School, Discovery Canyon, Doherty, Falcon, Fountain/Ft. Carson, Harrison, Lewis Palmer, Liberty, Manitou Springs, Mesa Ridge, Mitchell, Palmer, Palmer Ridge, Peyton, MetPine Creek, Rampart, Sand Creek, Sierra, The Classical Academy, Vista Ridge, Widefield, and Woodland Park.
Five of the 2017 individual champions will be returning to defend their COS Metro titles, including two-time champion Patrick Allis of Discovery Canyon, a junior who is currently ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 4A at 120 pounds in the On the Mat Rankings.
Returning champion Jason Hanenberg, a senior at Air Academy, holds a No. 1 state ranking at 132 pounds in Class 4A. Ranked No. 2 in Class 4A at 182 pounds is returning Metro champion Garrett Niel, a senior at Pine Creek. Two other returning COS Metro champions are ranked No. 3 in the state, senior Maverick Keigher of Doherty at 138 pounds in Class 4A and junior KJ Kearns of Coronado at 145 pounds in Class 4A.
There are two athletes ranked No. 1 in the state who were not champions last year, but are eligible to compete at the Metros this year, Elijah Valdez of Mesa Ridge (No. 1 at 152 lbs. in Class 4A) and Deonte Bridges of Cheyenne Mountain (No. 1 at 220 lbs. in Class 4A).
There are 75 state ranked individuals from the high schools expected at the COS Metros, with three state ranked teams: Mesa Ridge (No. 5 in 4A), Discovery Canyon (No. 6 in 4A) and Cheyenne Mountain (No. 9 in 4A).
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.
The 2018 Colorado Springs Metro Championships will be streamed live on TrackCast located on TrackWrestling.com.
USA Wrestling organizes and conducts this tournament on an annual basis as a service to the Colorado Springs area wrestling community.
2018 COLORADO SPRINGS METRO CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, January 19
Session 1: 4:30 pm to 10:00 pm - Champ RD 1 and RD 2, Consolation RD 1 and RD 2
Saturday, January 20
Session 2: 9:00 am - Quarter Finals and RD 3 Consolations
Session 3: 10:00 am* - RD 4 Consolations
Session 4: 12:00 pm* - Semi Finals and RD 5 Consolations
Session 5: 1:30 pm* - Consolation Semi Finals
Session 6: 2:30 pm* - 3rd, 5th, and 7th place
Session 7: 6:00 pm - Championship Finals
*Approximate start time
Info: Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling: 719-659-9637; gabbott@usawrestling.org
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