With the 20th annual Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships just around the corner, as many as 27 high schools in the Colorado Springs area are preparing for this year's milestone event, set for January 24-25 at Doherty High School.
The championship, which showcases the top boys high school wrestlers in the Colorado Springs area, returns to 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.
In 2019, Cheyenne Mountain won the Metro title for the second time in history, followed by Mesa Ridge in second and Falcon in third. The other year in which Cheyenne Mountain was champion was 2017. 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.
Last year, senior Patrick Allis of Discovery Canyon became only the second four-time Colorado Springs Metro champion, joining Geordan Martinez of Pine Creek (2010-2013) as a four-time champion. 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. 6 Mesa Ridge (4A), No. 7 Cheyenne Mountain (4A) and No. 9 Pine Creek (5A).
There are as many as 70 individual wrestlers from the Colorado Springs area schools who are recognized in the most recent On the Mat rankings. Tyson Beauperthuy of Doherty is ranked No. 1 in 5A at 170 pounds. Wrestlers ranked No. 2 in the state from area schools include Brady Hankin of Woodland Park (3A, 120), Skyler Hunt of Lewis Palmer (4A, 120), Angel Flores of Coronado (4A, 132), Jared Volcic of Mesa Ridge (4A, 220), Jace Graves of Pine Creek (5A, 160) and Draygon Colonese of Pine Creek (5A, 170),. Wrestler who are now ranked No. 3 in the state from this area are Cole Gray of Woodland Park (2A, 170), Dylan Ruane of Discovery Canyon (4A, 152) and Matthew Moore of Mesa Ridge (4A, 285).
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.
Local volunteers have been an important part of the success of this annual event. Volunteers are needed for timing, scoring and other event duties. All volunteers receive free admission and a t-shirt. Those interested in volunteering should contact Jon Mor at jmor@usawrestling.org
All of the bouts from the 2020 Colorado Springs Metro Championships will be streamed live on TrackCast located on TrackWrestling.com. Fans can watch both live and archived footage for $9.95, which covers the entire tournament. There will be in-depth commentary provided for the semifinal and final rounds.
USA Wrestling organizes and conducts this tournament on an annual basis as a service to the Colorado Springs area wrestling community.
Media seeking to cover the COS Metro Championships should contact Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling at 719-659-9637 cell or via email at gabbott@usawrestling.org
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
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