Ball Arena is the place to be this weekend.
Let the numbers tell the story for the 2025 Colorado prep wrestling state championships: Three days, 1,339 state qualifiers, 84 individual state champions to be crowned and six team championships about to be awarded.
It’s a spectacle that is nearly unmatched.
The action gets underway at noon Thursday, and continues over three days. The Parade of Champions is set for roughly 4 p.m. on Saturday, followed by championship matches in four boys classifications and two girls classes.
Among the bigger storylines: Fowler’s Traven Sharon is seeking to become the 35th member of the four-time state champions club. In Class 5A, Pomona is pursuing a seventh consecutive team title. On the girls side, for the first time there are two classifications, meaning a bevy of new champions will take their place atop the podium.
Here is a quick overview of each classification, including a bracket to watch:
Boys
Class 5A
Defending state champion: Pomona
Returning state champions (from any year): Nine
Overview: Pomona is a big favorite once again, sending all 14 wrestlers to Ball Arena. Zaidyn Quinonez (120) and Derek Barrows (144) and Kalob Ybarra (165) won titles in 2023. … Barrows has a returning state champion in his bracket in Ponderosa’s Michael Lopez Jr. … At 126 pounds, Pine Creek’s Griffin Rial (2024) and Chaparral’s Declan Strait (2022) have won titles before. … Poudre’s Billy Greenwood (157) and Grandview’s Charlie Herting (190) are defending state champions. … Ponderosa qualified 13 to Ball Arena, and Pine Creek is sending 12.
Bracket to watch: 120 pounds. Two returning state champions is the biggest highlight of this bracket, as Cherokee Trail’s Cooper Mathews (won 106 in 2024) and Pomona’s Quinonez (won 106 in 2023) are at opposite ends of the bracket. Mathews, a sophomore, brings a 42-4 mark into state. Quinonez, a junior, is 27-6, and fell in the finals at 113 a year ago. Last year’s runner-up to Mathews is also in the mix in Ponderosa’s Jeremiah Waldschmidt. Vista Peak’s Ian Bacon is 39-7 on the season – both are in the same half of the bracket as Quinonez.
Class 4A
Defending state champion: Mead
Returning state champions (from any year): 11
Overview: Pueblo East has a contingent of 13 wrestlers at Ball Arena, with the team looking to reclaim the team championship. The Eagles won it all in 2022-23 but was edged out by Mead last February. … Mountain View’s Isaiah Harrison is 49-0 and seeking his third state championship. … At 113, Severance’s Drake Vombaur moves up to 4A after winning the 3A 106 title last year. East’s Manuel Amara is also at 113 after winning the 4A 106 title in 2024. … Like Harrison, Windsor’s Evan Perez (215) enters with an unbeaten mark at 37-0. Perez won a championship in 2023. … Other returning and defending champions are East’s Deven Lopez at 132; Robert Joseph Meza III of Falcon at 138; Roosevelt’s Chris LaLonde at 144; Falcon’s David Burchett at 165; and Mead’s Grant Gordan at 285.
Bracket to watch: 175 pounds. Two state champions from a year ago are the favorites in a loaded bracket. Mead’s Leister Bowling won the 4A title in this same class in 2024, while Pueblo Central’s Genaro Pino won the 165 title in 3A. Bowling was 55-1 a year ago, but enters state at 15-3 his senior year. Pino is 47-2 overall. Windsor’s Santi Fernandez (33-4) and Pueblo East’s Elijah Contreras (43-10) have also had strong seasons.
Class 3A
Defending state champion: Mullen
Returning state champions (from any year): Six
Overview: The Mustangs are the defending state champion, but are only sending six to state. Two of those – Isaak Chavez (175) and Champion Dyes (285) are defending champions. … Brush enters state as a favorite, sending 11 to Ball Arena. That includes Nick Dardanes (138) and Ritchie Bruno (175), who won state a year ago. Bruno is in the same bracket as Chavez. … Alamosa has seven going to state. … Jefferson senior Samuel Rosales is bidding for a third state championship. … Other returning state champions include Thomas Lee (126) of Elizabeth, who won in 2023.
Bracket to watch: 285 pounds. Dyes is the defending state champion at heavyweight,, bringing a 16-2 record into state. But the top seed is Resurrection Christian junior Samuel Stockton (25-0), who fell in the 215-pound title match as a freshman in the first tiebreaker period. University’s Connor Simonds fell to Dyes in the first round as a freshman before fighting back to place sixth. Simonds enters 2025 with a 40-4 mark.
Class 2A
Defending state champion: Meeker
Returning state champions (from any year): Six
Overview: Is this the year for Cedaredge? The Bruins enter state with 11 qualifiers, having finished runner-up to Meeker in 2024. The team was also second in 2021 and 2019. … Wray will have something to say about that with a team of nine. That includes two returning champions in Austin Collins (132) and Samuel Meisner (150), plus an unbeaten Tavery Chappell at 215. … North Fork also has 11 qualifers, as does Rocky Ford. … Other returning champions are Merino’s Coen Schmidt (46-0) at 138; Holly’s Tripp Duvall and Sedgwick County/Fleming’s Grant Statz, both at 165; and Meeker’s Cade Blunt (175).
Bracket to watch: 126 pounds. Sharon is the story here. The senior enters state with a 34-2 record, but has a tough draw on his side of the bracket. His second-round opponent will either be Akron’s Merek Charney, who was the runner-up to Sharon in 2024; or Cedaredge’s Josh Martinez, who entered regionals ranked second before a loss in the regional finals to Meeker’s Koy Weber. Olathe’s Trenten Piatt (41-4) could be waiting in the semifinals.
Girls
Class 5A
Defending state champion: Pomona won 2024 unclassified title
Returning state champions (from any year): Six overall from unclassified
Overview: After Chatfield won the first three team titles on the girls side, Pomona held off Central of Grand Junction in 2024 for its first title. That includes Persaeus Gomez winning her fourth state title. The Panthers have two returning state champions in unbeaten Justice Gutierrez at 100 pounds, and two-time champion Timberly Martinez at 140. Pomona is sending nine to state overall. … Central of GJ qualified 12, and Chatfield is sending nine. … Returning champions also include Doherty’s Katey Valdez at 106, who won a title in 2023; Vista Ridge’s Hayden Newburg (135); and Brighton’s Matilda Hruby (155).
Bracket to watch: 145 pounds. It isn’t often a bracket has two unbeaten wrestlers, but that’s the case here. Ryen Hickey of Chatfield, a 2023 state champion, enters 38-0, and Westminster’s Dakota Hull is 16-0. Hull finished fourth at state as a freshman. Arapahoe’s Lizzie Padilla (25-3) is on the same side of the bracket as Hickey.
Class 4A
Defending state champion: Pomona won 2024 unclassified title
Returning state champions (from any year): Six overall from unclassified
Overview: It will be new territory in 4A, as the classification has no returning champions. It does have two unbeaten wrestlers in Pueblo Central’s Acelyn Duran (25-0) at 100 pounds, and Canon City’s Kate Doughty (30-0) at 125. … Central has 12 state qualifiers, and defeated Lamar (eight qualifiers) to win the Region 1 tournament last weekend. Severance also qualified eight, as did Holy Family.
Bracket to watch: 145 pounds. Pueblo Central sophomore Lilliana Lopez enters as the top seed with a 32-4 record after placing sixth at 130 as a freshman. On the other side of the bracket are a pair of wrestlers who also won 30-plus matches in Manitou Springs’ Abbie Reeves (31-4) and Wiggins’ Riley Erickson (31-9).
