With state spirit now in the books, the fall sport season has officially come to a close. While no area squads brought home titles from last weekend’s event, two did earn top three finishes.
Swink nearly found its way into the top two for the 2A/3A Game Day Cheer, as the Lions finished third with a total of 90.3 points. That left them just two points back of the second place team. Holyoke nailed down third place in the 2A All-Girl Cheer competition with 73.35 points. Their tally left them only four-tenths of a point out of second.
All of the football championship teams were honored at Sunday’s Broncos game. That group of honorees included Cheyenne Wells (six-man), Haxtun (eight-man), and Fort Morgan (3A). Word also came down over the weekend that Limon’s head coach, Mike O’Dwyer, had been selected for the Colorado High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His Badgers came up just short of winning a fourth consecutive title in Class 1A.
Turning attention to wrestling, Yuma earned a top-ten finish at the Mesa Ridge Grizzly Invitational for girls, claiming seventh place. Lamar tied for 12th place, while La Junta took 16th. Brush grabbed 24th place in the event. While no local competitors brought home the top spot in their weight class, Yuma, Lamar, and La Junta all had wrestlers finish in the top three of this loaded field.
One of the biggest events for boys last weekend took place in Limon. Crowley County took home the team title, edging University and Lamar for the honor. Limon, Sterling, Wray, Burlington, Wiggins, and Trinidad all finished in the top ten of the team chase.
Individual champions in the event included Holly’s Tripp Duvall (106), Jon Yapoujian of Byers (120), Cole Krug of Lamar (126), Trinidad’s Eddie Bowman (132), Sterling’s Jesus Ochoa (145) and Casteus Combs (152), Keon Bandy of Limon (170), Akron’s Gavin Brown (182), Taite Weeks-Johnson from County Line (220), and Laith Ibrahim of Wiggins (285).
Brush took home third place in the Roosevelt Invite over the weekend, while Fort Morgan checked in with a 12th place finish. Dominick Ontiveros grabbed the title for the Beetdiggers at 220 pounds. They also had second place finishes by Nick Dardanes (113) and Diego Hernandez (132). Emanuel Serrano took second for Fort Morgan at 145 pounds.
Through two weeks of the basketball season, 11 teams in the 1A girls field are still unbeaten. That includes Merino, Briggsdale, and Fleming, who will all slug it out in District 4. Briggsdale won the title of the Prairie tournament over the weekend, beating Lone Star and Arickaree/Woodlin. They will visit defending 1A state champion Flatirons Academy on Friday. Briggsdale beat the Bison in OT during the regular season last spring, but fell by a 76-56 score in the postseason.
Kit Carson, Springfield, and South Baca all figure to be in the mix in the southeastern portion of the state. Kit Carson and Springfield could match up in this week’s Lamar Holiday Tournament, as they are the top two seeds. Springfield, seeded #1, opens with Walsh, while the Wildcats begin things with Eads. The field also includes McClave, Wiley, Granada, and 2A Holly.
Just six teams remain without a blemish in the 2A girls field, including Limon and Rye. The group of teams with a single loss includes a number of squads out of the LPAA. Akron, Holyoke, Sedgwick County, Yuma, and Wiggins are all in that group. Swink enters the week 3-2 overall, but 2-0 in the Santa Fe league, where they will look to challenge Rye.
Brush suffered a 45-29 loss to Akron last week, but the 3A Beetdiggers responded with a huge 77-37 win over Mitchell later in the week. At 2-1, Brush has the top mark for local 3A teams heading into this week.
Two programs that picked up football titles are also looking good in the early portion of the basketball schedule, as Cheyenne Wells and Haxtun both made it through the first two weeks unscathed, with minimal practices. Granada, who went 3-0 in last week’s Border Wars, is also unbeaten, heading into this week’s Lamar Holiday Tournament, where the Bobcats are the top seed. Briggsdale won the Prairie tournament for a third straight year, edging the hosts 49-48 for the title. The Falcons are 4-0 as play begins this week. Genoa-Hugo/Karval is 3-0, after surviving a 57-54 overtime contest with Idalia last week.
Joining those top 1A squads without a loss are 2A powers Limon, Holly, Holyoke, and Yuma. Holly will be the #2 seed in this week’s Holiday Tournament in Lamar. Holyoke squares off with Haxtun on Tuesday in a non-league match-up between LPAA rivals, and the Dragons also have a date with defending 2A titlist Wray on Thursday. Las Animas is off to a surprising 4-0 start, as well.
None of the local 3A teams has made it this far without tasting defeat, but Sterling has been close. The Tigers are 3-1, with only an eight point loss to Scottsbluff on the wrong side of the ledger. Patriot League rival Brush has also only been on the losing side once through the first two weeks, as the 2-1 Beetdiggers have won two straight since opening the season with a 55-53 loss to Prospect Ridge Academy.
La Junta bounced back from Friday’s 61-58 overtime loss against Sanford to claim third place in their own tournament. The Tigers are 4-2, with games against Manitou Springs and Ellicott on tap this week. Lamar is 3-3 after last week’s fifth place finish in the La Junta tournament. The Savages dropped a contest against Del Norte to open the event, but finished with wins over Monte Vista and Swink.
