AURORA | A healthy 32 wrestlers from eight Aurora area programs earned passage into the upcoming Class 5A boys state wrestling tournament through weekend regionals.
The brackets for 14 weight classes that will be issued by the Colorado High School Activities Association on Monday will include at least one representative from Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Overland, Rangeview, Regis Jesuit, Smoky Hill and Vista PEAK Prep for competition set to begin Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver.
The largest contingent of 11 comes from Grandview, which cruised to the championship at the 5A Region 2 tournament at Broomfield High School, which included a handful of bracket champions in seniors Jonathan Montes Gonzales (157 pounds) and Gunner Lopez (165), plus a trio of juniors in JR Ortega (126), Kyle Menuez (132) and Leland Day (285).
Juniors Dustin John Snider (120) and Anthony Segura (138) qualified as regional runners-up, while placers in senior Arturo Zepeda (150), juniors Braxston Widrikis and Christian Skov (175) and sophomore Marques Lawrence (215) also advanced for coach Ryan Budd’s team.
Also out of Region 2 — which included five Aurora area programs — came pairs from Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill plus individuals from Overland and Rangeview.
Of those qualifiers, Smoky Hill had a regional champion in junior Jovani Galvan, who claimed the 138-pound bracket and will be joined at state by sophomore Tagg Charity at 126 pounds. The Regis Jesuit duo is made up of senior Richard Avila (113) and sophomore Dane Anderson (120).
Senior Juan Valdez Martinez won a wrestleback at 170 pounds to give Overland representation in the state tournament, while Rangeview junior heavyweight Biram Griffey also earned passage.
Cherokee Trail played host to the Region 4 tournament and the host Cougars placed second, just ahead of Eaglecrest, with both area programs taking seven state spots apiece.
Cherokee Trail had four regional champions in all in seniors Renzo Lubugin (150) and Ryan Everhart (157), junior Cooper Mathews (132) and sophomore Elijah Van Horn (106). Coach Jeff Buck’s group is rounded out by seniors Andrew Dienhart (175) and Youdas Aghoulies (the 285-pound regional runner-up) and junior Weston Manuel (138).
Eaglecrest’s lone regional championship came at 138 pounds from sophomore Cade Picone, while runners-up at 113 pounds (sophomore Franz Marquez-Preza) and 190 pounds (senior Nakhai Miller) also advanced, as did seniors Donavon Delbridge II (126) and Aisley Retallack (157) and juniors Dane Sims (144) and Britton Matejovsky (150).
The last Aurora area qualifier from Region 4 was Vista PEAK Prep senior Ian Bacon, who captured the championship at 120 pounds.
The 4A state tournament will not have any Aurora area qualifiers, as Aurora Central (Region 2 at Windsor High School) plus Gateway and Hinkley (Region 1 at Thompson Valley High School) were shut out.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports