DENVER | The best season for the Aurora area in boys wrestling in at least a decade wrapped up Saturday night at Ball Arena with a parade of locals to the medal stand.
Combined, area programs had 18 top-six placers in the Class 5A state tournament — more than a third of the total number of state qualifiers — which is a rise of six from the 2023 season and is by far the most in at least the past 12 years, which included five finalists and two state champions, which tied 2020 for tops in the past decade-plus.
On top of that, Grandview had a state champion in 165-pounder Charlie Herting (story, here) and finished in third place to tie the best finish in program history (matching the 2008 season), while Eaglecrest finished in sixth place and Cherokee Trail (which had the 106-pound champion in Cooper Mathews) took seventh. Regis Jesuit — led by 150-pound state champion Garrett Reece — finished just two points out of the top 10.
Coach Ryan Budd’s Grandview team had six of its 12 state qualifiers earn spots on the podium led by Herting, whose pin in the state championship match pushed the Wolves past Poudre into third place behind winner Pomona and runner-up Ponderosa. Sophomore Jonathan Montes Gonzales also bolstered Grandview’s point total as he finished as the 150-pound runner-up.
“We’ve had some good success at Grandview in the last 10 years,” Budd said. “It was really cool for us this year, seeing us projected third (by On The Mat) and I wasn’t quite sure if we could get there, but we had some kids grind through and make up points and made it happen.”
Senior Nehemiah Quintana had one of the grittiest performances, as he placed fourth at 132 pounds with a torn labrum suffered in a semifinal loss to eventual 132-pound state champion Lincoln Gregerson. He could have forfeited his remaining matches and placed sixth, but he decided to take the mat and won his consolation semifinal to make the third-place match, where he lost a 5-2 decision to Pine Creek’s Elijah Banks.
Sophomore Gunner Lopez — just months removed from a broken ankle and not wrestling at 100 percent — managed to place sixth at 157 pounds and went 3-3 with two one-point losses against Regis Jesuit’s Ryan Curran.
Grandview’s outstanding class of freshmen also contributed as JR Ortega rebounded from a two-point semifinal loss with two wins on the back side to place third and heavyweight Leland Day won three times on the backside after a quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Xavier Valentin-Bradford of Centaurus to place fifth.
Eaglecrest had a state finalist for the third straight season in senior Adonias Cantu, who finished as the runner-up at 113 pounds after he took the same spot at 106 as a junior, while coach Javier Quintana’s team had a total of four top-six placers.
Two of them were first-time state placers in senior Thayne Lundy at 175 pounds and junior Alijah Gabaldon at 126 and both finished the tournaments with wins in third-place matches. Senior Ethan Diaz took fourth at 120 pounds to better his podium spot by one from his junior season.
“Having our Day Three guys close the way they did was definitely proud of those guys because it is so hard on the backside,” Quintana said. “It was great seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces.”
Eaglecrest finished three points in front of Cherokee Trail for sixth place, while coach Jeff Buck’s Cougars had five total placers out of eight qualifiers.
Leading the way for Cherokee Trail was the program’s third all-time state champion in freshman Cooper Mathews at 106 pounds (story, here), while Mathews’ brother, Chance, finished in fourth place at 138 pounds and senior Jay Everhart (like Chance Mathews, a three-time state qualifier) got on the podium for the first time in fourth place at 126 pounds.
Rounding out the podium spots for Cherokee Trail were sophomore Ryan Everhart and junior Mateo Garreffa, who were sixth at 144 and 190 pounds, respectively.
Regis Jesuit had its first state champion since 2021 in Reece, who finished a 46-1 season with the 150-pound crown (story, here). Coach Dan Wrona’s Raiders had quality of quantity, as three of their five qualifiers made their way to the medal podium.
Senior Ryan Curran finished in fifth place at 157 pounds (after he was 1-2 at state in 2023), while senior Daniel Lantz came in sixth at 138 pounds in his first trip to state.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports