Seniors Ryan Daves, Cole Baughman and Wyatt Wade go for gold starting today.
The Colorado High School Activities Association State Wrestling Championships kickoff at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Daves (35-0) is the No. 1-seed in 4A at 138 pounds for Montezuma-Cortez High School. He will take on Matt McFadden (22-11), who is a Cheyenne Mountain senior, in his first match.
Baughman (38-2) is the top seed in 2A at 132 pounds for Dove Creek. His first match is against Teddie Klingler (9-18), a sophomore from Antonito.
Wade (37-3) is the No. 2-seed at 145 pounds in 2A for Dolores. He is paired with junior Connor Wills (22-13), of Kiowa, in his first match.
Dove Creek tied a school record by qualifying nine wrestlers for the state tournament.
In addition to Baughman, other Bulldogs going are Colin Hobbs, 106; Case Baughman, 113; Chance Randolph, 120; Nick Jones, 126; Tyler Ebberts, 138; Dalton Randolph, 145; Wyatt Applin, 170; and, Tyson Smith, 285 (heavyweight).
Ethen Upton is the other wrestler from Dolores that's state bound, competing at 182s.
M-CHS qualified five.
Those going to state with Daves are sophomores Levi Gross, 120; Justice Ramos, 145; and, Seager Oliver, 160. Senior Trenton Gustafson (33-3) won a regional title at 182s and enters the 4A state tourney as the No. 8-seed.
Action begins today with the 2A preliminaries at 3 p.m., while the 4A prelims start at 7:15 p.m.
