Breaking down regional wrestling by location

Here's the breakdown on where area teams are headed for regional wrestling on Friday and Saturday, with the number of teams at each location in parenthesis. Each classification is divided into four regionals, with the top four qualifying from each weight class. The top eight schools in each classification were seeded into four different regions based on the following criteria:

· Returning state placers based on 6 points for 1st, 5 points for 2nd, etc.

· Returning regional placers based 6 points for 1st, 5 points for 2nd, etc.

The remaining teams (9-66) were placed into regions using geography as the highest priority when possible.

5A
REGION 1 - SOUTHERN (16) at Pine Creek
Area teams: Doherty, Liberty, Palmer, Pine Creek, Rampart
Notes: Pine Creek is favored to win five weight classes -- Geordan Martinez (No. 1, 132), Derrick Ortiz (No. 6, 145), Alex Smith (No. 5, 152), Brandon Tribble (No. 4, 195) and Ian Kluckman (No. 4, 285) -- with five more wrestlers sitting in second place according to Tim Yount's On the Mat rankings. Doherty's top bet is Evan Boulton (No. 8, 138), whose top competitor figures to be No. 17 Max Bacon of Douglas County; a weight-class draw that also favors Palmer's Sam McCoy (No. 20, 138).

REGION 2 - METRO (16) at Westminster
Area team: Coronado
Notes: Defending state champion Adrian Cordova is ranked No. 1 at 113, leading the defending team champions. Devin House (No. 5, 126) also carries the region's top ranking in his class and five other Cougars are favored to nab top-four finishes.

REGION 3 - METRO (17) at Bear Creek
Area team: Fountain-Fort Carson
Notes: The Trojans should be in the running for 10 spots at state, despite losing Mike Day (No. 13, 145) to a broken hand. Top-ranked Josh Schoenberger (182) leads the group, with Rashawn Benford (No. 9, 138) also entering as the one to beat at his weight.

4A
REGION 1 - WESTERN (16) at Eagle Valley
Area teams: Mitchell
Notes: Mitchell's Brian King (No. 9, 160) is the favorite at his weight, but No. 11 and No. 12 are also in the field.

REGION 2 - METRO (17) at Englewood
Area teams: Lewis-Palmer, Palmer Ridge, Vista Ridge, Woodland Park
Notes: Palmer Ridge could have three regional champs -- Ryan Thalmhammer (No. 8, 106), Tyler Thalhammer (No. 7, 126) and Eric Guy (No. 11, 138), plus another if Antero Guy (No. 3, 145) can upset Wheat Ridge's top-ranked Nick Swanson. Lewis-Palmer has a favorite in Jack Wyman (No. 8, 170). At least 14 area grapplers are expected to advance from this site.

REGION 3 - SOUTHERN (17) at Pueblo State Fairgrounds
Area teams: Air Academy, Canon City, Cheyenne Mountain, Falcon, Harrison, Mesa Ridge, Sand Creek, Sierra, Wasson, Widefield
Notes: The biggest regional in terms of area teams includes five favorites from the Pikes Peak region -- Mesa Ridge's Keith Cays (No. 2, 145) and Devante Johnson (No. 3, 160), Cheyenne Mountain's Jeremy Grooms (No. 3, 170), Canon City's Miguel Montelongo (No. 2, 182) and Air Academy's Rip Price (No. 3, 220). Nine of the state's top 17 ranked 220-pound wrestlers are in the field.

REGION 4 - NORTHERN (16) at Longmont
Area team: Discovery Canyon
Notes: Top-ranked AJ Rees (113) and Steve Turner (120) could lead upwards of 10 Thunder wrestlers to state.

3A
REGION 3 - CENTRAL (12) at Bennett
Area Teams: TCA, Ellicott
Notes: TCA's Zach Dillon (No. 4, 160) and Daniel Register (No. 3, 182) are favorites, as is Ellicott's Brandon Simmons (No. 3, 138)

REGION 4 - SOUTHERN (11) at Dolores Huerta Prep
Area teams: CSCS, Florence, Manitou Springs, St. Mary's
Notes: If rankings hold, 3A Tri-Peaks champion Florence could send seven to state. Matthew Egeler (No. 8, 132) is the closest thing CSCS has to a lock.

2A
REGION 2 - SOUTH CENTRAL (17) at Sargent
Area teams: Cripple Creek
Notes: Cripple Creek doesn't have any wrestlers ranked in the state's top 15.

REGION 4 - SOUTHEASTERN (17) at La Junta
Area teams: Calhan, CSDB, Hanover, Peyton
Notes: Peyton's Wade Tope (No. 4, 182) is the area's top-ranked participant. Tope's teammates Tyler Hutson (No. 17, 138) and Steve Schuelke (No. 9, 285) are also favored to advance.