Lewis-Palmer, Discovery Canyon, Falcon, Florence have light weight state wrestling finalists

Discovery Canyon freshman A.J Rees and Florence's Jacob Cole will wrestle for state 3A championships Saturday night at Denver's Pepsi Center. Rees, a 103-pounder, controlled his semifinal match and won on points. Cole held on to win 8-5 to advance in the 112-pound division.

Discovery Canyon's Nick Adams will have the chance to be a 3A state champion again and complete an undefeated season. Adams dominated his 130-pound semifinal match leading 11-1 after two periods and won 17-1. He won in 2008 and was third last season.

"I went out and wrestled as hard as I could," Adams said. "I'm happy with how it turned out."

Lewis-Palmer's Dan Barringer won his semifinal 152-pound match with a pin in the second period and will wrestle for a 4A state title tomorrow. 

"I've got one more but it feels good right now," said Barringer, who is undefeated this season. "The goal isn't to get second."

Barringer finished third last year but will get the chance to wrestle in the final session at Pepsi Center this time.

"It's a different stage but to be honest, I'll embrace it," Barringer said. "I think I'll wrestle better tomorrow. I think I wrestle well under pressure."

Richie Bailey, who wrestles for Falcon but attends Hilltop Baptist, has made the most of his last shot at the state tournament. The senior won his semifinal match in the 135-pound class to advance to tomorrow's 4A finals.

Matt Addington won his 49th match in as many tries and the Florence senior will wrestle for his third 3A state title Saturday.  Addington hasn't lost since the state tournament his freshman year. He led 14-0 after one period in his semifinal match and finished the 15-0 decision early in the second period.

In quarterfinals earlier Friday, Cripple Creek's lone winner from Thursday has been eliminated. Tanner Watkins was pinned by T-Lane Mazzola of Hayden in a 2A 103-pound match. Two of Watkins' teammates lost in Thursday's preliminary round. The 2A and 3A wrestlers are competing now, with 4A and 5A starting later.

Dan Barringer of Lewis-Palmer and Richie Bailey of Falcon advanced to tonight’s semifinal matches in 4A.

Barringer, who is 43-0 this season, pinned Jarrod Bechtold of Skyline in 3:03 to advance. Bailey won a tight 8-6 decision against Jon Zurek of Broomfield in a 135-pound match. With another win, they will wrestle for a state title Saturday night.

Discovery Canyon junior Nick Adams controlled his match against Kyle King of Florence to advance to Friday's 3A semifinals in the 130-pound class. Adams improved to 42-0 this season with the win.

Discovery Canyon and Florence put two light-weight wrestlers in the semifinals. Adams is joined by 103-pounder A.J. Rees, who won a 4-2 decision. For Florence, 112-pounder Jacob Cole won 22-9 after falling behind early and 119-pounder Dylan Hodges won 9-3.

Make it 131 wins in a row for Florence's Matt Addington. One more win this afternoon and he will compete for his third straight state 3A title in Saturday's finals. Addington's 48th straight win this season was a pin in the quarterfinals against Freddie Erebia of Highland.

"I've worked harder this year than any other year to keep my dream alive," Addington said.

Addington's last loss was at the Pepsi Center in the state tournament his freshman year.

"He's a special kid," Florence coach Bob Masse said.

Discovery Canyon's Michael Ellsworth and Manitou Springs' Jake Landals will each wrestle in the 3A 171 semifinals later Friday for the chance to go to the finals Saturday. In the quarterfinals, Ellsworth won a 4-3 decision and Landals won 6-0 after the first two periods were scoreless.

Ellsworth and Landals are on different sides of the bracket, so they could meet each other in the finals if they each win their next match.

Falcon senior Jose Cos, a 145-pounder who finished third in the 4A state tournament last year, was upset in the quarterfinals by Fort Morgan sophomore Brandon Hoffman. Cos came into the match with a 37-1 record, but never scored a point on Hoffman, who is 35-6. Cos lost 4-0, ending his quest of wrestling for a state championship on Saturday night.

Cos' teammate Richie Bailey, a senior, won his quarterfinal match 8-6 and will attempt to make the finals in the 135-pound weight class.