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Prep Report: Gray's 'consolation' is another U.S. wrestling title

Published April 13, 2006 at midnight

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Adeline Gray of Bear Creek came close to qualifying for the state wrestling tournament this season. Had the 5-foot-7, 130-pound freshman made it to the final weekend of the season, she would have been in the field with the first girl to reach the tournament, Golden's Brooke Sauer.

Gray, 15, compiled a 16-16 varsity record at Bear Creek, including a 2-2 mark at regionals. But Gray, who pinned seven of her opponents at Bear Creek and notched a third-place finish at the Golden Invitational, made up for it April 2 in Lake Orion, Mich. That's when she won her fourth national title at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association championships.

"I was really proud of Brooke," said Gray, who won her first national title when she was 6 years old (100-pound weight class) and two others in middle school, at 115 and 118 pounds. "I just wish I could have been down (at the Pepsi Center) with her. I came close, though, so, maybe next season."

Gray, one of three sisters who wrestle in her family, said she did not expect to win the title at the nationals this year.

"But I went in with confidence," said Gray, who has a 41-3 record in girls wrestling. "It was just a real thrill to win the high school title, and I know that past experience helped there. I would like to win four (high school titles) now, but I've still got a long way to go."

Gray, who was pinned only twice this season at Bear Creek, had a tough bracket to navigate at nationals. In the quarterfinals, she was pitted against the No. 1 seed in the weight class and the runner-up last season, Paige Storm, of Spencer, Iowa. Gray surprised herself with a 16-1 technical-fall victory.

Gray then pinned Aubrae Putnam from Anchorage, Alaska, who never had lost in a girls match before the nationals, in the third period of their semifinal. She then defeated Christine Cunningham, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 4-2 in overtime, for the title.

Junior Rachel Pike, of Strasburg, also competed in the national tournament and finished 10th.

Gray also is a member of the varsity cross country team at Bear Creek and is playing soccer this spring for the Bears.

"Wrestling and cross country are sports in which the athletes have to deal with pain," said her father, George, a Denver policeman. "She knows athletic pain and how to deal with it. No doubt, I'm extremely proud of her and her accomplishments."

And, as a national champion, so is the Colorado wrestling community.

WRESTLING ROUNDUP: Team Colorado placed seventh at the 29-team Brute Scholastic Duals last weekend at Dover, Del. Colorado defeated Virginia (43-19), Maryland (35-18), Indiana (44-18) and New Jersey Red (39-16) but lost to Delaware (50-9), Illinois (30-24) and New Jersey Blue (54-0). Class 3A state champion Saul Guerrero of Fort Lupton led the way with a 6-1 record at 119 pounds. State 5A champions Patrick Armstrong of Ponderosa (145) and Marcus Felker of Thornton (275) had 5-2 records . . . The National Federation of State High School Associations approved a change in the overtime procedure. Beginning next season, if no score occurs in the sudden-victory period, two 30-second tiebreakers will take place. Scoring in these two tiebreakers will be conducted as in a regular match. If the score remains tied at the conclusion of the two tiebreakers, one additional 30-second period will be conducted, with the first person scoring declared the winner. If no points are scored, the offensive wrestler wins the match. Previously, only one 30-second tiebreaker was conducted after the one-minute overtime period . . . Also, for the first time since 1987, the limit on the heavyweight class was increased from 275 to 285 pounds . . . Three-time state champion Curtis Salazar of Valley was selected by the Colorado Chapter of the National Wresting Hall of Fame as its high school wrestler of the year. Gary Ramstetter of 4A champion Alamosa is the coach of the year. They will be honored April 30 at a dinner at the Air Force Academy Officer's Club . . . In addition, Sauer and Pueblo South's Marcus Hernandez will be presented with Special Merit Awards for their achievements this past season. Sauer was the first girl to qualify for the boys state tournament in Colorado. Hernandez, the 4A state champion at 125, is blind. Hernandez was a state runner-up last year . . . The wrestling official of the year is Ben Miller of Littleton and the media person of the year is John Mullen of KNLB-AM (1450) . . . Quinten Fuentes of Roosevelt is the Colorado winner of the Dave Shultz Award, presented by Wrestling USA magazine. The award is given for excellence in wrestling, academics and citizenship.

RECORD BREAKER: Littleton's J.T. Scheuerman came through with a stellar effort in the 400-meter run at the prestigious Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational last weekend.

Scheuerman took second in the 400 with a time of 46.24 seconds. In the process, he bettered Colorado's all-classification record in the event. He broke the previous mark of 46.57, established by Montbello's Albert Ransom in 1989. Ransom also set his record at Arcadia.

Scheuerman, a senior, also placed third in the 200 with a time of 21.48. The all-classification state record is held by Wasson's Roc Alexander, set in 2000, with a time of 21.02.

At the same meet, two Colorado distance runners also bolstered their status as two of the best in the nation.

Keara Sammons of Smoky Hill, the 5A state cross country champion, placed third in the 3,200 meters with a personal-best time of 10 minutes, 20.39 seconds. It is the fourth- best time in the country this season.

In addition, Denver South's Mohamud Ige, the 4A state cross country champion, finished fourth in the 1,600 meters (4:14.10).

SHOWTIME: The Show high school all-star basketball games will be played Saturday at the Pepsi Center. The girls game will be played at 3:30 p.m., before the Denver Nuggets play the Sacramento Kings. The boys will play after the Nuggets game, at about 9:30 p.m.

A special ticket package for the Nuggets and high school games is available by calling 303-405-1212. For game rosters, go to Rocky- Preps.com.

MORE HOOPS: The Joint Effort Colorado Hoops Basketball Festival hits prime time Friday and Saturday at Metro State.

In the featured boys games, the top Colorado high school seniors, led by the Rocky Mountain News/CBS 4 Mr. Basketball, Matt Bouldin of ThunderRidge, and Class 4A Mr. Basketball, Pierre Allen of Thomas Jefferson, will be pitted against players from around the country who have committed to area universities.

The featured game for the senior girls matches the Colorado team against an all-star squad composed of players from New Jersey. The boys games will be played at 7:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday, with the girls tipping off the action at 6 p.m. Additional boys games Saturday will be played at 4:30 and 5:45 p.m., with the girls playing at 7 p.m.

ETC.: The Colorado High School Activities Association announced the boys lacrosse state championship game will be played May 20 at 5 p.m. at Invesco Field at Mile High. The game originally was scheduled for May 19 . . . Smoky Hill will play host to its annual swimming and diving invitational Saturday. Among the top teams scheduled to compete are the host Buffaloes, Heritage, Mullen, Grandview and George Washington. Preliminaries are scheduled for 8:30 a.m., with the finals slated for 5 p.m. . . . Cassie Fightmaster of Fossil Ridge scored 10 goals in a 13-0 victory against Fort Lupton on Saturday . . . Dakota Ridge diver Jake Lebin was the co-winner of the Hoyt Brauner Award, which was awarded at the Colorado Coaches Invitational. He shared the honor with Phillip Oleksiak of Regis . . . Lakewood has hired Clay Thielking as its new boys basketball coach. Thielking had been an assistant at Columbine . . . Nike is sponsoring a 5-kilometer race and a 1-mile kids run/walk in Denver on May 7. The entry fee is $15, plus an additional $5 for a Niketown 5K T-shirt. Nike will donate the entry fee to a school's physical education or athletic program of each entrant's choosing. Entry forms are available at Niketown (Denver Pavilions). Online entries and more information are available at www.niketown5k.com.