High School State Wrestling Tournament through the years as seen by retired Coach Bob Smith

When this was first written it was for two classifications at Aurora Central High School.  There were 12 weight classes and 4 places scored, and 192 contestants, with no seeding.   Who says Colorado has not arrived in the wrestling circles with other states????

Now there are 4 classifications, 14 weight classes, 6 places scored, seeding, and 896 contestants. Colorado is considered one of the best shows in the nation!!!!

This year the Colorado state high school wrestling tournament opens Thursday at the Pepsi Center.  For 896 wrestlers, the coming three days of tournament action climaxes a grueling season of conditioning and heartbreak unlike any other sport offered in our schools today.

Only 56 wrestlers will win state championships Saturday.  The other 840 will have little more than a memory of having gotten to the "big one" ---the state wrestling tournament.

What does the state tournament mean to these kids?  EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

Thousands of fans will jam the Denver Pepsi Center.  Hundreds of these fans will come from every corner of the state to see their Johnny wrestle in the state tourney.  Johnny is the only lad from their town who qualified for the state meet.  He may weigh only 103 pounds and just barely reach above the five foot mark.  But he's their boy and they'll be here to see him wrestle.

And within seconds it may be all over for Johnny and the hundreds of fans who migrated to Denver.  It's happened in the past and it'll happen this weekend.  Weeks and weeks of conditioning; living on tea, bagels, and steak; cutting weight from a normal 112 to 105 pounds.

And maybe, in just 50 seconds or so, Johnny gets pinned.  By another 15 year old, from another town, who swelled the chests of his handful of rooters by winning his first match in the "big one".

Or maybe the lad from your town is a 135-pounder.  And the only fans on hand are his folks, his girl, his aunt and a couple of buddies.

And he wins his first match, captures the imagination of the crowd, and gets into the finals on Saturday night.  For six minutes, 18,000 fans are pulling for your boy.

And in that six minutes his aunt faints, his girl is crying so hard she can't see the mat for the tears; his father is hoarse and his mother hasn't seen a second of it.  She's afraid to look.  And bingo---he's a state champion.

There isn't anybody who can help these 896 kids once they get on that mat Thursday.  There isn't any teammate to rely on to pick up the missed block or come up with a key pass.  And it doesn't make any difference whether you're 6-6 and 220 pounds or 5-foot and 105 pounds.

There are only two boys on the mat at one time.  The match may go six minutes or six seconds.

That's the way it goes in the state high school wrestling tournament.