DENVER | Charlie Herting earned himself a high place on the medal podium at last season’s Class 5A boys state wrestling tournament, but he will be at minimum one step higher this time.
The Grandview junior standout placed third last season at Ball Arena and he will get the chance to follow that up with a state championship Saturday after he posted a win by fall in the opening period of his 165-pound semifinal Friday.
Herting had wrestled less than three minutes in each of his first two state victories and he needed only 51 seconds in the semifinals, when he turned Brighton senior Izaiah Schoepp and pinned him to earn his first berth in a state final. Herting (46-5) will face Poudre’s Brett Lamb (33-13) in the state championship match.
Coach Ryan Budd’s Grandview team finished 2-2 in the semifinal round, as sophomore Jonathan Montes Gonzales also made the final at 150 pounds. The Wolves moved into fourth place as a team in the 5A standings going into final day.
Herting’s lost to Pomona’s Dante Hutchings in the championship match at the Arvada West Invitational, but he didn’t get a chance to avenge it when Lamb topped Hutchings 7-4 in the semifinals. It will set up a rematch from the Region 3 final, when Herting pinned Lamb in the third period of the championship match.
Herting opened his state tournament with a win by fall in the second period against Mountain Vista’s Charlie Rohlf, then followed that up with a quarterfinal pin of Fort Collins’ Beckett Cropp.
In the championship session, he will join teammate Montes Gonzales — who will oppose Regis Jesuit junior Garrett Reece in an all-Aurora 150-pound final — along with Cherokee Trail freshman Cooper Mathews (who is in the 106-pound final) and Eaglecrest senior Adonias Cantu, who will wrestle for the 113-pound crown.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports