NoCo Nine: City wrestling rivalries, top-10 wins and big basketball week lead best in local preps

January sure is a fun time for high school sports.

From the mat to the pool and the hardwood, it was a busy week for Fort Collins-area preps as the games, matches and meets start to have serious postseason implications.

The race for the city wrestling title got some clarity, the state's best scorer had another absurd game and a couple local teams notched huge top-10 wins.

Here are the best things we saw in Fort Collins-area high school sports this past week.

Note: If you have nominations for future NoCo Nine editions, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

Poudre wrestling takes control of city title race

It was a city showdown that turned into a rout.

The Impalas took command of the city title race with a dominant 55-17 dual match win over Fort Collins on Thursday night on the wrestling mat.

Poudre won 10 of the 14 matches and eight of them via fall, including pins for Billy Greenwood, Banks Norby, Marcus and Nico Bekkedahl, Ty Reeves, Colter Junker, Ryder Clarkson and Neko Ortiz.

The Impalas are No. 6 in the latest Class 5A On the Mat rankings and should only get better given that Greenwood's win vs. Fort Collins was his first match of the season after an early injury.

Poudre will host Rocky Mountain this Thursday with a chance to clinch a city sweep.

Fossil Ridge beats Broomfield on game-winning 3

It's not all that often you get a bona fide game-winning 3-pointer in the high school ranks.

The Fossil Ridge boys basketball team did just that last week, as Cayden Clagett (off a set inbounds play) hit a dagger 3-point shot from the right wing in the final seconds to lift the SaberCats past Broomfield 51-50 in a thriller.

The win was a big one, keeping Fossil (10-4) hanging around the 6A top 10 and right in contention for the Front Range League crown at 5-1 in conference play.

PSD skiing stands out in Steamboat

The Poudre School District Nordic ski team continued its early-season momentum with a big Saturday at Steamboat Spring's 5k classic race.

The boys team took runner-up honors with 201 points, just eight behind first-place Summit.

Cade Shortridge finished third, taking the bronze in just over 16 minutes. Five other PSD boys skiers placed in the top-20, led by Keagan Oakes and Brodie Morrison in 12th and 13th, separated by less than a half second.

On the girls side, the Stars finished in third with 194 points.

Ellayna Potter and Clara Statkus took fourth and fifth place, respectively, with just 2.9 seconds between them.

After opening the season with home wins at Hoedown Hill in Windsor, PSD kept the momentum rolling in the second week.

Fort Collins girls score top-10 road win

The Fort Collins girls basketball team erased any remaining doubt about their status as a true contender in Class 6A with a major road win last week.

Playing their second game in as many days, Fort Collins took down top-10 Rock Canyon 58-46 last Saturday.

Combined with a 42-point win over Prairie View on Friday and wins over Erie and Broomfield the previous week as part of a six-game winning streak, the Lambkins are now up to No. 7 in the 6A seeding index and tied for the FRL lead.

Jayce King goes off again

It was a big week all-around for Lambkins basketball.

On the boys side, Jayce King had another monster game, scoring 44 points with eight 3-pointers made in a 92-46 rout over Prairie View.

The eight 3s set a new single-game Fort Collins program record and also gave him the career program record with 114 and counting.

King is having a sensational senior season. This was his second straight 40-plus point outing, and he leads all 6A scorers with 31 points per game — nearly 10 clear of second place!

Senior Night for the Stars

It was Senior Night for the Stars girls wrestling squad last Thursday in their last home dual of the season.

PSD is now 5-1 in dual matches this season after romping to a 54-12 win over Adams City.

This was also the final home match for a pair of program staples in Aubrey First and Pearl Morris, seniors who have helped the program grow over the past several seasons.

They each won their matches via pin, leading nine total match wins for PSD over the Eagles.

Fossil Ridge, Rocky Mountain dominate local quad meet

It was a city showdown last Thursday in the pool, giving a sneak preview of this week's City Meet.

Fossil Ridge won the team crown at quad meet that included Poudre, Rocky Mountain and Loveland.

Fossil and Rocky nearly swept the event titles, with a Loveland swimmer preventing the sweep in the 500-yard freestyle.

Ella Gaca-Thiele won the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly and helped the 200 freestyle and 200 IM relay squads to wins for Fossil.

For the Lobos, Teresa Collingwood won the 100 free and 100 backstroke races and helped the Lobos take the 400 free relay race.

Stars shine again on the ice

The Poudre School District hockey team continued a resurgent season last week.

The Stars rolled to a 6-1 home win Friday over Standley Lake, which entered the game unbeaten and No. 6 in CHSAA's 5A seeding index.

PSD did drop a road game at No. 1 Valor Christian, but the Stars are ranked 4th themselves at 7-3 just one year after a 3-13-1 season.

They'll host another big game this Friday (6 p.m.) against No. 3 Cherry Creek at the NoCo Ice Center.

Rocky Mountain beats Fossil Ridge on the mat

The Lobos are also still alive for the city title after holding off Fossil Ridge 40-36 in a home dual meet, part of a program sweep over the SaberCats.

The teams split the 14 matches at 7-7 but Rocky winning four of the matches via pin ultimately made the scoring difference.

Rocky's Kaemon Cobb, Bryce Sanford, Jackson Camp, Alex Carl, Brady Swigert and Lir and Cormac Loughlin all beat their city rivals.

The Lobos will face Poudre on Thursday for a chance to at least share the coveted city championship.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: NoCo Nine: Best of Fort Collins-area sports for week of January 14-20