NoCo Nine: Swim champs, hoops thrillers, wrestling regional titles lead best of local preps

What a week for local high school sports!

In more than two years doing this weekly column, this was by far the most jam-packed week for standout performances.

Four athletes took state championships in the pool, all four city rivalry basketball games featured upsets/thrilling finishes and local wrestling had 44 state qualifiers with 12 regional winners.

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.

Wellington's first state champion

The Eagles are on the board!

Cody Monajjem earned the first state championship in the new school's second year, winning the Class 3A 200-yard freestyle Saturday with a time of 1 minute, 52.69 seconds.

She also took second place in the 100 backstroke, giving her four top-two individual finishes in her first two seasons.

Monajjem also helped the Eagles' 400 free relay team with Sarah Hughes, Josie Staples and Izabella Bartling set a new personal record time.

The home-schooled sophomore is one of the state's best young swimmers and now she's got a gold medal.

Thrillers all around in city hoops rivalries

What a Friday night for city basketball.

All around town, there were thrillers and upsets across the boys and girls doubleheaders at Rocky Mountain and Poudre.

The Fossil Ridge girls basketball team kicked it off with a close upset over the Lobos, erasing an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and scoring the game's final 12 points in a stunning 51-47 comeback. Natalie Lin and Carmen Arkin combined for 21 points to lead the SaberCats.

The Rocky boys returned the favor with a mild upset of their own, knocking off Fossil 47-45 in a thriller.

Peyton Matkin had a huge game with 16 points (four 3-pointers), while Avantae Hood scored the Lobos' final five points, including a game-winning fadeaway with five seconds left.

Over at Poudre, there was more drama.

The Impala girls took down the city's top-rated team, completely shutting Fort Collins down in a 38-25 defensive slugfest. Jacque Forest led the way with 13 points, while Poudre's defense held the Lambkins to just 20% shooting.

The boys game went down to the wire, with Fort Collins holding on 45-44 as part of a surging 4-0 week for the Lambkins. Jayce King and co. held off huge games from Luke Foster and Pierce Decker, who combined for 34 of Poudre's 44 points.

Windsor wins regional with near-qualifying sweep

Windsor looked the 4A wrestling state championship favorite it is, romping to a home regional win Saturday.

Windsor's depth really shined in a 56-point team win.

The Wizards qualified a massive 13 wrestlers (out of 14 lines) for state, up from 11 a year ago when they finished as 4A runners-up.

Overall, four Windsor wrestlers won their region and will be serious threats for an individual state title in Denver this week:

• 106 pounds: James Pantoja (1st)

• 144: Noah Garcia-Salazar (1st)

• 190: Evan Perez (1st)

• 215: Cale Meuchel (1st)

Josie Stahl stands out with state title

Speaking of sensational underclassmen swimmers, Liberty Common's Josie Stahl also brought home a state championship Saturday at the 3A state meet.

The Eagles' freshman won the 100 breaststroke with a blistering time of 1:05.46 — just .2 off the 3A state record.

It was part of an all-around masterful state meet.

She also took third in the 200 individual medley and swam on top-5 relay units with Addison Jones, Abby Daharsh, Quinn Barr and Cora Jorgenson in the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

Stahl put the state on a notice, debuting with gold at her first state meet for a young, talented Eagles' squad.

Poudre wrestling goes big at regionals

The Impalas were the cream of the city crop, finishing runner-up (by just 10 points) in Broomfield at 5A region 3 at Legacy.

It was an impressive state qualifying haul for Poudre, which landed 11 wrestlers on the state mat with top-four regional finishes.

Plus, five Impalas also won their weight class, meaning they'll be in great bracket shape to contend for state titles in Ball Arena:

• 120: Marcus Bekkedahl (1st)

• 138: Nico Bekkedahl (1st)

• 144: Billy Greenwood (1st)

• 157: Banks Norby (1st)

• 190: Ryder Clarkson (1st)

Fossil Ridge (5), Fort Collins (4) and Rocky Mountain (3) also combined for 12 state qualifiers in other 5A regional action.

PSD ski team wins again

One week after their first classic event team win, the PSD boys Nordic ski squad backed it up with a 5-kilometer skate title Wednesday at the Gold Run Nordic Center race in Breckenridge.

PSD held off Summit 214-210, and three Stars' skiers finished in the top 10, including Cade Shortridge (3rd), Ethan Cooley (5th) and Brodie Morrison (8th).

It's the team's third race win this season, a strong sign ahead of league and state championships over the next two weeks.

Clara Statkus (5th) and Ellayna Potter (6th) also had top-10 finishes for the PSD girls, who finished fourth as a team.

Gaca-Thiele pulls off state-title double

Fossil Ridge's Ella Gaca-Thiele delivered a one-two punch to the freestyle field Friday night, winning back-to-back 5A state swim championships in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

They were the SaberCats' first state titles in two years after a rare shutout last season and a return to the program's standards. Fossil finished fifth overall in the team standings.

Gaca-Thiele won the 50 free by less than .1 seconds over two swimmers, while she cruised home in the 100 free by nearly a second after a ferocious final turn.

Expect to see the Fossil sophomore with more hardware over the next two years.

Fossil Ridge junior Sydney Ovesen also earned a state championship, winning gold in the 5A one-meter diving competition Wednesday.

Stars shine on the regional mat

The Stars were out on the mat for girls regional action in Fort Lupton.

The PSD girls team qualified four for state, and that included two region champs.

Pearl Morris (125) and Natasha Hartman (140) won their respective weight classes, while Mariah Gonzalez (2nd, 235) and Aubrey First (4th, 130) also earned qualifying spots.

Games of the Week

• State wrestling tournament (Thursday-Saturday, Ball Arena): The state tournament will have a big Fort Collins-area delegation, with 44 local wrestlers qualifying from regionals. Action starts Thursday, continues with quarterfinals and semifinals Friday and wraps up with Championship Saturday.

• City basketball rivalries (Thursday, 5:30 and 7 p.m.): It's another round of crosstown basketball doubleheaders to finish the regular season, with Poudre playing at Fossil Ridge and Rocky Mountain travelling to Fort Collins. Every team in town (boys or girls) is 1-1 in rivalry action, so city titles are on the line.

• Monarch at PSD Stars hockey (Friday, 6 p.m., NoCo Ice Center): It's a season-finale showdown on the ice, as PSD hosts the Coyotes. Seeding is on the line, with the two teams battling for the crucial No. 4 seed and a bye in the 5A first round.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: NoCo Nine: Best of Fort Collins-area high school sports for Feb. 4-10