DENVER — Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores, Mancos and Dolores County fans had reasons to cheer Saturday night, as all four high schools had an individual weight champion at the 66th annual Colorado State Wrestling Championships in the Pepsi Center.

Mancos also finished third in the Class 2A team standings, finishing behind Akron and defending champ Wiggins.

Panther senior Cole Allison became a two-time champ after winning the 171-pound title. He won the 160-pound crown the year before. Bear junior Derek Thompson won the 275 bout. Blue Jay senior Jeremiah Muniz won at 130 pounds while Bulldog junior Kyle Riddell captured the 103-pound class.

Allison had battled Cody Fredrickso of Moffat County numerous times, especially in summer Colorado USA wrestling. He also had faced him a time or two throughout his career in prep competitions.

Allison knew what Fredrickso could do and Fredrickso knew what Allison could do. In fact, the two are friends. But Allison showed no mercy by crushing Fredrickso 17-4.

Allison dominated the match all the way, nearly pinning his opponent several times in the opening period alone.

"It certainly wasn’t the best match I have wrestled," Allison said afterwards. "I just tried to wrestle a smart match and I played it very cautiously. I didn’t want to make a silly mistake and get caught. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really happy with my performance. I just knew what had to be done, although I was doing it sloppily and giving him some points.

"I just wanted to win again. As I told you last year, I didn’t want him to be one up on me," Allison added.

In the semifinals, Allison had one of the quickest pins in the tournaments. Although Allison said he was really nervous before the match, he tossed George Holley of Woodland Park to the mat and then pinned him in 22 seconds. He pinned Mike Baron of Elizabeth in 1:38 in the quarterfinals.

Allison, who went undefeated at 48-0 last year, finished with a 41-1 overall record.

"Cole did a nice job," MCHS head coach Mike Allison commented after watching his son win for the second year in a row. (Mike Allison also won two state titles for Fountain-Fort Carson in 1968 and again in ’69). "It has been a fun four-year run for him. He had been here four times and won twice.

"It is not the end for Cole, as college is coming up. (He is heading to the University of Northern Colorado.) But he wrestled well through the whole tournament and did what he had to do."

Dolores County’s Riddell, who won the title with a 7-0 decision, finally got on the scoreboard Saturday night with a takedown midway through the first period against Danny Burchfield of Strasburg. Riddell dominated the first period by wrapping up Burchfield’s hands, and led 4-0. He nearly pinned Burchfield late in the second period and led 7-0. In the final period, Burchfield was on top but Riddell was able to work the clock down for the win.

"He had control the whole time," DCHS head coach Shane Baughman commented. "He wrestled a smart match. He worked hard all season. I was proud of him."

"I felt pretty good at the beginning," Riddell, who was state runner-up a year ago at that weight, said immediately after winning. "I tried to keep in control while not making a stupid move. I felt confident going into the match, thanks to my coaches. This was a tough year because I had to cut more weight. I just really wanted to win it this year."

Riddell dominated his opponent, Tony Gallegos of Calhan in the semifinals, winning 11-4 on Friday night, and he pinned Chad Delgadillo in the quarterfinals. He finished the season (including regionals and state) with a sparkling 43-3 record.

Mancos’ Muniz was in a dogfight against Florencio Salomon of Monte Vista in his championship match. It took a technical violation with 16 seconds left in the third quarter to give him a 4-3 decision. Muniz held on from there for the victory.

In the first period, neither of the combatants could gain advantage. When Salomon made a reversal to take a 2-3 lead midway in the third period, Muniz did not panic.

"Going into it, I knew it was going to be a hard one," Muniz said a few minutes after winning.

"He wasn’t doing anything and then the ref called me for stalling (which tied the score at 3). I stayed focused on what I had to do. When I stood up, he pushed me (out of bounds, for a technical violation). I just held on from there."

"You bet that was a good call," MHS head coach Travis Bryant said. "He pushed him out flagrantly. That put him up 4-3. Nobody can ride Jerry for 15 seconds. I knew at that point, he was going to win it. He has worked hard for these past six years and it paid off."

Muniz had another tough opponent in Friday’s semifinals. He faced Shawn Smith of Cheyenne Wells and won 5-3. He led 5-1 after two periods and then had to fend off Smith in the final period. Muniz finished with a 27-6 record.

Dolores’ Thompson closed the season with a perfect 29-0 record after winning the heavyweight bout. He faced a familiar foe in Fred Spor of Norwood from the San Juan Basin League. Thompson and Spor had met four times before with Thompson winning all the matches. And it was the same story in the finals as Thompson pinned him with 38 seconds left.

Referee Brent Van Hee told Thompson and Spor to "get something going" as neither had done much offensively. Thompson did by taking Spor down for takedown and a 3-2 win. The only other point he had picked up was from an escape early in the second period.

"He knew all about Spor and what to expect after beating him four times during the season," Dolores head coach Bill Kralicek remarked. "Each of them knew how to block off and counter. But fortunately he got into position and worked a move. It was an easy win. But if he had made a mistake, he could have been taken out just as easily. It worked out well for him."

"I just kind of caught him but I had been doing it all year long," Thompson said after winning the crown. "I just grabbed him and threw him and it worked out well. I pinned him in Regionals, too. I beat him 8-2 and pinned him in the second the other two times I faced him. I never thought I would have an undefeated season, especially when I was little. But I worked hard for it."

Thompson decisioned Rudolo Mendez of Wiggins 9-3 in the semifinals Friday night. He won by technical fall with a 17-1 decision over Lyndon Wagner of Holly in the quarterfinals.