In 2014, three El Paso County Colorado School District 49 high schools ó Falcon High School, Sand Creek High School and Vista Ridge High School ó began competing against each other in what is called the Triangular Wrestling Tournament.Falcon High School has won all but one championship since the tournamentís inception, including the December 2022 competition.All three are 4A teams and compete against each other at the regional and state competitions.Robert Lovato, FHS wrestling coach, said, ìItís a competition within our D 49 high schools that allows us to give bragging rights to the team who wins it that year.î The schools rotate hosting, and this year was Falcon Highís turn. Lovato said Vista Ridge is growing their wrestling program, and he expects them to finish in the top 15 in the state this year. ìThey pushed us pretty hard this year but we were able to come out on top.îThe final scores for the tournament:Vista Ridge vs. Sand Creek – 60-18 (VRHS)Falcon vs. Sand Creek -†66-6 (FHS)Falcon vs. Vista Ridge – 50-24 (FHS)Lovato said the FHS wrestling team is qualifying multiple students to state competition. ìLast year, we qualified about 10,î he said. ìThe year before it was eight. Thatís out of 14 on the team.î This year, they are hoping to qualify between seven and 10 wrestlers. For the past 10 years, FHS has had a top-10 or higher average finish at the Colorado 4A state wrestling tournament.The seniors on the team have not experienced a loss at home in four years. The last loss was in 2018 for the Pikes Peak League title.The Colorado High School Activities Association state wrestling competition will take place Feb. 18 to Feb. 20 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Lovato said itís one of the biggest high school events that CHSAA hosts. ìWe are ranked sixth in the state right now. Iím hoping we can finish in the top five,î he said. Prior to the state event, the team will compete in the regionals in Durango the first week of February.Lovato has been coaching in D 49 for 32 years. The current coaching staff has been together for more than 10 years.ìWe always look forward to the Triangular Wrestling Tournament because it helps us gauge how our season is going to go,î he said. ìThey are always good, hard-fought duels. I have a lot of respect for the other schoolsí coaches because they are dedicated to building programs there, too.î
