The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The regular portion of Season B enters its second half and focus is beginning to shift towards the postseason. State wrestling is just four weeks away, as is State swimming and diving for girls. Basketball will see its champions crowned one week later.

Lamar and La Junta both participated in the Alamosa girls triangular last Tuesday. La Junta won its dual with Durango (18-12) with Justina O'Canas picking up a pinfall victory at 118 pounds and drew with Alamosa (6-6). Lamar beat Durango (12-0) behind a pinfall win from Crystalyn Felan at 127. Lamar also drew with Alamosa (12-12) with no matches being contested.

In its home quad last Saturday, Brush defeated Yuma 12-6. Trinity Cruz (118) and Ambrosia Cruz (161) earned pinfall victories for Brush, while Destiny Henderson claimed Yuma's lone win, also by pin.

Wiggins hosted a tough triangular last Tuesday and the Tigers dropped their duals with Lyons (42-24) and Yuma (48-26). Pepper Rusher picked up wins at 182 and 170 and Laith Ibrahim won both of his matches at 285.

Tuesday was a big day for Crowley County, as the Chargers won duals over Sargent and Fowler. Fowler dropped another dual with Limon, but handled Sargent in their match-up. Limon took a narrow victory over Sargent, as well.

Lamar, who fell from the top 10 in the most recent On The Mat rankings for Class 3A, defeated County Line 69-9 last Thursday, winning six of eight contested weights. The Savages also won all three of their duals last Saturday in their home event, downing Dolores Huerta Prep (72-6), Strasburg (59-12) and Centauri (35-34).

Burlington claimed a win over Byers last Thursday, 54-11. The Cougars won three of five contested classes. Matakeasji Rodriguez (120), Matthew Gutierrez (126) and Michael Gutierrez (145) claimed the victories for the squad.

Brush dominated its home event last Friday, defeating Standley Lake (42-35), Arvada (63-6), and Fort Lupton (36-33). The Beetdiggers also earned a 45-24 win over University the night before.

Fort Morgan edged Erie (39-35) on Saturday and then controlled Silver Creek (60-12). The Mustangs won five of 10 matches against Erie and four of six versus Silver Creek.

Sticking with Fort Morgan, the Lady Mustangs picked up their first win of the year on the hardwood, defeating Niwot 52-30 last Tuesday. Emma Christensen led the way with 15 points and Jenna Fritzler added 12. Entering this week, the Class 4A squad stands at 1-5. They were at Thompson Valley on Tuesday and will visit Roosevelt on Thursday and Riverdale Ridge on Saturday.

In Class 3A, Lamar (5-1), La Junta (5-2) and Brush (4-2) are all in the mix for the postseason. Lamar's upset of St. Mary's (63-48) last Thursday has the Lady Savages one game back of the leaders in the Tri-Peaks and they got their shot at one of them, The Vanguard, on Wednesday. Lamar also faces Ellicott on Friday.

La Junta is also one game back in the league standings and the Lady Tigers had a go at the other co-leader, Ellicott, also on Wednesday. Friday sees them hosting Manitou Springs in another important league contest.

Brush currently has the best shot of getting into the state tournament as an at large team, sitting 15th in the RPI entering the week. The Lady Beetdiggers are third in the Patriot standings after last week's 58-33 loss to Platte Valley. After a trip to Valley on Wednesday, Brush is home on Friday against Sterling and Saturday against Liberty Common.

Rocky Ford enters the week as one of seven remaining unbeatens in Class 2A. The Lady Meloneers rolled to wins over John Mall, Holly and Hoehne last week, allowing a total of 55 points in those three games. It's another busy week, as Tuesday's trip to Swink is followed by home games with Fowler and Crowley County over the weekend.

Holyoke and Sedgwick County are a combined 15-0 at the start of the week and the two will meet on Friday in what could be the LPAA championship game. Sedgwick County upset Wray (65-63) last Thursday and then followed that up with wins over Burlington (56-50) and Dayspring Christian (49-29). The Lady Dragons still have a daunting schedule remaining, with games against Haxtun, Wray, Burlington and Limon in the final two weeks of the regular season.

There are only four unbeatens left in Class 1A and two are in the southeast portion of the State. Kim/Branson and Kit Carson both enter week four at 7-0. Kim/Branson earned a nice 45-42 win over Cotopaxi last Friday and the Lady Mustangs have important games with Wiley and South Baca this week. Kit Carson handled Simla and Granada last week and had their contest with Fleming canceled due to weather. This week sees the Lady Wildcats visiting Eads on Friday and hosting Springfield on Saturday.

Cheraw's boys took a big step towards securing an automatic berth into the Class 1A tournament by defeating Cheyenne Wells (48-42) last Friday. The Wolverines are unbeaten and tied for the High Plains lead with McClave. Eads and Granada are each one game back, and both still remain on the slate for Cheraw, as does McClave. McClave owns a 66-62 victory over Eads last weekend and the Cardinals visited Granada on Tuesday.

Limon and Wray are both heavy favorites to make deep runs into the Class 2A postseason. Limon improved to 7-0 with wins over Flagler (76-21) and Byers (73-33) last week. The Eagles, meanwhile, climbed to 6-0 thanks to wins against Wiggins (84-61) and Sedgwick County (70-41). The two heavyweights meet a week from Saturday in a non-league clash.

Holly is just behind those two in the statewide standings. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the year to Sanford, but rebounded to defeat Fowler 56-44 last Saturday. Holly and Fowler meet next Thursday and again in week six.

Brush continues to climb the standings in Class 3A. The Beetdiggers are tied with Sterling atop the Patriot league and they will visit the Tigers on Thursday. All four of Brush's victories coming into this week have been by single digits.

Both Lamar and La Junta need to start stringing victories together as the duo are deep in the RPI standings. The Savages began the week ranked 39th in that metric, while La Junta was 59th.

Even though eight more teams qualify for the Class 4A tournament than in the three lower classifications, Fort Morgan also needs to collect wins to guarantee itself a postseason spot. The Mustangs came into the week at 3-3, 34th in the RPI. They are part of a logjam right behind Severance in the Longs Peak and can create some separation with wins this week over Thompson Valley (Tuesday), Roosevelt (Thursday) and Riverdale Ridge (Saturday). Only Tuesday's game was at scheduled to be at home.