SPORTS

People, places, events dot prep sports recap

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It felt like a normal year.

After COVID-caused interruptions and cancellations, 2022 felt like a much more normal year in the world of prep sports. Masks weren’t required, and crowds came to cheer on their teams.

It also meant a fuller slate of things to present on our pages during the year. Here’s a list of some of the things we talked about in 2022.

Sports people

We talked about people. A lot of people. Like Fort Lupton’s Taylor Fells, who signed her letter of intent to play softball at Blue eld State College in Vermont.

And Bryce Conover of Frederick High School. Frederick’s starting quarterback signed to play football and continue his education at Western State Colorado University Gunnison.

And Reygan Garcia of Fort Lupton. She fought her way through more than just the usual recruiting issues and the ones courtesy of COVID-19.

“After I tore my ACL, a lot of colleges didn’t want to trust me anymore,” she said. “ ey thought I would keep reinjuring it.

“ is coach (Coach Chad Miller) stayed consistent with me,” she said

And Alex Sturn, also of Frederick, who wanted to combine his two main interests - college football and engineering. He found a place where he can do both, the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota.

And Frederick alum Lucas Dunker, who hasn’t had a lot of luck in his college football career. He enrolled at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, only to see the season called o because of COVID-19. He transferred to Washington State University and walked on the football team. But that didn’t work out either.

Dunker eventually chose Tulane University after entering the NCAA’s transfer portal. ere aren’t many people who can say they are thankful for anything to do with the pandemic.

Fort Lupton’s Conner Moll can, even thought the pandemic made staying sharp tough and nding a college to recruit him tougher.

Moll signed a collegiate letter of intent May 26 to play basketball and study business entrepreneurship at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I’m grateful for COVID now,” he added. “It was a hard few years. It really helped me out.” e area also had to say goodbye to a former FLHS state champion wrestler, Joe Serna, who died at Prairie View High School Aug. 30. Serna won his state title in 2000. Tom Galicia, Fort Lupton’s current wrestling coach, knew Serna. pollsters right. Balcazar won the state title with a 4-0 decision over Larhae Whaley of Soroco.

Her teammate, Lashya Tijerina, also quali ed for the state girls tournament. She penned a column about her experience against Mead’s Renata Means in a uni ed wrestling match.

Even though the Frederick boys basketball team made it to the nal four of the state tournament for the rst time since 1956, it was easy to see the disappointment on the faces of the Warriors’ players at the Denver Coliseum in mid-March.

Pueblo South took advantage of 23 FHS turnovers to end Frederick’s season 67-56 March 11.

Frederick’s run through the state 4A softball tournament consisted of three familiar opponents and a berth in the semi nals.

But that’s where the season came to an end, thanks to the eventual state champions from Lutheran High School. LHS beat the Golden Eagles 8-2 at Aurora Sports Park Oct. 22.

Frederick and Lutheran paired up in the semi nals Oct. 22, and the Lions led from start to nish en route to the 8-2 win. Malea Yoxsimer’s tworun single opened the scoring in the rst inning, part of a three-run rally.

Fort Lupton’s softball team made it to the quarter nal round at the state 3A softball tournament for the second year in a row, and for the second year in a row, that’s where the Bluedevils’ season came to an end. e Bluedevils captured their second straight regional title and nished with a record of 20-7. FLHS loses six to graduation.

Fort Lupton’s Jonathan Gonzalez wrapped up his senior year of highschool soccer by scoring his team’s only goal in a 4-1 loss to Colorado Academy. e loss in the second round of the state 3A playo s ended the Bluedevils’ season.

More from the postseason: Frederick and Fort Lupton sent teams to the regional rounds of postseason volleyball, but neither quali ed for the state tournament. Frederick’s football team made it to the second round of the class 3A football playo s.

Frederick High School’s Ali Davis and Hailey Simmons quali ed at No. 1 doubles at the state 4A girls tennis tournament.

Celebration

GREELEY - ough there was basketball in progress at University High School March 22 featuring players from all over Weld County, it wasn’t serious.

Fort Lupton’s Maddax Farrer called it “an iso-show,” particularly in the second half. Bryce Andrews, the MVP of the boys game, had to ratchet down his defense to a point where he was “playing defense but really wasn’t.” e Weld County all-star basketball games were the scene. Five players from southwestern Weld County took to the oor. e coaching sta from Fort Lupton High School manned one of the benches. e Frederick Warriors’ Jadyn Glasgow played in the rst of the two games and nished with seven points, including a 3-pointer and a chance to tie the score at the end with another 3-pointer that fell short.

FLHS coach Jim Roedel said

Fort Lupton’s Rylee Balcazar was the top seed in the 100-pound weight class at the girls state tournament at Ball Arena, and she showed the pollsters right. Balcazar won the state title with a 4-0 decision over Larhae Whaley of Soroco. FILE PHOTO

Could reach $24M

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado budget analysts expect tax revenue from sports betting to double in the coming year in what would amount to a touchdown, a eld goal and a safety for the Colorado water projects. e Governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting and the nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta project that sports betting tax revenues will be as high as $24 million in the 202223 scal year, which began July 1. Of that money, $22.5 million would go toward the Colorado Water Project, the plan aimed at ensuring Colorado has enough water for its growing population amid climate changeinduced drought. e state collected only about $12.4 million in sports betting taxes in the 2021-22 scal year, which ended June 30, about $11.4 million of which will go toward the water plan. Hence, the touchdown ($6 million), eld goal ($3 million) and safety ($2 million) analogy.

Bryce Cook, chief economist for OSBP, said the reason for the big forecast increase is that the legislature passed a bill this year limiting the number of free bets that sports betting operators can o er starting Jan.1. (Colorado imposes a 10% tax on casinos’ net sports betting proceeds. A free bet doesn’t generate any proceeds.)

“We’ve also just seen record wagers this year in sports betting,” Cook said.

When voters passed Proposition DD in 2019, allowing sports betting in Colorado, nonpartisan legislative analysts expected Colorado to make about $16 million each year in sports betting tax revenue. e state is authorized to collect up to $29 million in sports betting tax revenue annually under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. e OSPB, in its quarterly economic and tax revenue forecast presented to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Dec. 20, said the agency expects the state to collect $25 million in sports betting tax revenue in the 2023-24 scal year and $27 million in the 2024-25 scal year.

Legislative Council Sta had similar sports betting tax revenue projections, forecasting $22 million in the current scal year, $26.2 million in the 202324 scal year and $28.9 million in the 2024-25 scal year.

October was the second highest month in terms of total sport betting wagers in Colorado since sports betting began in Colorado in May 2020. About $526 million was wagered, a 17% increase over the prior month and a 7.2% year-over-year increase. e October wagers netted the state $2.3 million in tax revenue.

is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

SPORTS

FROM PAGE 8

some of the reward of coaching the game was seeing players he’d either coached against or actually coached before they got to high school.

Movers/shakers

We found a group of Frederick High School students who were interested in sports but weren’t necessarily athletes. ey were studying broadcast journalism twice a week. e student-run play-by-play e ort broadcast some 30 home games in football, basketball and baseball on the internet. Faculty advisor Jake Marsing wants to add in-school newscasts, as well.

Before taking his teaching job at FHS (he teaches social studies), Marsing worked in sports radio in two markets, including Denver. He covered college football, the Denver Nuggets and the Denver Broncos.

“I’m teaching them based on what I learned,” Marsing said. “ e rest is trial and error.”

CHSAA news

e Colorado High School Activities Association’s board of directors chose its new leader March 7. He is Mike Krueger, who will become the association’s 10th commissioner. He replaces Rhonda Blanford-Green, who stepped down at the end of this school year.

Blanford Green took in her last Colorado High School Activities Association Legislative Council meeting April 21.

She discussed the association’s budget, and she thanked the council for the privilege of serving as CHSAA’s commissioner.

“We’ve been through a lot together the past 14 months,” she said.

Her husband passed away, as did former associate commissioner Tom Robinson.

“ ere were a lot of times when I had to be Rhonda and be the commissioner,” she said. “I had to have a safe place to be Rhonda.”

Robinson died this spring at the age of 74. e former associate commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association Bert Borgmann said a lot of things came to mind. e boys tennis postseason had an historic new look starting this fall. e change involves the state team championship, a dual-style tournament in mid-October, according to CHSAANow.com. e individual championships won’t change. ey will take place the second week in October.

High-school o cials’ fees are among the lowest among nearby states, according to Riverdale Ridge athletic director Aaron Reisen. e pay scale depends on the level of game (junior varsity vs. varsity) and how many o cials are assigned to work.

By comparison, Texas high-school football o cials were paid, at minimum, $105 to $135 per game this season.

According to retired CHSAA umpire Dan Weikle, who worked statelevel playo games during many of his 46 years as a certi ed baseball o cial, the pay for an umpire in 1964 was $10 per game.

“If you extrapolate that out, that’s $88 today,” he said a year ago. “We get paid $62. e pay hasn’t kept up with in ation.”Sports programs e Weld Re-8 School District board of education voted to save the Fort Lupton High School football program after parents made pleas this spring. Among the suggestions were looking at the superintendent’s salary to a reclassi cation for the next two-year athletic cycle, which begins in the 2024 school year. e school board brought up the idea of cutting the sport at a savings of $39,000. e district wound up with an extra, unexpected $1.9 million for next year’s budget, but some of that had to go to infrastructure needs and increases in teachers’ salaries, among other things.

“To cut the football program, or any other program, due to budget cuts is absurd,” Michelle Galicia told the school board. “We are supposed to be here for the students. Now, let’s show them we are.”

In late October, the Bluedevils rallied to beat Faith Christian 34-21 e win was Fort Lupton’s fth in nine starts, the rst time in nine seasons that the Bluedevils posted a record that was better than .,500.,

“We came out with a great game plan,” quarterback Will Alvarado said. “We were looking forward to everything. ey (Faith Christian) showed pretty much the same looks in lm.”