Sport Participation Hits Record Numbers
Trevor Phipps
Photos By Paul Magnuson
At the mid-point of the winter sports season, both the Woodland Park boys’ and girls’ high school wrestling teams have shown that they mean business in 2026.
Both teams are young and working through a rebuild year. But even with these obstacles, many grapplers have already displayed stellar records.
Moreover, the coach expects to send more than 10 wrestlers to the state championship this year. During the ’25-’26 wrestling season, the teams have experienced their largest participation numbers in years.
The boys can fill every weight class available in competition, except for maybe one or two. That’s an impressive participation feat and one that eluded previous wrestling squads. And the girls have a record 15 grapplers on their roster this season.
With a new young wrestler club (Teller Takedown Wrestling) sporting nearly 70 athletes, local interest in wrestling in Woodland Park has reached an all-time high. Before the season started, the team’s head coach, Matthew Hood, secured more than 30 sponsors and raised around $13,000 to support the team for the ’25-’26 season.
And since the season started, the athletes haven’t let anyone down. Many of the wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 statewide. Some of them are ranked even higher
On the boys’ team, Eleazar Fuqua had a successful first part of the season at the 126-pound weight class. He recently stepped it up a notch and now competes in the 132- lbs. division. According to Coach Hood, Fuqua is now working on making a run to the state championship in the 132-pound weight category.
Senior wrestler Spencer Cross, who the coach classifies as a “dark horse,” has turned things around his senior year. He has found his way on top after several matches. With a 16-8 record, Cross is looking to compete at the state championship in the 144-pound weight class.
“He is just wrestling really tough,” Coach Hood said about Cross. “He’s fighting every position, just really getting out there and getting after his opponents. It’s truly amazing to watch a kid that you coached so many years, and it just suddenly hits, and they just take it away.”
Girls Wrestling Team Eyes Best Season in Team History
The girls’ wrestling team has also really started to shine this season. Halfway through their schedule, the girls are ranked 10th place statewide in 4A girls wrestling.
Among the girls who are having stellar wrestling seasons, sophomore Brooklyn Hancock is currently ranked in 13th place in the 100-pound weight category. She is another wrestler eyeing the state tourney this year.
A returning star who qualified for the state championship last year, Jasmine Brewer finished her freshman year with a 35-15 record. Now a sophomore, Brewer is currently ranked 4th in the 105-pound class. She currently has an amazing 20-4 record. She has lost some matches to older athletes, but she is still in line to earn a spot on the podium this year at the state championship.
“There is an achievement in high school wrestling where if you get 100 wins it’s a big thing,” Coach Hood said. “Jasmine Brewer is at 55 wins right now and she still has half the season to go. She will probably end this year closer to 70 to 75 wins. She’s an animal!”
Another standout on the girls team this year has been senior Lora Ptak who is currently in fifth place in the 125-pound weight category. Two-time state qualifier junior Valeigha Fife, who just transferred to Woodland Park from Coronado High School this year and she is currently ranked fourth at 130 lbs.
Senior Cheyenne Becker is also back this year after qualifying for the state championship tournament her first three years of her high school career. Last year, Becker took third in the state in the 235-lbs. category.
This season, Becker is on track to become the second wrestler (the first girl wrestler) at Woodland Park High School to qualify for the state championship tournament in wrestling all four years. The last wrestler at the school to do that was Brady Hankin, who now wrestles at the college level at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Becker is currently in fifth place statewide at 235 lbs. She is on the way to not only make history by qualifying for state four years in a row, but she is eyeing a state championship this year
At this point in the season, both wrestling teams have some really tough matches coming up. The male and female wrestlers will work hard to keep winning matches from here on out so that they can fare well enough in the league and regional tournaments to qualify for the state championships that take place Feb. 13-15.
But before that the boys’ team will be hosting their first league tournament in recent history. Hood said he plans on having the stands packed for the league tourney, which they hope to win.
