The Mavericks traveled across Colorado and beyond to prepare them for postseason success. Their season began nearly two hours from Canada in Sidney, Montana. The following week, they were in Wyoming before finally wrestling their first in-state tournament in Greeley.
The Northern Colorado Christmas Tournament is the hardest tournament to place in all year. With no classifications and more than 60 wrestlers in each bracket, placing at this tournament is a major accomplishment. The Mavericks had two place winners: Carter Woods (‘26) at 190 pounds and Breckan Palko (‘26) at 132 pounds. By winter break, many wrestlers had already wrestled close to 20 matches.
After winter break, everyone is given an extra two pounds to their weight class. Some wrestlers enjoy their extra two pounds, while others go down a weight class. To open the new year, the Mavericks traveled to Texas. The month of January is the hardest part of the season as the Mavericks would travel to Texas, Pueblo, Conifer, Longmont, and Cañon City for five consecutive weeks. Although several wrestlers battled injuries during that stretch, the team entered regionals ready to compete.
Regionals is the easiest tournament on the Mavericks’ schedule this season. This year, regionals were scheduled for Niwot.
Andrew Wood (‘29) had missed seven weeks of the season but returned in time to qualify for state as a freshman. He placed third at regionals at 113 pounds, a bracket that featured two of the top three kids in the state.
Trey Tatham (‘26) missed two weeks with an injury but qualified for the state tournament for the second time in his career after placing fourth at 120 pounds. His bracket featured two of the top four kids in the state.
After missing four weeks with an injury, Breckan Palko placed second at regionals at 126 pounds. Two wrestlers from his bracket would go on to place at state.
Elijah Martinez (‘27) returned from a mid-season injury in January and finished fifth place at regionals at 132 pounds. Jacob Demster (‘27) completed his first full varsity season and placed fifth at regionals at 144 pounds after wrestling 46 matches. Eric Hansen (‘27) took a major jump in his second season on varsity. After placing fifth at regionals this year, he made the finals and lost to the eventual state runner-up at 150 pounds.
Liam Kelly (‘29) also battled injury during the season, returned for regionals, and dominated his bracket at 165 pounds. The freshman pinned all three of his opponents in the first period to claim the regional title. Raymond Hendricks (‘27) was also getting his first taste of varsity experience at 175 pounds. He placed sixth at regionals after joining the varsity lineup in mid-January. Carter Woods captured his first regional championship at 190 pounds and earned his 150th career win.
The Mavericks qualified six for the state tournament, including two freshmen. They were also represented by two unified wrestlers in Ayden Baker (‘26) and Ricky Moran (‘27). They would both dominate their matches and win.
Andrew Wood made his debut at the state but would be pinned twice to end his freshman campaign.
Tatham pulled off an upset in the first round and pinned his opponent to advance to the quarter finals. He would lose a tight one in the quarters but won his consolation match. In the blood round, he would get pinned which ended his stellar career. He finished with 142 career wins which is fifth in program history. He is tenth in takedowns with 206 and second in falls with 86.
Breckan Palko won his first-round match easily before losing to the number one seed. He would go up 13 before getting pinned in his consolation match. That kid would go on to place sixth.
Hansen won his state debut and dominated his quarterfinal match to advance to the semis. He would then lose to the eventual state champion. Hansen would lose his consolation match and his fifth-place match to finish in sixth place at his first state tournament.
Liam Kelly took 30 seconds to win his first match, but lost his quarterfinal match. He would go on to win multiple close matches on the backside of the bracket and was able to get to the third-place match. He would lose a tight match to finish an impressive freshman season in fourth place.
Carter Woods started off his state campaign with two pins. He would then wrestle a tight match in the semis before getting thrown to his back and pinned. Wood would handle business in the consolation and dominate his third-place match to be a three-time state placer. He finished third in program history with 160 career wins. He was second in takedowns with 369 and fourth in falls with 82.
The Mavericks finished 13th as a team to close out the 2025-2026 season. A result that elected the benefits of one of the most challenging schedules in the state.
