It’s not quite spice and everything nice, but Billy Gabel believes he has chosen the perfect ingredients to build the ideal wrestler.

Ahead of Pine Creek’s annual Battle of the Best wrestling tournament, which starts Friday at Pine Creek High School, the veteran Eagles coach knows that berating an athlete benefits no one.

Instead, Gabel builds his wrestlers and recognizes the power of his and his coaching staff’s words.

“I go by a 90-10 rule; 90 percent sugar, 10 percent salt,” Gabel said. “I make sure they understand how well they did and let them know what they did great. Then we point out a potential issue and go over how we can fix it. We handle the issue and then we put more sugar on it.”

Pine Creek, which, per Tim Yount’s On the Mat rankings, is sixth in 5A to start the season. The Eagles will face a bevy of talented teams, including Pomona, which has won six consecutive boys state titles, and six of the top seven 5A teams.

Also featured in the event are 4A defending champ Pueblo East, Roosevelt, Falcon and Garden City, which placed eighth in 2024 at the 6A tournament in Kansas.

Battle of the Best will allow wrestlers to compete in eight matches, and Gabel said it’s intentional that Pine Creek’s early season schedule is front heavy.

“If you have a stud on your team or someone just starting out, both guys will get experience,” Gabel said. “This makes the playing field equal and everyone continues to get better. I plan the season this way so our kids get a lot of matches out of the gate. Every time you wrestle, hopefully you learn. … My goal every year is I want to get them at least one loss heading to the state tournament.”

Gabel said wrestlers losing a match prior to state challenges his competitors to self-assess and tests them to improve.

“As a head coach I want to put my guys in a position where they’re getting pushed,” Gabel said. “They better be really good to not lose.”

Griffin Rial hopes that’s the case. Rial, who won a 5A state title as a junior at 120 pounds, finished 45-5 last year.

Last season at the Eagles’ home tournament, Rial went 7-1 at 120 pounds and lost to Ponderosa’s Michael Lopez Jr., who earned a state title at 126.

“Hopefully I can go undefeated this time,” Rial said. “I know there are some tough opponents but I’m confident in my ability. I just have to trust in the hard work that I’ve put into the sport and go out and be confident.”

Rial said he knows “to trust the process” and continue the grind even on days he’s taxed. During the offseason, the Air Force commit said he put in extra hours to ensure he was prepared for his final year.

“I’d go on a run on Sundays or on days we didn’t have practice,” Rial said. “Little things like that helped me improve. Somewhere between 3 to 5 miles helped me push things.”

The Eagles, who finished first in their bracket and fourth overall at their home tournament last year, hope to continue their improvements on the mat this season.

Gabel also wants tournaments like Battle of the Best to develop his kids outside of wrestling.

“If we don’t use our small window to impact the character, integrity and ‘how can I fix me?’ issues when it comes to wrestling, I think we’ve missed out as coaches” Gabel said. “Sometimes coaches want to win at all costs, but we’re in charge of identifying and fixing their wrestling issues. We have to address those and help them build off that.

“This is my second family. You can’t forget the love.”

Tournament information

Friday

Doors open at 11 a.m.; wrestling begins at noon.

Saturday

Doors open at 8:30 a.m.; wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m.

Tickets: $20 for two-day pass, $15 single-day pass.

Teams slated to compete at Battle of the Best

Bear Creek

Broomfield

Chaparral

Chatfield

Cherokee Trail

Cheyenne Mountain

Falcon

Fountain-Fort Carson

Fruita Monument

Garden City (Kansas)

Legend

Liberty

Mesa Ridge

Palmer Ridge

Pine Creek

Pine Creek JV

Pomona

Ponderosa

Pueblo County

Pueblo East

Riverdale Ridge

Thompson Valley

ThunderRidge

Widefield