Katey Valdez walked around Trojan Arena with a tiara sparkling on her head after earning her COS Metro Wrestling Championship title at 105 pounds.

The Doherty senior became the first girls wrestler to earn three Metro titles and won Most Outstanding Girls wrestler at the tournament.

It’s one of the numerous moments from Monday’s finals that nearly did not happen.

While the first day of the annual tournament occurred Friday without issue, Saturday’s portion of the COS Metro Wrestling Championship was initially cancelled due to inclement weather before coaches, administration, athletic directors and more salvaged the event.

“This was a collective effort between Fountain-Fort Carson’s AD and their staff and all the coaches in the Metro area,” said Christina Hargrove, USA Wrestling senior manager of national events. “We all spoke and did whatever we could to keep this tournament going for day two.”

Semifinals, consolation rounds and finals all happened Monday with a two-day rest period in between wrestlers’ first matches on Friday.

For finals, matches also occurred on three mats rather than two to help officials who needed to leave early for other obligations.

“Officials were trying to figure out who works full time and see who’s retired to see what hours they could put in,” Hargrove said. “We brought in extra medical staff who weren’t scheduled to be here because our original medical was all booked on Monday with their regular clinical and surgical hours. This was definitely a collective effort.”

Jarrett Sweckard, Fountain-Fort Carson District Athletic Director, said they also spoke to CHSAA to get “weight allowances” for the tournament.

Since wrestlers could not compete Saturday and, due to CHSAA regulations, could not practice Sunday, Sweckard said wrestlers likely gained a few pounds after Friday’s competition.

This paved the way for a four-pound weight allowance, which Sweckard said was cleared by CHSAA Assistant Commissioner John Sullivan.

This meant that, at maximum, a wrestler could compete at four pounds above their bracket’s weight.

“Fountain-Fort Carson is a great community,” Sweckard said. “Everyone showed up in force to get this done. From administration all the way to coaches and athletes. I appreciate everyone helping and I’m excited we got to put it on.”

Pine Creek coach Billy Gabel, whose boys and girls teams swept the event, said the two-day wait was tough, but Gabel welcomed the challenge.

“I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy. I look at opportunities like this as a good thing,” Gabel said. “Last week, some guys were sick or didn’t feel good. We get three days off to rest and recover so we’re not as sick as we were last week. When you’re put in a position where you’re not familiar, you either fight or flight. You dig your heels in or you start making excuses as to why you can’t do it.

“My coaching staff and myself are all about pushing the kids and athletes to look at opportunities to make themselves grow and get better.”