Denver East wrestling coach Randy Gallegos had a decision to make on two wrestlers from the same family who nevertheless attend different schools.

Not only that, they share the same bedroom at home.

Sophomore Derrick Christopher wrestles for Gallegos at East while his cousin - senior Josh Christopher - wrestles for Overland. And because of Gallegos' decision, Derrick and Josh were able to advance to Friday's Class 5A state quarterfinals at the Pepsi Center.

It wasn't so last year when Derrick and Josh wrestled at the same weight at the regional meet. Josh beat Derrick 6-5 in the consolation semifinals to earn his berth at state while keeping Derrick at home.

But now the two can root for each other despite attending different schools. Derrick, one of only seven wrestlers to qualify for state from the Denver Prep League, beat Drew Dondelinger of Centaurus 9-5 at 130 pounds while Josh beat Zach Short of Grand Junction Central 11-4 at 135.

"Josh's mom passed away when he was a young boy and he lived with his grandfather," Gallegos said. "He passed away two years ago. Derrick's parents adopted Josh and his younger brother, Jeremiah. Josh was attending Overland so he has been allowed to continue there."

Make no doubt about it, the cousins are more than pleased to make the state tournament. Gallegos had Derrick move down to 130 so the two would not have to wrestle each other at regional or at state.

"I'm really excited," said Derrick, who improved to 29-10 with his victory. "I'm the only sophomore in the bracket and it's a tough one. There is a lot of pressure to come here as an (inner city) kid. Our seven from the DPL (two from East, one from Lincoln and four from 4A Thomas Jefferson) really have to dig in deeper when we get here. It's hard to wrestle a family member, so I'm glad Josh and I are at different weights. And it's a great relief to get my first win here."

"We feel we can win all the way because it's how hard we work every day." Josh said. "We practice together in the summer and the winter break. We always mess around. I'm the bigger one, he's the little guy. I was sick during regionals last year and we had a tough match. It was just a matter of whoever wrestled the hardest won, however it came out."

Ralston Valley's Ritchy Mata and Derek Loche each came away with two impressive wins. Mata improved to 38-8 by beating Loveland's Garrett Vasquez 7-4 to throw a wrench in the Indians' plans for a high team finish. Loveland came in ranked No. 2 by On The Mat.

Loche accomplished somewhat the same thing, damaging No. 3 Pine Creek's title chances when he beat Tommy George 2-1 at 125 to drop the latter into the consolation bracket with a 19-6 record.

Loche improved to 44-2 with his victory, certainly an improvement from last season's 12-9 record. He scored on a reversal midway through the third period, then held on for the win.

Grand Junction Central's Jesus Rodriguez pulled a solid upset when he beat Aaron Ortiz of Adams City 8-7 at 135.

Ortiz was the state runner-up at 103 when he was a sophomore in 2007 and was sixth last year. Ortiz entered the match with a 36-4 record while Rodriquez improved to 39-7 with the win.

Nine individual state champions came into the tournament and all made it safely through the first round. Ponderosa, seeking its seventh consecutive state title, advanced both its defending state champions. Jacob Snider, seeking to win his third title, pinned Bear Creek's Jacob Kelly in 3:58. Dan Kelly, looking for his second championship, pinned Donovan Maes of Adams City in 3:05 at 145.

Quarterfinal action gets underway at 1 p.m. Friday with the semifinals scheduled for 7:15 p.m.