Denver — One measly point.

With the past two weeks as clear indication, one measly point is all that separates Brush sophomore Conrad Cole and Valley sophomore Ruben Lucero.

Unfortunately for Lucero, one measly point on a stage like the Class 3A State Wrestling Championships can make a world of difference.

For the second time in just seven days, Lucero lost to Cole by one point. In this instance, it came at the most inopportune time, as Cole edged Lucero 6-5 in the 113-pound state finals.

Lucero (39-11) was behind the proverbial eight-ball from the get-go after giving up five points in the first 25 seconds on a single-leg takedown and a three-point nearfall.

“Those five points really hurt me,” said Lucero, whose Vikings (108 points) finished fourth, behind Alamosa (136.5), Bennett (118) and Centauri (115.5), in the team standings.

Cole (43-2) was just a week removed from edging Lucero in a much lower scoring match, 3-2, at the Region 2 tournament on Feb. 16 in Eaton.

Lucero acknowledged that he was caught a little off guard by how aggressive Cole was in the opening moments on Saturday.

“Usually (Cole) wrestles more defensively,” Lucero said.

With Lucero and Cole both being sophomores, they could have plenty more tightly contested head-to-head matches in the future, provided they continue to compete in the same weight class.

While Cole will spend months celebrating his gold medal, Lucero has the better part of a year to figure out exactly how to close that one-point gap between he and Cole.

“I’ll use this as motivation,” Lucero said, describing the sting of coming so far to finish second.