GREELEY, Colo. -- It was cold, at 38 degrees, and noisy enough to require earplugs when Jace Hollenbeck approached the bloody competition floor. Tired from a week of 12-hour practices, he awaited the opening whistle with trepidation.

When the whistle blew, Mr. Hollenbeck says, he steadied himself for competition by remembering his coach's words of the night before: "We didn't come here to lose."

Then...