Girls state wrestling: Chatfield wins third straight team title, George secures marquee victory

DENVER – One four-time thing happened at the girls state wrestling tournament Saturday night, while another did not.

The four-peat that was went to Chatfield, which pulled away from challenger Discovery Canyon during the finals session at Ball Arena to sweep the team title for the three sanctioned seasons of the sport thus far as well as the last pilot year in 2020.

The four-peat that wasn’t was a fourth state championship for Loveland’s Morgan Johnson, who started her streak in the same year as the Chargers, but had her bid for a perfect career at the state tournament snapped by one of Chatfield’s standouts in senior Janessa George, who surprised even herself with a pin in the first period to win the 110-pound title.

“I’m feeling really good, it feels like a dream to finally win,” George said. “I was surprised for sure, I didn’t think I would get a takedown until the third period. I thought it would go longer, but it definitely seemed too good to be true.”

A lot of eyes were on the match, which lasted just 1 minute, 38 seconds, as George launched a smooth shot, caught Johnson — winner of two 100-pound state titles and one at 105 last year — and settled on top of her for the pin.

Afterwards, one of Chatfield’s coaches put a sparkling tiara on her head afterwards to celebrate.

“The tiara was planned because I felt good and I felt confident coming in, so I wanted to have a little moment,” George said.

Another tiara went a short time later to Chargers’ senior Taylor Meiss, who earned a state title of her own at 135 pounds when she pinned Discovery Canyon’s Adrianna Lopez near the midway point of the second period.

Meiss was incredibly emotional after the victory, which came after she finished as a runner-up last season.

“I was absolutely terrified before my match, but I’m so happy now,” Meiss said after finishing a 44-2 season. “And I cried so hard for Janessa. We’re best friends and neither one of us had won it before. So winning together our senior year is so cool.”

Even cooler than the individual state championships were the points they collected for the Chargers, who were in a tight race with Discovery Canyon and with Pomona in a close third.

Meiss’ win was particularly large as it came head-to-head against Discovery Canyon.

“We were only up three points I think when I walked out, so I felt a lot of responsibility to get points,” she said.

Ryan Hickey followed with a win at 140 to help the Chargers widen the gap and they went on to win with a total of 133 points to 128 for the Thunder, which had champions of its own in Mia Hargrove (115 pounds), Janida Garcia (145 pounds) and Victoria Guinard (155 pounds). Garcia’s win capped an undefeated season.

Johnson now has company as a three-time state champion, as the two wrestlers that came into the night needing wins to join that group delivered.

Pomona’s Persaeus Gomez got it done first in the 120-pound match with a dominating 14-2 major decision win over Loveland’s Lexie Lopez, who came into the match with just one loss on the season. Gomez (the 118-pound winner last season and 105 champion in 2021) finished the season 20-0 to boot and she and 130-pound winner Timberly Martinez helped the Panthers finish a close third with 116 points.

The night ended with another victory short on drama by Calhan junior Ciera Monger, who won her third title with 57-second pin of Riverdale Ridge’s Natasha Kuberski in the 235-pound final.

Monger, who added to the 215-pound title she had from last year and in 2021, doesn’t plan on stopping.

“Three times is amazing, first off, but I still have one more year to go and hopefully I can win four times,” Monger said. “I’m pushing to do that, so I’m not done yet. It’s been crazy (the last three years), but I love it.”

Monger’s teammate, Taylor Knox, won the 190-pound title in a rematch with Eaglecrest’s Blythe Cayko — who won their meeting in 2022 — while other championships went to Doherty’s Katey Valdez at 100 pounds (in which she completed a perfect season), Alexis Jacquez of Fountain-Fort Carson at 105 pounds, Isabella Cross of Mesa Ridge at 125 pounds and Nevaeh Garcia of Platte Valley at 170.

FULL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH RESULTS

100: Katey Valdez (Doherty) def Phoebe Gutierrez (Adams City) – SV 9-7

105: Alexsys Jacquez (Fountain-Fort Carson) def Hayden Newberg (Vista Ridge) – Dec 7-0

110: Janessa George (Chatfield) def Morgan Johnson (Loveland) – Pin (1:38)

115: Mia Hargrove (Discovery Canyon) def Amaya Hinojosa (Widefield) – Dec 4-0

120: Persaeus Gomez (Pomona) def Lexie Lopez (Loveland) – MD 14-2

125: Isabella Cross (Mesa Ridge) def Alexis Segura (Regis Jesuit) – Dec 4-0

130: Timberly Martinez (Pomona) def Mollie Dare (GJ Central) – MD 11-2

135: Taylor Miess – (Chatfield) def Adrianna Lopez (Discovery Canyon) Pin (2:40)

140: Ryen Hickey (Chatfield) def Ashley Booth (Mead) – Pin (2:59)

145: Janida Garcia (Discovery Canyon) def Desza Munson (Pomona) – Pin (3:43)

155: Victoria Guinard (Discovery Canyon) def Leilani Caamal (Vista PEAK) – Dec 5-1

170: Nevaeh Garcia (Platte Valley) def Makaela Simpson (Moffat County) – MD 13-5

190: Taylor Knox (Calhan) def Blythe Cayko (Eaglecrest) – TB 3-2

235: Ciara Monger (Calhan) def Natasha Kuberski (Riverdale Ridge) – Pin (0:57)