DENVER — The assortment of T-shirts the Pueblo Central coaching staff wore throughout the three-day state tournament at Ball Arena reflected an almost Pueblo against the state attitude, and head man Chris Gutierrez’s girls fully bought in.
The Wildcats all but wrapped up the initial Class 4A girls title on Thursday night when they scored a whopping 81.5 points in the first two rounds, and ultimately finished with 194 points and placed 10 of their 12 entrants on the podium, while besting second-place Skyview’s 82.5 total.
“As we started to compete and get closer, we kept working and we never took our foot off the gas pedal,” Pueblo Central coach Chris Gutierrez said. “Once we got to the medal rounds, we knew we were there and we just kept pushing to make sure we sealed the deal.”
Nobody exemplified the Steel City’s blue collar work ethic quite like Central’s smallest competitor, Acelyn Duran. The
sophomore completed a perfect 29-0 season with a flawless run through the 100-pound bracket that culminated with a victory over La Junta’s Yliani Garcia in just 47 seconds of the first round by pin.
“I was really confident and I knew what she was going to go out there and do, I’ve wrestled her before and I know her tactics,” said Duran, who just last week beat Garcia in the regional finals. “I just went out there confident and do what I did.”
The win was made that much sweeter for Duran, who just last year was a win away from the top of the podium, because she was not alone. As a district team, the Pueblo contingent came together to form something special and make history in the process.
“It has been an awesome experience and I am so grateful,” said Duran, who attends Pueblo West. “We have grit, we have a great mindset and we are all ready to fight and leave our heart on the mat. You just can’t look down on us.”
Said Gutierrez, who also crowned a champion at 145 pounds when Lillianna Lopez outlasted Manitou Springs’ Abbie Reeves 6-5: “We work hard and these girls put in the time, the blood, sweat and tears to be better. A lot of people look down on us, especially because we are from Southern Colorado, but we take that mentality into every tournament and every match that we are the underdog.”
Maybe the highlighted match of the night was at 135 pounds, where Canon City junior Kate Doughty was attempting to join Duran as the only other undefeated wrestler in the classification. She drew Severance’s Faith Vondy, who came in with just two losses, in the finals and was dominant from the outset. She built a 6-1 lead going to the third period and had plenty in the tank to finish out a 9-3 victory.
Skyview brought just six wrestlers to Ball Arena and placed four of them, including 235 pound senior Sofia Cabrera who pinned Evergreen’s Valancia Bentrott in just 57 seconds for the title.
