DENVER — The last time that Pueblo Central girls wrestling graced Ball Arena for the Class 4A state championships, one year ago, there was no question which team would reign supreme.
In that final tournament, the Wildcats placed 10 of their 12 state qualifiers, with Acelyn Duran (100 pounds) and Lilliana Lopez (145) raking in individual gold. The girls crushed the rest of the competition with 194 points, with second-place Skyview scoring just 82.5.
On Saturday night for this year’s installment of the state tournament, the Wildcats still walked away with another championship trophy in hand, but only four of the 11 girls in attendance found their way onto the podium — led by champions Duran and Gionna Duran (115).
Last season’s win motivated them all year long. The points from the non-placers just mattered a little more in 2026.
“They developed a lot. They were hungry,” head coach Chris Gutierrez said. “They wanted to do some more. Ultimately, the cards weren't in our favor this year. We brought 11. We placed four. But with their drive, their work ethic, they wanted it a lot. It just got a little tougher.
“Every match is more important than the one before so we can get all those points, so we can keep going and we can keep contending. They put some points on the board, and that's what helped us win overall.”
Pueblo Central won the team race by a mere 13 points, edging Severance 115.5 to 102.5. Duran, just a junior, raced through her bracket with relative ease, winning her first match with a 16-0 technical fall, pinning her next two opponents, then outlasting La Junta’s Yliani Garcia with a 13-0 major decision in the finals.
She finished her campaign with a 38-4 record.
“I'm just really confident in where I come from, what I put into the sport. I believe in myself,” she said. “I've been working really hard in the room with Gionna as my partner, and we've been kind of working towards this. This is what we wanted at the end of the day.”
Gionna, on the other hand, hadn’t seen the type of success that Acelyn had. The junior 115-pounder went from not reaching the podium during her freshman season to placing third last year.
That near-miss of the state finals last year left her wanting more, and she spent all offseason honing her mat game to ensure she would get to wrestle on Saturday night in front of a crowd of thousands.
She didn’t disappoint. She pinned each of her first three opponents, then won the state title match in an 18-7 major decision over La Junta’s Isabella Ortiz. She kept a positive mindset all year, repeatedly telling herself she would become a state champion.
“I think that really is what pushed me to practice more and just to get all the extra work in, so that I could get to where I am here today. Mostly, I worked on shot recovery because I was kind of struggling with that at the beginning of the year. I think that that has paid off a lot because I used it a few times during my last match.”
Isabella Mares secured fourth at 120 and Santana Montez took fifth at 130 to round out the Wildcats’ representation on the podium.
Elsewhere in 4A, Bennet's Emma Faczak (105), Severance's Eila Schultz (130), Canon City's Kate Doughty (135), and Strasburg's Vivienne Gitke (140) and Madilyn Gitke (155) became two-time champions. Doughty and Vivienne Gitke finished the season undefeated.