Girls take center stage as Chatfield wins second consecutive wrestling title – The Denver Post

The girls took center stage at Ball Arena Saturday night. They obliged by turning in some electrifying performances in the finals of CHSAA state wrestling tournament.

Although Chatfield didn’t win any individual titles, the Chargers’ quality depth and success in the early rounds earned them their second consecutive girls’ title. Chatfield piled up 88 points to edge out Loveland (83.5).

For the first time ever, the girls competed at Ball Arena (formerly The Pepsi Center), battling for the CHSAA crown.

“It’s their first time at Ball Arena (as a sanctioned sport),” CHSAA assistant commissioner Adam Bright said last week. “So we’re going to put them right in the middle and make them the center of attention.”

To open the night, Fort Lupton sophomore Rylee (pronounced Riley) Balcazar won a 4-0 decision over Soroco’s Larhae Whaley to capture the 100-pound title. 

“I was really focused, but also really excited because this is the first time I’ve wrestled in front of a crowd like this,” said Balcazar, who finished third at state last year before a sparse crowd in Pueblo that was limited mostly to family members because of the pandemic.

“I wasn’t nervous, just so excited,” said the 16-year-old, who’s been wrestling since she was 4. “I impressed myself with my performance tonight.”

In one of the most anticipated matches of the evening, Pomona sophomore Persaeus Gomez pinned Olathe senior Nicole Koch with 14 seconds left in the first period to claim the championship at 118 pounds. Both wrestlers came in as defending champions and both came in undefeated. Gomez finished her season 35-0, while Koch fell to 35-1.

Gomez wasn’t the only Panther to pin down a title. Sophomore Desza Munson won the 147-pound division, beating Discovery Canyon’s Victoria Guinard, 2-0.

“She was tough, definitely strong, but I knew I just had to stay in a good position,” said Munson, who finished her season 36-0 after tearing the labrum in her shoulder during the regionals as a freshman last season.

Munson reveled in joining Gomez as a state champion.

“It feels amazing,” she said. “We’re good friends and we practice together a lot, so we push each other. We put in those extra hours with each other to make sure we reached our goals.”

One of the more entertaining matches came late when Eagle Crest’s Blythe Cayko pinned Calhan’s Taylor Knox 19 seconds into the third period to win the 185-pound division.

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