DENVER | Only one wrestler from the Vista PEAK Prep girls wrestling team qualified for the girls state wrestling tournament this season, and she will be on full display to the prep wrestling world on Saturday night.
Sophomore Amelia Bacon gave the Bison a state championship match qualifier for the second straight season — following the lead of Leilani Caamal last season — when she came through with a dramatic 120-pound semifinal victory Friday evening at Ball Arena.
Bacon took a lead, then held off a late challenge from Discovery Canyon’s Mia Thorne for a 4-3 victory that will give her a chance to become the Vista PEAK Prep program’s first-ever state champion.
With her third victory of the state tournament — bettering her appearance in 2023, when she went 2-2 — Bacon improved to 39-5 on the season. In the state championship match, she will face Vista Ridge junior Hayden Newberg (44-2), who was last season’s 105-pound runner-up. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two.
While Newberg made it to the final with three straight wins by fall, Bacon’s road has been more filled with close calls. In the second round, she won a 5-3 overtime decision over Middle Park’s Ella Quesada in the quarterfinals, then built a lead over Thorne that shrunk to one point with 30 seconds left.
Regardless of the outcome, Bacon will match Caamal — who lost in last season’s 155-pound final — for the program’s best individual finish.
Bacon is one of two Aurora-area girls wrestlers that moved into Saturday’s state championship session, which begins with the Parade of Champions at 5:30 p.m. The other local qualifier is Eaglecrest senior Gianna Falise, who made the 190-pound title match.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
