DENVER | Two Aurora area girls wrestlers earned the chance to wrestle for state championships Saturday night at Ball Arena and both came home with the big prize from the Class 5A girls wrestling state tournament.
Regis Jesuit sophomore Remington Zimmerer snagged the area’s first title in the 120-pound final and the feat was matched soon after by Vista PEAK Prep junior Amelia Bacon, who secured the 125-pound crown.
The duo became the third and fourth area state champions since the Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned girls wrestling back in 2021, as they joined Eaglecrest’s Blythe Cayko (2022) and Gianna Falise (2024) as state winners.
Zimmerer met Widefield standout Amaya Hinojosa in a battle of two wrestlers who had not suffered a defeat in Colorado, as the three losses for Zimmerer (38-3) all happened at the Napa Valley Girls Classic in California and Hinojosa’s lone defeat came at the Lady Horns Classic in Texas.
The first meeting between the two saw Hinojosa take a one-point lead into the final minute of the match before Zimmerer slipped from her grasp for a takedown with 40 seconds remaining that held up for a 6-4 victory. It was the first state championship for the Regis Jesuit girls wrestling program and was made extra special for Zimmerer as her dad, Zach, is the team’s coach and was in her corner.
Bacon came up just short in a chance to win the state championship last season when the sport was just one classification. With a dominant run through the first three rounds, she put herself into the final against Castle View’s Zaret Silva Lopez, who she had defeated twice previously during the season with first-period pins.
A few minutes after she witnessed her twin brother, Ian, win the 5A boys 120-pound state title, Bacon survived a challenge from a determined Silva Lopez and worked a reversal to go ahead and hold on for a 5-4 victory. The Bacons brought home Vista PEAK Prep’s first all-time state championships in any sport, individual or team.
The two state championships led the way among a total of eight area wrestlers to reach the medal podium.
Bacon was joined by sophomore Khloe Yizar (fourth at 235 pounds) and junior Parice Jones (fourth at 190 pounds) and that lifted coach Ashley Jaramillo’s Vista PEAK Prep team to an area-best seventh place in the final 5A team standings.
Eaglecrest had nine state qualifiers and three of them worked their way onto the medal podium, led by the fourth-place finishes of senior Bailee Mestas at 130 pounds and freshman Maxime Lantz at 140. Senior Natalie Replogle went the long way through the consolation bracket at 145 pounds before she finished sixth.
Overland senior Ruth Worknhe rounded out Aurora’s podium group as she finished fifth at 235 pounds.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
