DENVER | Gianna Falise came up short of earning a place on the medal podium in her first two trips to the girls state wrestling tournament, but she’s ending her third one in style.
The Eaglecrest senior — who made the state tournament in her third different weight class in as many years, and made a shift even as little as three weeks ago — earned an emotional victory Friday night at Ball Arena in a 190-pound state semifinal.
Falise took down Central of Grand Junction’s Adalee McNeil and finished off a pin in the second period to her own disbelief and to the utter joy of the coaches in her corner, which included her father.
Falise maintains Eaglecrest’s recent tradition of having a qualifier for the state championship match, as she follows graduated Blythe Cayko, who made it the past two seasons and won the program’s first title in 2022.
After she wrestled the majority of the season at 170 pounds, Falise (who sports a 47-6 record) bumped up a weight class before the Tiara Challenge on Jan. 19 and she has only lost one match at her new weight, which came to Douglas County’s Elizabeth Sandy in the Region 2 championship match last week.
The rematch will come in Saturday night’s final, as Sandy (33-6) posted three wins by fall on the other side of the bracket. The championship session begins with the Parade of Champions at 5:30 p.m.
Falise will be one of two Aurora area girls wrestlers in the finals, as she joins Vista PEAK Prep sophomore Amelia Bacon at 120 pounds.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
