AURORA | All six Aurora area girls wrestling programs — including first-year Aurora Central — has at least one qualifier for the Class 5A state tournament, which begins Thursday at Ball Arena.
The Trojans joined already established teams from Eaglecrest (which has Cherokee Trail and Grandview athletes), Overland, Regis Jesuit, Smoky Hill and Vista PEAK Prep this season and had two wrestlers advance through the 5A Region 4 tournament that concluded Saturday at Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Colorado Springs.
Senior Dryllyne Joseph (235 pounds) and junior Tremoni Scaggs (115) punched their respective ticket with top-four finishes as part of a total of 23 qualifiers from area programs, which were dispersed of the four 5A regional tournaments. The Colorado High School Activities Association will release state tournament seedings and brackets Monday.
The largest local contingent headed to Ball Arena hails from Eaglecrest, which had 12 of its 14 entries qualify on its way to winning the Region 2 championship at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument.
Leading the way for the Raptors is a trio of regional champions in sophomores Maxime Lantz (140 pounds) and Olivia Fabbricatore (145) and senior Parice Jones (170) along with regional runners-up in seniors Sofie Ghasabyan (100) and Jordan Heibult (125), junior Audrey Braun (155) and freshman Sailor Matejovsky (105).
Rounding out the state qualifying group for coach Horatio Vialpando’s Eaglecrest team is senior Sydney Babi (120), juniors Alyssa Apolinar (190) and Brenna Brummet (235) and sophomore Paul Esmeral Ulles (135).
Out of the same Region 2 tournament came four qualifiers from Vista PEAK Prep, with a group headlined by senior Amelia Bacon, the 125-pound champion. Junior 235-pounder Khloe Yizar (the regional runner-up) and seniors Hailey Brown (100) and Idaly Garcia (130) round out the contingent for coach Ashley Jaramillo’s Bison.
Also in Region 2, Overland and Regis Jesuit ended up with two qualifiers apiece.
Junior Remington Zimmerer claimed the 120-pound championship for the Raiders and will be joined at the state tournament by a familiar face in younger sister and freshman Alexandra, the 170-pound runner up.
The Trailblazers will be represented by senior Dureti Abdulkadir (145) and junior Jackelyne Torreblanca Oseguera.
Smoky Hill had a single qualifier — who came out of the Region 3 tournament at Littleton High School — in senior Maria Pascual Francisco at 110 pounds.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports