Aurora’s contingent of girls programs grew to five in the 2023-24 season with the addition of Smoky Hill and all of them have at least one spot on the Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Wrestling Team, which is based primarily on state performance as well as regional and regular season results.
The area’s largest team — Eaglecrest, which brings together wrestlers from multiple schools — landed half of the 14 spots on the All-Aurora team, which included its state champion in senior 190-pounder Gianna Falise along with placers at 125 pounds in senior Nyla Barmore and 235 pounds in sophomore Emma Roberts.
Two other city placers — Regis Jesuit freshman Remington Zimmerer at 105 pounds and Vista PEAK Prep sophomore 120-pounder Amelia Bacon — also earned All-Aurora honors.
Here’s a look at the top girls in each weight class for the season as compiled by Sentinel sports editor Courtney Oakes:
2023-24 AURORA SENTINEL ALL-AURORA GIRLS WRESTLING TEAM
100 pounds: Chasey Karabell, sr., Eaglecrest — Karabell surpassed the 100-win mark for her career on her way to qualifying for the state tournament for a second straight season and she repeated as the All-Aurora performer in the 100-pound weight class. Karabell won her weight class at the first Centennial League Championship tournament, then placed third in the Region 2 tournament and finished the season with a 1-2 mark at the state tournament, which gave her a 48-6 final mark. Season highlights for Karabell included championships at the Greeley West Tournament and Eaglecrest Invitational, plus runner-up honors at the Conflict in Cleveland and the Tiara Challenge.
105 pounds: Remington Zimmerer, fr., Regis Jesuit — Zimmerer qualified for the state tournament in her debut season in high school and made it to the medal podium with a sixth-place finish. She lost her first state match by decision to Bennett’s Katelyn Faczak (who went on to place fourth), but bounced back with three straight pins in consolation matches — including one against North Fork’s Velma Bailey, who she lost to a week earlier by a point in the Region 3 final — to assure herself a spot in the top six. Zimmerer lost the fifth-place match to Brighton’s Isabella Smouse by decision and finished with a final record of 30-8. Among Zimmerer’s other season highlights were championships at the Bennett Tournament and the Tournament of Knights and runner-up results at the Arapahoe Invitational, the Tiara Challenge (where she bumped up to 110s) and in Region 3.
110 pounds: Sydney Babi, soph., Eaglecrest — Babi made it to the state tournament for the first time and she did so in dramatic fashion with a win in a Region 2 wrestleback match against former teammate Arianna Sanchez. Babi lost to eventual state runner-up Sarah DeLaCerda of Alamosa in her first state match, then won once in the consolation bracket before she suffered her second loss to end a 30-23 season. Babi’s season highlights included a third-place finish at the Tiara Challenge tournament and fifth-place result at the Eaglecrest Invitational, while she earned All-Centennial League second team honors with a 3-1 performance at the inaugural league gathering.
115 pounds: Violet Garcia, sr., Overland — Garcia qualified for the state tournament in 2023, but was unable to make it back in her senior season as nobody in this weight class did from an Aurora program. Garcia did have a strong season as she was the Centennial League champion at 115 pounds with a 3-0 mark at the league tournament and then she placed fifth at the Region 2 tournament, though she was unable to get a wrestleback. Garcia’s season highlights included a championship at Denver South’s Raven Rumble, a runner-up result at the Eaglecrest Invitational and fourth-place finishes at the Arapahoe Invitational and Tournament of Knights. Garcia’s final record was 23-9.
120 pounds: Amelia Bacon, soph., Vista PEAK Prep — Bacon made it to the state tournament for the second time in as many varsity seasons (as did her twin brother, Ian, on in the Class 4A boys ranks) and she took a huge step forward. She didn’t place as a freshman, but finished 3-1 and as the state runner-up in her weight class after she dropped a 5-1 decision to Vista Ridge’s Hayden Newberg in the state title match at Ball Arena. Bacon (39-6) won championships at the Greeley West and Northern Colorado Christmas tournaments, she was 3-0 at her weight at the City League Championship meet and won the Region 2 tournament with four pins, including three that came in the first period of her matches. At state — where she was the Bison’s only qualifier — she won two close decisions and a pin to make it to the title match.
125 pounds: Nyla Barmore, sr., Eaglecrest — Barmore was a state qualifier in Georgia before she moved to Colorado and made it downtown in her one and only season at Eaglecrest. She made noise in her bracket as she picked up two victories (both by fall) to make it to the semifinals — and assure herself a spot on the medal podium — before she was stopped by Loveland’s Lexie Lopez, the eventual state champion. Barmore lost two matches on the back side of the bracket to finish in sixth place with a final record of 28-14 and had a smile on her face after every single time on the mat. Her season highlights included runner-up finishes at the Greeley West Invitational as well as the Region 2 tournament, while she earned All-Centennial League second team accolades with a 3-1 performance at the inaugural league tournament. Barmore also placed third at the Eaglecrest Invitational and fourth at the Tiara Challenge.
130 pounds: Marisol Shukie, jr., Regis Jesuit — Shukie placed fifth at the Region 3 tournament, but was not able to get a wrestleback for a chance to make state because she lost to the fourth-place finisher in a previous round. With a pin of Ignacio’s Kacey Brown in the Region 3 fifth-place match, Shukie finished with a final record of 26-19 for a season that included runner-up finishes at both the Bennett Tournament and the Tiara Challenge. Other season highlights included a fourth-place result at the Eaglecrest Invitational and sixth-place showings at the season-opening Arapahoe Invitational (when she wrestled at 140 pounds) and later at the Tournament of Knights.
135 pounds: Natalie Replogle, jr., Eaglecrest — Replogle broke through to qualify for the state tournament for the first time and she wrestled four matches at Ball Arena that ended in pins as she finished 2-2 to end a 45-15 season. Replogle wrestled the inaugural Centennial League Championship tournament at 140 pounds and finished as the runner-up (as she lost to former teammate Maddie Patterson of the new Smoky Hill team), while she went back to her usual weight class to finish the season and placed third at the Region 2 tournament to qualify for state. Her season highlights included a championship at the Greeley West Invitational and she also placed third at the Eaglecrest Invitational, fourth at the Conflict in Cleveland and fifth at the Vista Ridge Alpha tournament.
140 pounds: Alaysia Ornelas, jr., Eaglecrest — Ornelas fills the All-Aurora spot in one of the four weight classes in which no wrestler from an Aurora program made the state tournament, nor did any place at regional tournaments. Ornelas had the top resume among Aurora wrestlers in the weight class, as she finished with a 30-17 record. Her season highlights included a championship at the Tiara Challenge and a third-place result at the Eaglecrest Invitational, while she was fourth at the inaugural Centennial League Championship tournament. At the Region 2 tournament, Ornelas lost twice by fall to come a win short of making the placing round.
145 pounds: Maddie Patterson, sr., Smoky Hill — The Buffaloes had a state qualifier in their inaugural season and it turned out to be Patterson, who also made it last season while she was with the Eaglecrest co-op squad. Patterson finished 0-2 at the state tournament (which included a first round loss to Central of Grand Junction’s Layla Casto, who went on to place third) that concluded a successful 33-9 season in which she appeared in matches in three different weight classes (140, 145 and 155). Her season highlights included the 140-pound title at the inaugural Centennial League Championship tournament (where she defeated former teammate Natalie Replogle), as well as the Buffalo Invitational. Patterson was the runner-up at the Region 2 tournament and placed third at both the Eaglecrest Invitational and Vista Ridge Alpha tournaments.
155 pounds: Zoe Kohrs, jr., Regis Jesuit — In one of four weight classes in which an Aurora-area wrestler did not qualify for the state tournament, Kohrs nearly made it, as she placed fourth at Region 3, but lost a wrestleback to Moffat County’s Callah Caperton for a berth in the field at Ball Arena. Kohrs (who finished with a final record of 13-21) had a season in which she made it to the championship matches of the Bennett Tournament and the Tiara Challenge and she finished as the runner-up at both. Her season highlights also included a fifth place result at the Tournament of Knights.
170 pounds: Jordynn Shannonhouse, soph., Regis Jesuit — Shannonhouse wrestled only 19 matches in her sophomore season (all decided by pin) and nearly half came in the postseason, as she had a combined eight between the Region 3 tournament and the state tournament. She earned the chance to wrestle at Ball Arena when she won by fall over Arvada West’s Ashlee Barnes in the fourth-place match at the Region 3 tournament, then needed just 25 seconds to pick up a pin of Vista Ridge’s Indre Svilpauske (who she had already defeated earlier in the tournament) in a wrestleback. Shannonhouse went 1-2 at state — wrestling her final match against Olathe’s Rachel Robuck, who was also her opponent in her first match of the season — to finish with a record of 7-12. Her truncated season highlights included a third-place finish at the Bennett Tournament.
190 pounds: Gianna Falise, sr., Eaglecrest — Falise made her third state tournament and while the first two were fruitless in terms of medals, she brought home the big prize in her last one. A mid-season move up in weight classes paid off when Falise (48-6) pinned her way through the state tournament, capped by a win by fall in the first period over Douglas County’s Elizabeth Sandy — who defeated her a week earlier in the Region 2 semifinals — that made her the program’s second all-time state winner. Falise’s highlights for the season included four wins by fall to win her weight at the inaugural Centennial League Championship tournament plus tournament titles at the Eaglecrest Invitational, the Conflict in Cleveland and the Tiara Challenge, plus a runner-up result at the Vista Ridge Alpha tournament.
235 pounds: Emma Roberts, soph., Eaglecrest — Roberts finished 43-7 in her second season and that included an even split of six state matches, capped by a loss by fall in the fifth-place match to Palmer’s Erin Lumberg. All three of her state losses came to placers. Roberts finished as champion of her weight class at the first Centennial League Championship tournament, while she also won the Greeley West Tournament as well as the Eaglecrest Invitational and placed third at the Tiara Challenge and fourth at the Vista Ridge Alpha Tournament. Roberts earned her way into the state tournament by winning the championship of her weight class at the Region 2 tournament with three consecutive wins by fall.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports