Pine Creek girls’ wrestling hoped to rival the boys’ program with its mat success. Mission accomplished through two years at the city tournament.  

The Eagles earned consecutive COS Metro Wrestling Championship titles after Pine Creek amassed 199 points Saturday in Fountain at Trojan Arena. And the Eagles captured their second title with “resilience.” 

“A lot of girls stepped up to the plate,” Pine Creek girls coach Johnny Lopez said. “We had some girls come through big. These girls put in just as much work as our boys. We train together and that way we’re a big family. Not girls. Not boys. Just Pine Creek wrestling.” 

The boys earned their fourth consecutive championship and 11th overall to give the Eagles their second sweep in a row at the COS Metro tournament. 

“Seeing our girls grow and seeing how much they want to be a part of that legacy is great for the team,” Lopez said. “Our boys have been shining for years and now the girls want a piece of that. They’re pushing themselves very hard.” 

Tylee Shultz captured the essence of that growth after her year-over-year performance.

Shultz earned first this season at Metros after a fourth-place finish as a sophomore in 2025. Shultz said she doesn’t linger on losses, especially last year’s Metro finish. But she’s grasped the concept of learning from her defeats. 

“Me placing fourth was the sign for me to work harder and show who I can be,” Shultz said. “Last year, I learned everything isn’t about winning. This sport helps you improve as an individual and the better you are as a person, the better wrestler you become.”

Shultz used that wisdom to build a 5-0 record at the tournament and cruised through the 115-pound bracket with four victories via first-period pins and scored a team-high 34 points.

Shultz’s finals match against Doherty’s Gabbie Roberts ended just 16 seconds after Roberts sustained a right ankle injury.

“It’s an honor to be on this team,” Shultz said. “Our guys team is pretty good but for our girls team to show up and win this tournament in our first year was insane. Coming back and winning it a second year in a row shows that being an underdog never matters as long as you keep fighting toward your goal.” 

The Eagles secured more hardware as 110-pounder Gia Gable also won her bracket and received the girls’ tournament’s most outstanding wrestler. 

Gabel finished 4-0 and pinned Cañon City’s Piper Montoya with 25 seconds left in their finals match. 

At last weekend’s Vista Ridge Alpha Female Tournament, Montoya earned a 10-3 decision win against the Eagles junior. 

“She got (most outstanding wrestler) and she stepped up because last week she lost to (Piper),” Lopez said. “We tell these kids, ‘It’s not just what you do inside the room, it’s also about what you do outside the wrestling room. You have to push yourself outside of the wrestling room.’ We can only push them so much but they have to want it. So many of these kids have bought in and you can see it.” 

The Eagles also had Zoe Gabel (120 pounds), Zaira Guerrero (125), Katie King (140), and Melanie Marin Lopez (190) clinch spots in the finals. All four of the Eagles wrestlers placed second and finished with at least 20 points for Pine Creek. 

Widefield earns second in back-to-back Metro tournaments 

The Gladiators placed four wrestlers in Saturday’s finals, but fell shy of catching Pine Creek after they trailed the Eagles by 6.5 points ahead of the final day of Metros. 

Amaya Hinojosa captured the 120-pound championship and scored 32 points for the Gladiators. 

Hinojosa won each of her four matches by pin and all her victories, including in the title round against Pine Creek’s Zoe Gabel, came in the first period. 

Taylor Hall earned the 170-pound crown with a late takedown in the third period against Lewis-Palmer’s D’Shae Ferguson to finish first and score 26 points. 

Rilen-Rose Casares gave the Gladiators their third champion as heavyweight’s late push against Doherty’s Xayona Townley gave Casares a 7-3 win. 

Girls team scores 

1, Pine Creek, 211 

2, Widefield, 196.5

3, Canon City, 132.5

4, Lewis-Palmer, 122.5

5, Mesa Ridge, 111.5

6, Fountain-Fort Carson, 107.5 

7, Doherty, 104

8, Woodland Park, 98

9, Coronado, 92

10, Sand Creek, 81.5

11, Discovery Canyon, 70.5

12, Falcon, 66.5

13, Calhan, 57

14, James Irwin, 54.5

15, Palmer/Mitchell, 52

16, Vista Ridge, 43

17, Palmer Ridge, 38.5

18, Kiowa, 35

19, Harrison, 33

20, Manitou Springs, 32.5

21, Cheyenne Mountain, 17

22, Sierra, 0