Allison McDaniel is about that life.

There’s no mountain too high, no valley too low and no river wide enough to keep McDaniel from whatever she aims to achieve.

The Falcon freshman wrestler’s first chance to prove that came Dec. 6 at the inaugural Ice Queen tournament. McDaniel faced Pine Creek’s Gia Gabel in the 110-pound finals and lost 1-0 to the Eagles junior.

The lone point McDaniel ceded in the matchup occurred on a penalty, which awarded Gabel a point with a minute left in the final period. After going undefeated against girls throughout middle school, McDaniel suffered a loss in her first tournament.

“It was a welcome-to-high-school moment,” McDaniel said. “It fueled me to win and just prove myself the rest of the way through high school.”

In her next 38 matches, McDaniel went undefeated and won 27 of those contests by technical fall or pin. Included in that swath of victories was a state championship, Falcon’s first since 2024 and the only girls’ wrestler to earn a title.

“Most kids need a loss before they go to state to get humbled, but Allison doesn’t need humbling,” Falcon coach Robert Lovato said. “Allison is the type who just gets better. It doesn’t matter how good her opponent is. Allison wants to wrestle them and she doesn’t duck anybody. She wanted to wrestle Gia Gabel again because she lost to her.”

Lovato recognized McDaniel’s heart immediately as she entered Falcon Middle School. The Falcons coach also has the reins of the middle school program and said McDaniel, “had that killer instinct.” Any extra reps at practice, McDaniel completed. Additional drills and all advice, McDaniel welcomed, absorbed and applied.

“To get that level of commitment from a person at that age doesn’t happen,” Lovato said. “She’s like that with everything she does. I was pleasantly surprised, but I wasn’t shocked because she’s one of those people who follows through and if she says she’s going to do something, she follows through and commits to it.”

Such as winning a state championship. McDaniel set a goal to win a title as a freshman. She actually wants four, but more on that shortly. McDaniel’s goal was nearly derailed at the state tournament in February.

McDaniel cruised to a pin in 57 seconds in the opening round, which set up a meeting with Gabel in the quarterfinals, the pair’s third matchup of the season. During the match, with McDaniel on bottom, Lovato said he felt something was off.

“The trainer came out and was looking at her shoulder and the doctor was right behind her,” Lovato said. “He looks at it and says, ‘It’s back in now. I put it back in.’ (McDaniel) didn’t even tell us. She wouldn’t tell us. Most kids would bail after that but look at what she did the rest of the weekend.”

McDaniel’s left shoulder popped out of its socket during the match and she continued the competition. McDaniel didn’t expect a separated shoulder on her path, but she prepared for a rocky road.

“I knew it was going to be a tough journey, but I knew I had a lot of people watching and a big job to finish,” McDaniel said. “I felt it move a little bit, but it wasn’t a huge dislocation. It definitely hurt, but the trainer started messing with it and put it back. There was a hurt to it, but there was also relief.”

McDaniel earned an 11-3 major decision to advance to the semis where she earned a 12-9 overtime victory against Adams City’s Phoebe Gutierrez. She followed with a 6-2 win against Loveland’s Saydee Lussenhop to earn her first championship.

“It was adrenaline and an ambition to win that pushed me,” McDaniel said. “I didn’t want to be held back by anything when I knew my skill and potential was bigger than just an injury. It was a huge accomplishment especially battling through other injuries throughout the season and putting all that work into the finals match. This meant a lot.”

McDaniel finished 42-1 as a freshman and hopes to join an elite list. According to the Colorado High School Activities Association, just 35 wrestlers – 33 boys and two girls – have earned four consecutive titles.

Pomona’s Persaeus Gomez and Calhan’s Ciara Monger accomplished the feat in 2024. McDaniel wants to join that bunch.

“I told her that this is probably the second-hardest title you’ll ever win,” Lovato said. “The hardest one will be that fourth one. It’s always tough to get a state title, but it’s that fourth one that’s tough. It’s mentally tough because this is what you’ve been shooting for your whole career.”

To help alleviate potential pressure of the chase for four, Lovato remembered pitching to McDaniel that she should go after 200 wins. In Colorado’s wrestling history, former Ponderosa boys heavyweight Cohlton Schultz owns the record with 188 victories.

Lovato said he meant it as a joke, but the longer he recalled the conversation between him and his 110-pounder, it was clear he believed 200 wins is achievable. As does McDaniel, who said, “Why not go for both?”

“That’s definitely the goal, too. I’ve wanted four state titles for a few years and that’s been the plan since middle school,” McDaniel said. “Add on 200 wins along with four state titles. It’s another part of the journey.”