DENVER – The Alamosa High School girls wrestling team wrapped up the season at the Class 4A State Tournament this past weekend at Ball Arena.

The Mean Moose finished in 12^th place with 51 points and they had two state placers.

Samantha Maestas completed a successful defense of her 120-pound championship as she pinned Las Animas’ Audali Martinez. Maestas finished the fall in 1:38.

“It was very nerve-wracking,” Maestas said. “Just locking onto the match knowing I had something to defend. Knowing that all the work I put in over the years paid off.”

Maestas is only a junior and is looking to record a three-peat next year.

“I’m just working harder this summer to getting that knowing I have a two-time to defend,” Meastas said.

The Mean Moose’s other placer was Gizelle Meraz. She overcame a tough semifinal loss which prevented her from a title defense and came back to finish in third place. She pinned Severance’s Kailey McGuire in 2:09.

“I’m proud of both of them,” said Alamosa coach Rusty Johnson. “They both wrestled well. I did expect Gizelle to win, but sometimes things don’t go 100% as planned. I was really concerned that she wouldn’t bounce back. When you’re returning state champ and you take that tough loss, it’s mentally hard to bounce back. But she did and dominated two matches. But I’m proud of them. I’m proud of them both.”

The remainder of the Mean Moose saw Leah Pintor (100) eliminated in the second round of the consolation bracket, and Kennedy Hillis (105) and Tiyonna Tyson (190) eliminated in first round.

Alamosa had no seniors this year and all are expected to be back.

“I have no senior girls on the team,” Johnson said. “The middle school has a girls team and I’m extremely excited. We have 34 actual girls sign up if they all show up at the same time. So we’ll see. Next week, we’re going to start hitting them very hard. I’m excited. We have a bunch of girls.”

Antonito

The Trojans finished 42^nd with 16 points. They had the only other local state placer in Alyssa Abeyta who took sixth place at 100 pounds. Abeyta lost a slim 8-7 decision to Calhan’s Kayleigh Reese in the fifth-place match.

The rest of the Antonito wrestlers included Abigail Gray (235) eliminated in the second round, and Eliza Garcia (120) and Laycee Maez (145) eliminated in the first round.

Centauri

The Falcons finished in a tie for 50^th place with seven points. Their lone representative, Lauren Gallegos, advanced to the third round of the 130-pound consolation bracket.

Monte Vista

The Pirates were48th with 10 points. Their state qualifiers saw Addison Temple (145) eliminated in the third round, and Malia Martinex-Castro (170) and Annika Butero (140) eliminated in the second round.

Class 4A team scores

Pueblo Central 115 ½, Severance 102 ½, Las Animas 102, Canon City 95, Gunnison 68, Fort Lupton 66, Holy Family 62, Strasburg 62, Evergreen 60, Lamar 57, Alamosa 51, Meeker 51, Sedgwick County/Fleming 51, Arvada 49, Olathe 47, Ignacio 43, Woodland Park 42, Yuma 41, Skyview 38 ½, Pagosa Springs 36, Moffat County 34, Fort Morgan 33, Steamboat Springs 31, Walsenburg 30 ½, Bennett 29 ½, Berthoud 28, Liberty Common 27, Holly 26, Wiggins 25, Abraham Lincoln 23 ½, Weld Central 23, Coal Ridge 22, Rifle 22, Eagle Valley 20, Liberty (Joes) 20, Mullen 20, Wray 19 ½, Soroco 18, Englewood 17, Florence 17, Antonito 16, Manitou Springs 15, Montezuma-Cortez 15, Calhan 14, Middle Park 13, North Fork 11, Monte Vista 10, Platte Valley 8, Bayfield 7, Centauri 7, Sterling 6, Conifer 4, John F. Kennedy 4, Burlington 3 ½, County Line 3, Custer County 3, James Irwin 3, Jefferson 3, West Grand 3, Kiowa 1, Trinidad 1, Brush 0, Sierra 0.