One year after finishing second at the girls state wrestling tournament, the District 51 Phoenix rose to the top and claimed their place atop the Colorado wrestling world in 2025.
The Phoenix won the first state championship in program history in February, cementing the Western Slope as the gold standard for girls wrestling in the Centennial state.
District 51 coach Chad Dare said his team will celebrate the victory as a milestone for teams outside the Denver area.
“We feel like every time we come over here, we don’t get enough respect,” he said. “I think a lot of Western Slope teams feel that way and for us to come over here and compete, wrestle with some of the best in the state and the best in the country, it’s fun for us to do.”
Though some schools across the state have been fielding girls wrestling teams for close to a decade, girls wrestling was not officially adopted as a Colorado High School Activities Association-sanctioned sport until 2021. By the start of the 2024-25 academic season, the sport had grown enough to garner two different classifications — Class 4A and Class 5A. The Phoenix earned their hardware in the latter.
Interestingly, the Phoenix won the state team title despite none of the team’s wrestlers capturing individual state titles in their respective weight classes.
Juniors Shylee Tuzon and Claris McCoy came closest to taking top honors, as both wrestlers made it to the title match in their weights — Tuzon at 155 pounds, McCoy at 170. Sophomore Violet Gray took third at 130 and sophomores Shyann Page and Harleigh Prater each added fourth-place finishes at 120 and 125, respectively.
Thanks to their myriad of podium finishes, the Phoenix compiled 44 more points than second-place Loveland to win the title.
In the 2025-26 season, the Phoenix return eight wrestlers who qualified for state last season — more than half of their roster. Top talents like Tuzon McCoy, and Gray all figure to once again be in play for individual state titles at the end of their senior campaigns, providing a clear roadmap for how the team can repeat as state champions.
Through early action this season, the District 51 combined team appears not to have lost a step. The Phoenix dominated the second annual girls division of the Warrior Classic at Central on Dec. 21, claiming first place as a team after winning individual titles in six different weight classes.
In addition to Tuzon, McCoy, Page and Prater all taking care of business, sophomore Clara Denton-Baleztena and senior Rya Burke both battled their way to bracket championships in the 140- and 145-pound weight classes, respectively.
The continued success of the Phoenix program will be one to closely monitor over not just this spring but for years to come.
If Dare can continue to filter winning athletes through the program, the Western Slope could become the permanent epicenter of girls wrestling in Colorado.