Girl grapplers at Fort Lupton for regional

Yuma High School’s girls wrestling team’s season is on the line this weekend.

The Outlaws are at the Region 1 Tournament in Fort Lupton, Friday and Saturday. The top four placers in each weight will advance to the Girls State Wrestling Championship, next week at Ball Arena in Denver.

“I’m planning on taking four or five state,” coach Brandon Newton said. “That’s my goal.”

It definitely will be challenging as there will be 25 schools in Region 1, which actually is the smallest of the four regionals — Region 2 and Region 3 each have 26 schools, and Region 4 has 27. The format will change a bit next season as girls wrestling will be going to two classifications.

Joining Yuma in Region 1 at Fort Lupton High School will be Pomona, Fort Lupton, Cañon City, Denver North, Abraham Lincoln, Adams City, Berthoud, Brighton, Broomfield, Brush, Fort Morgan, Greeley West, Holy Family, Jefferson, Liberty Commons, Mead, Northfield, Platte Valley, Poudre, Sedgwick County/Fleming, Skyview, Sterling, Wiggins and Wray.

Wrestling for Yuma will be Taeylnn Robinson at 100, Chloe Smith at 105, Camila Sanchez at 110, Peyton Hynson 115, Kenya Arvizo 120, Gese Sanchez at 170 and Danika Dischner at 190. Kadence Hanson and Gabby Varela might be available at 125 and 130, respectively, but both are dealing with injuries.

“I believe in them,” Newton said. “They just have to believe in themselves. Everyone is excited.”