Alina Antillon caps brilliant career
Senior wins at 136 for a 41-0 season, a four-year mark of 104-3 and a career to remember.
Question: How much better could Alina Antillon’s schoolgirl career have been?
Answer: Not a lot.
When the Mullen senior put the finishing touches on her stellar four years on Saturday night at Ball Arena, she probably established the guideline to the newer gender of the much-followed sport.
Consider: She won two unsanctioned championships. In the second season of recognition by the state organization, the native Denverite turned in a runner-up showing as a junior and followed with a title performance in 2021-22. She competed all four years at the same weight – 136 pounds. She finished with a career record of 104-3.
As a senior, she was 41-0 with a ridiculous 41 pins and only one opponent made it out of the first period.
And she did it for two schools – she represented Mullen her first three seasons and operated under the guise of Jefferson as a senior in a kind of co-op. Mullen didn’t field a team into her junior season, so she competed alone. In 2021-22, when sanctioning was encouraging more individual teams in the sport’s infancy, Antillon wore a Jefferson uniform – she practiced with both the Saints and the Mustangs -- but was coached by Mullen assistant Vince Massey.
“It was the easiest coaching job I’ve ever had,” Massey said. “For me to show up this year, I just sat in the chair (at the end of the mat during matches).She works hard enough in practice and listens to (Mullen head coach John Howes), so I didn’t have to do anything.”
For Antillon, who’s humble and a bit reserved, she said she “loved it. I just tried to stay focused. I worked hard in practice and all of the boys pushed me. It was good for me going against them.”
Her final match was typical and underlined how quickly she demolished foes. Saturday night’s finals format was designed to have the girls’ 10 weights worked into the boys’ 14. And to highlight champions, officials only moved on to another weight when all five bouts were completed.
So when her 136 bout arrived and she pinned Camryn Scott of Chatfield in 38 seconds, none of the boys matches had made it past the first period.
It probably kept Antillon from gaining crowd recognition, but she didn’t seem to care.
Massey pointed to Antillon’s technique, quickness and power as unmatched.
“She’s amazing,” he said.
Next for Antillon is choosing a college, probably in the northeastern part of the country. She said she’ll decide about wrestling in college – the sport is growing quickly on the level – and is all but certain she’ll major in something involving pre-med. She also holds a terrific grade-point average – 4.5.
When asked if Mullen was the correct choice for her, she said “definitely. I couldn’t have picked a better school with a better community, teammates, coaches or teachers.”
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