PUEBLO — It took all of forty-seven seconds in the final match for Acelyn Duran to pin her opponent and complete an undefeated season.
It was a feeling of relief for the sophomore after capturing the title because of the weight on her shoulders that she carried from the year before.
As a freshman, Acelyn went 34-3 during the regular season and dominated her first three matches of the state tournament.
She was one win away from being on track to become a four-time winner but that dream vanished after she lost the match and finished the season as a runner-up. It was a loss that devastated her, but it also created the beast that she is on the mat now.
“I didn’t want that happening again. I never want to feel that again and I really just wanted to prove to everyone and myself that last year shouldn’t have ended like that. I’ve always trained hard but this year I took it personal and not just trained just to train. I took it to beat everyone up and not as a joke. ”
While she did just that and made it look easy along the way, Acelyn was dealing with a torn ligament in her elbow during the state tournament.
The injury caused her to often lose feeling in her hand. In fact, she lost feeling in her left hand during the final match this year but she was still able to get the win in the first period.
Acelyn says her love for wrestling is what allowed her to push through the pain.
“I knew it was already hurt and it’s not going to get much (more) hurt so I just (said) if it’s going to fall off it’s going to fall off.”
She will be receiving surgery for the torn UCL during the offseason.
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