1 / 4

Westlake's Lizzie Raleigh attempts to pin Syracuse's Ashlyn Packer during the finals of the 155-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

2 / 4

Westlake's Lizzie Raleigh celebrates after winning the finals of the 155-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

3 / 4

Westlake senior Lizzie Raleigh (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 155-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

4 / 4

Westlake’s Lizzie Shunn adjusts her headgear as she wrestles Judge Memorial’s Trinity Speredon in the 132-pound weight class during the Utah All-Star Duals held Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the UCCU Center in Orem. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Total domination.

There is no other way to describe the season and career Lizzie Raleigh put together as a prep wrestler at Westlake High School.

With three official state titles, a perfect 33-0 record this season, and a final national ranking of sixth in the country, it is definitely apropos that Raleigh is the Daily Herald’s Utah Valley Girl Wrestler of the Year for the 2022-23 wrestling season.

Raleigh is definitely a rising star in female wrestling and she’s not done yet. She has lofty goals including being a NCAA wrestling champion and competing at the 2024 Olympic games in Paris.

So that means a busy summer lies ahead for the Westlake senior.

“I plan on competing at the women’s nationals, the U.S. Open and Fargo (U.S. Nationals for youth wrestlers)” Raleigh said. “I definitely have aspirations to compete at the Olympics.”

In the fall she will be at North Central College in the Chicago area starting her collegiate career..

Raleigh simply crushed the competition in her last high school season. Besides winning her third state title, she won a tournament in Tulsa, claimed individual titles at the Christmas Clash, and Rockwell Rumble, went undefeated at the Utah Girls Duals State Championships, added another divisional title to her resume and was victorious in the Ross Brunson All-Star Dual.

One of her goals was to go through the high school season without giving up a point. And she was one match away from that when she was called for an illegal slam in her state championship match. So in one sense the goal was reached as no opponent was able to score an offensive point on Raleigh.

The goal wasn’t one that Raleigh started the season with but was one that came early in the year.

“My first goal was going undefeated but after the first couple of tournaments, someone told me that nobody had actually scored on me,” Raleigh said. “So I figured why not make that a goal? I just want to take them down and finish the match.”

Raleigh began her wrestling odyssey when she was seven-years-old. She was at a meet where her older brother Lance was competing when she noticed Hailey (Cox) Corona competing. At that point, girls were competing against the boys and Corona, now the head girls coach at Wasatch, was finding quite a bit of success.

“I saw Hailey do it and I thought, ‘cool, I want to do that too,'” Raleigh said.

She then became the first female wrestler in the Westlake youth wrestling program under the direction of Jeff Newby, who Raleigh gives a lot of credit for her success.

“He (Newby) always made me feel welcome,” Raleigh said. “When the other boys were giving me a hard time, he wouldn’t stand for it. He’s the main reason I stayed with the sport.”

Before Burdett took over the program in 2021, Ben Szabo was Raleigh’s first high school coach. At that time, she was getting a bit burnt out but she credits Szabo for reigniting her passion for wrestling.

“He made me find my love for wrestling again,” Raleigh said of Szabo.

Another important mentor was Geneva Gray, the Women’s Wrestling Director for USA Wrestling Utah.

“Geneva (Gray) pushed me to the next level,” Raleigh said. “She gave me a lot of private lessons that improved my technique. She was also a great sounding board and helped me deal with all the team drama and different aspects of my wrestling life.”

Burdett had high praises for Raleigh and what she has meant to the Westlake program.

“Lizzie has made a huge impact on Westlake girls wrestling,” said the Thunder head coach. “She was the first girl that came up through the youth Westlake program. She motivated me, the then head boys coach, to start recruiting girls to the program. She helped pave the way for Westlake to win four straight team titles (three official UHSAA titles and one club championship before the sport was sanctioned) with her leadership.

“I am truly grateful for all that Lizzie has done for our program. The girls that come after her will benefit from what she helped start.”

For Raleigh, she wants to be known for that legacy as well.

“I think we started something great (at Westlake),” Raleigh said. “I think we really set the bar in Utah.”

Lizzie Raleigh file

• 33-0 in 2022-23
• 88-4 Overall Career Record (Girls Wrestling Officially Sanctioned)
• 3-Time State Champion (Girls Wrestling Officially Sanctioned)
• 4-Time State Champion (Club Champion in 2020)
• 3-Time Divisional Champion
• 3-Time Ross Brunson All-Star Dual Participant
• 2022 Junior World Team Member
• Ranked No. 6 Nationally

Newsletter