A Skyhawks team that started building its program just four seasons ago set aside its nerves and delivered a convincing final product.

Of the seven Salem Hills wrestlers who reached the finals at the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University in Orem, four came out on top — each winning by fall — to race past second-place Wasatch, 211-191, to claim the title.

“Definitely a team-before-me mentality was needed,” 155-pound champion Ruby Lindstrom said. “We had to trust each other enough that we would be able to pull through and get it. And I’m really proud of us and how we performed today.”

The Skyhawks fell short in three of its first four championship matches — with Makayla Carrick the lone winner by fall over Alta’s Riley Levin at 125 pounds — but solidified its championship standing with three dominant consecutive matches from a trio of middleweights.

In the 140-pound match, Rachel Jensen pinned West Field’s Brooke Deeter at the end of the second period, then Avery Winterton won by fall over Wasatch’s Dakota Frogge in a rigorous three-period match.

“She’s a great opponent,” Winterton said. “She’s by far one of the best matches I’ve had all season. But I just had to go out there and have faith in my training and let it all go, leave it all on the mat. Got nothing to lose.”

Salem Hills coach TJ Brindley said he knew Wasatch wasn’t going to catch his team after Winterton prevailed.

“We knew that was going to be very tough, very back-and-forth,” he said. “Avery wrestled very smart, wrestled aggressive, and ended up finishing and getting the pin.”

Lindstrom then placed the exclamation mark on the evening by pinning Clearfield’s Daisy Fackrell in two periods. She said her confidence rose when she got off bottom in the second period and heard her opponent say a choice word.

“I knew I had her in that moment. I knew it was done and I was gonna get it,” Lindstrom said.

Wasatch placed four wrestlers in the finals, winning two of them, with Makenzie McCoy pinning Hillcrest’s Mike McMullin at 120 pounds and Marabelle Brown winning by fall over Roy’s Abbie Colvin at 130 pounds. Brown became the first Wasatch girl to win back-to-back state titles. In other notable area results, Springville’s Heather Weakley defeated West’s Mary Katoa by fall at 190 pounds.

Despite falling short of a third straight state title, Wasatch coach Hailey Corona said she was proud of her team.

“I think this was a great way to end it,” she said. “Of course, we always shoot for the stars and want the gold, but we’re still really proud of how they ended up, and Salem had an awesome run, so it was fun to watch.”

It was a run that Brindley said was started by his daughter, Addie Brindley, Hannah Coyne, Kelsey Banks and Winterton when he began coaching them as freshmen four years ago.

Coach Brindley said the wrestlers listened, worked hard, helped grow the program to 21 girls, and now can see their efforts pay off.

“There were four seniors that all placed, and they started the program at Salem Hills, those four. And it’s fun to see the tradition they started,” he said.

Winterton credited coach Brindley, and a group of wrestlers who joined over the last two to three years and chose to stay on, for helping improve.

“These are all athletic girls coming from different sports and programs at the school,” she said. “So for them to keep with it and learn the technique, building off of the athleticism they already had, it helped so much.”

Reaching the mountaintop, though, required surmounting Wasatch, something that Brindley said he wasn’t sure the team could do. He said the team’s mindset changed after the Skyhawks beat the Wasps head-to-head in a dual meet this year.

“Our girls started to believe that they could win at state, and just kept pushing,” he said. “And it’s fun having such a tough competitor like Wasatch to try to compete against, because you’ve got to raise your level if you want to, and we knew we had to raise our level to compete with them today.”

“It all just comes down to wanting it more,” Carrick added. “We’ve wanted this for four years. We’ve never quite been able to get it. Wasatch has a lot of girls, and with the new change in the scoring, we wanted it more. We knew it was going to be a tight battle, but we all left it on the mat.”