Thunder keep rolling: Westlake dominates 6A state girls wrestling for third straight year
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- Westlake’s Chloe Shumway (right) lifts the arm of Thunder teammate Hailey Pigg after Pigg defeated Shumway in the finals of the 140-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake athletes and coaches pose for a photo after the Thunder won the team title at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Ashley Cannon works to pin Granger’s Kimberly Chaparro during the finals of the 126-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Westlake’s Celeste Detoles (top) attempts to pin Davis’s Alejandra Martinez during the finals of the 135-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Celeste Detoles celebrates winning the finals of the 135-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Chloe Shumway throws Thunder teammate Hailey Pigg to the ground during the finals of the 140-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Hailey Pigg (top) battles Thunder teammate Chloe Shumway in the finals of the 140-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Hailey Pigg (left) hugs Thunder teammate Chloe Shumway after the finals of the 140-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Emmy Finlinson competes in the finals of the 145-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Emmy Finlinson celebrates after winning the finals of the 145-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Keilikki Nau Rarick attempts to pin West’s Elena Kamai during the finals of the 235-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Keilikki Nau Rarick takes a moment after winning the finals of the 235-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Westlake’s Ashley Cannon celebrates winning the finals of the 125-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Skyridge’s Madison Sherman attempts to pin Syracuse’s Daeja Sundquist during the finals of the 130-pound division at the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
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- Wrestlers stand for the national anthem before the 6A state girls wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
As expected Westlake easily won the 6A girls tournament. But there was a little “tournament within the tournament” because according to Westlake’s Ashley Cannon (125 pounds) there was the team goal to outscore Layton, who won the 6A boys title.
But probably more important to the Thunder senior was winning her second state title which she did with a 15-0 technical fall victory over Granger’s Kimberly Chaparro. Cannon had three other pins and was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weight divisions.
“It feels awesome,” said Cannon on her second trip to the top of the podium. “I have made so many friends being on this team.”
For the record, the Thunder girls scored 289 points while Layton’s boys pointed 272.5. As far as the other teams in the 6A girls team race, Copper Hills was a distant second with 175.5 points while Syracuse finished third with 167.
Westlake had six state champions and the only reason they didn’t have seven was at 140 pounds two Thunder teammates had to wrestle each other in the championship finals. Just like at the Divisional A tourney, Hailey Piig defeated Chloe Shumway, this time by a 4-0 score.
“It’s amazing. It hasn’t hit me that I won,” said Piig.
In between Cannon’s and Piig’s championship victories, Celeste Detoles (135), just a junior, won her third state title. Detoles pinned Davis High’s Alejandra Martinez in the second round. None of Detoles’s matches went the distance as the Thunder grappler had four pins in the tournament.
Emmy Finlinson (145) won her third state title by defeating Corner Canyon’s Isabella Morgan 7-2. Finlinson was technically the first state champion in program history as was her brother Jacob for the Thunder boys program. For Finlinson, she found the competition tougher each year and welcomed it.
“It was one-hundred percent tougher,” said Finlinson. “It’s insane (how much girls wrestling is improving).”
Westlake’s third 3-time state champion Lizzie Raleigh won her match by pin in the second period over Syracuse’s Ashlyn Packer.
Raleigh didn’t complete her goal of going through the season unscored upon but that’s because she was penalized for unnecessary roughness when she took Packer back to the mat.
“I’m still happy about how the season ended but I’m ready for the next step,” said Raleigh, who signed to compete at North Central University in Chicago. Raleigh was one of two undefeated wrestlers in 6A finishing her season with a perfect 33-0 record.
Then to cap off a great night of wrestling for Westlake, Likki Rarick won the 235-pound state title. Rarick won 11-5 but survived a scare of being put on her back for near-fall points by West’s Elena Kamai. But the Thunder sophomore showed her championship form and dominated much of the match to win her second state title. Rarick matched Raleigh with 33 wins with just one loss on the year.
All total Westlake placed 12 wrestlers out of the 20 they brought to the big tourney. This pleased Westlake head coach Cody Burdett.
“It’s a relief (to take state), and it’s also a culmination of a lot of hard work,” said Burdett. “I’m just really happy for the girls and we had a lot of girls that just gutted it out.”
Another local wrestler that had a great tournament was Skyridge’s Madison Sherman (130). The Skyridge freshman had two pins in less than a minute and three total before falling in her championship match to Daeja Sundquist of Syracuse.
With just four qualifiers, Skyridge finished 17th out of 24 6A teams that had representation with 41 team points, while Pleasant Grove was 14th with 49 points. American Fork and Lone Peak didn’t have wrestlers compete at this year’s state tournament.
1A-3A Girls Notes: American Leadership Academy (ALA) crowned three individual state champions and placed seventh as a team at the 1A-3A state meet held at the Sevier Event in Richfield. Grantsville won the tournament scoring 274 points while Juab (187) edged Canyon View (183) for second place.
Jaskin Hair (100) won in thrilling fashion defeating Grantsville’s Rhylee Clark in sudden victory overtime, 3-1. Earlier in the day, Hair beat the Divisional A champion Elizabeth Cox of Enterprise 6-1 in the semifinals.
Hair’s teammate Rachel Camacho (115) won her second straight title with a third period pin over Providence Hall’s Alyssa Lujan. It was Camacho’s fourth pin in four matches with three coming in the first round.
Then at 145 pounds, ALA’s Olivia Carrillo won her third state title with a second round pin over Rich High’s Courtney Mecham. Carrillo finished her senior season with an impressive 23-1 mark.
Addison Kriegh (170) finished third for Tintic which finished 21st out of 28 teams that had wrestlers in the event.
Complete results of these state tournaments can be found at www.trackwrestling.com.
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