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Utah Valley High School Wrestling Rewind: Divisionals highlight growth and challenges for girls wrestling

By Brian E. Preece - Herald correspondent | Feb 3, 2025

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

Elle Jensen of Maple Mountain (left) and Brooke Deeter of West Field compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.

There is no dispute that the growth of girls wrestling in the Beehive State has been nothing short of amazing. It’s not just the quantity of female participants but the quality of competition has also improved greatly in a very short time.

Yet, as incredible as this all is, there are a lot of schools that haven’t quite got on board.

For example, right here in Utah County, Lone Peak has never had a girls program. American Fork had a few girls when the sport was sanctioned but didn’t field a team this year. Orem, which dropped its boys program this year, has one girl wrestler, the very capable Sophia Johnson, who works out with Mountain View. Timpanogos had just one girl wrestler this season while Spanish Fork had two.

One might look at 6A, for example, and expect participation to be highest in the state. But that isn’t the case.

With 14 weight classes and teams allowed to bring two girls per weight class to the divisional tournament, only Herriman in the Divisional B tournament had over 20 wrestlers. Things were slightly better in the Divisional A tournament as Mountain Ridge had 23 girls competing and Westlake 20. But that number for the Thunder is down a bit from a few years ago when Westlake won the first two 6A titles when the sport was sanctioned by the state for the 2020-21 season. A third of the 6A programs had 10 or less participants.

Girls wrestling might be the most healthy in the 4A ranks and especially in northern Utah and Cache Valley.

Mountain Crest started the season with over 50 girls and easily filled out its 28 potential wrestlers for divisionals en route to winning the title.

Former Tooele state champion Craig Dart, who assists his wife Susan as the head coach of the Mustang program, once told me, “that wherever there is a strong boys program, there is no reason that school can’t have a strong girls program as well.”

Dart is generally right. Though Wasatch didn’t have a girls wrestling program the first year it was sanctioned, it brought on Hailey Corona, one of the best ever girl wrestlers in Utah’s history as its head coach, and won a state title in 2024. And the Wasps look good to repeat. A potential threat to Wasatch is Box Elder, which has made great strides the past two years winning the other 5A Divisional while its boys team will battle with Spanish Fork and Wasatch for the boys title.

Uintah, the strong favorite to win another boys 4A title, has a strong girls program, winning a state title two years ago and placing second to Mountain Crest at the Divisional B tournament.

And Juab, with Corona’s father Billy Cox at the helm, is a strong contender in 3A while its boys team seeks its eighth straight title.

One positive thing that has also happened is that girl programs have also thrived at schools where boys programs have been less competitive.

Copper Hills won the 6A girls title last year while its boys program continues to struggle. Cedar Valley’s boys program is still building and making progress, but the girls program has taken second in state in 2023 and third last year. Both programs are led by Eric Gonzalez.

Other success stories in girls wrestling are programs like Bear River, Bonneville, Canyon View, Grantsville, Herriman, Hillcrest, Jordan, Mountain Ridge and Tooele. With Mountain Ridge in particular, the Sentinels are the favorite to win 6A while their boys will be much further down the pack. With Bear River, the boys team is a top-five threat but its girls should win a trophy in 4A. Salem Hills, right here in Utah County, placed second in 5A last season while its boys program — though solid in recent years — hasn’t had that kind of success.

While Cedar Valley has the same coach leading both the boys and girls programs, the secret sauce for success seems to be having separate boys and girls coaches. Then on top of that girls having their own practice times rather than just working out with the boys program. It’s here that these girl teams can build their own identities and communities.

While girls wrestling participation has grown, this year the numbers have plateaued a bit. But the good news is that there are still so many schools where the sport hasn’t quite caught on which means there is still ample room for growth.

One could argue that girls wrestling in the state is in better shape than boys wrestling. Recent high school graduates like ALA’s Sage Mortimer and Maple Mountain’s Marylnne Deede are winning world and college championships. Former Pleasant Grove wrestler Brooklyn Hays is also making a big splash at the collegiate and international level.

Also, high school boys wrestling is pretty static these days in Utah dominated by dynastic powerhouse teams and the wealth gap between programs is immense. Again, since girl programs are basically starting in the same place with the sport being so new, a much wider variety of programs are competing for titles and winning individual medals. And perhaps more importantly, the chance to break into the elite doesn’t seem quite as daunting as it does with its male counterpart.

In regards to the Divisional tournaments, Wasatch came away with 5A Divisional A title while host Cedar Valley was second. In the other 5A divisional, Salem Hills was second to Box Elder.

Mountain Ridge and Corner Canyon won the 6A Divisionals and Westlake was second in the Divisional A tournament.

Girls Big-Time Performance of the Week: Wasatch’s Pallas Anderson (115 pounds) was a dominant force at the 5A Divisional A tournament winning her weight class by posting four victories, all first period pins.

Girls Match of the Week: In the 130-pound final of the 5A Divisional A tournament, returning Maple Mountain state champion Ellie Jensen took on Cedar Valley freshman sensation Giovanna Good. The Aviator took an early 3-0 lead on Jensen but the Golden Eagle grappler got a reversal to cut Good’s lead to 3-2 heading into the final period. Good earned a takedown to extend her lead to 6-2 but with just nine seconds left Jensen earned a reversal and then three points nearfall to take home the gold, 7-6.

Girls 6A Divisional A results (qualifiers/alternates): 1. Mountain Ridge 302.5 2. Westlake 258.0 (19/0) 3. Copper Hills 209.5 4. Layton 122.0 5. Weber 121.0 6. Pleasant Grove 82.0 (8/2) 7. Skyridge 67.0 (6/1) 8. Bingham 8.0. Note: American Fork had no girl participants.

Local champions: Ashlyn Ballantyne (Westlake, 105 pounds); Aubriana Wadley (Westlake, 110 pounds); Ameris Jensen (Westlake, 130 pounds) Marley Michaelis (Westlake, 135 pounds); Madison Sherman (Syridge, 155 pounds) Tevia Rarick (Westlake, 190 pounds); Keilikki Rarick (Westlake, 235 pounds).

Girls 6A Divisional B results: Lehi was the only local team in the tournament and placed seventh out eight teams with 32 points and qualified six wrestlers for the state tournament. Corner Canyon (235.5) won the Divisional B tournament while Davis and Herriman tied for second with 219.5 points. Note: Lone Peak had no girl participants.

Girls 5A Divisional A results (qualifiers/alternates): 1. Wasatch 359.5 (19/2) 2. Cedar Valley 317.0 (17/0) 3. Northridge 244.5 (18/2) 4. Springville 139.0 (9/2) 5. Bonneville 104.5 (5/0) 6. Olympus 91.0 (7/1) 7. Maple Mountain 88.0 (5/1) 8. Bountiful 65.5 (5/1) 9. Kearns 64.0 (7/1) 10. Alta 52.5 (3/1) 11. Highland 52.0 (4/0) 12. Granger 45.0 (6/0) 13. Timpview 35.0 (2/0) 14. Woods Cross 26.0 (3/0) 15. Viewmont 5.0 (1/0).

Local champions: Tyler Rodriguez (Wasatch, 105 pounds); Maisey Blaser (Wasatch, 110 pounds); Pallas Anderson (Wasatch, 115 pounds); Marabelle Brown (Wasatch, 120 pounds); Ellie Jensen (Maple Mountain, 130 pounds); Regan Heywood (Wasatch, 135 pounds); Isabella Sagastume (Cedar Valley, 140 pounds); Rhya Balmforth (Cedar Valley, 145 pounds); Hallie Denney (Cedar Valley, 155 pounds); Kylee Pope (Springville, 170 pounds); Asinate Mafuahingano (Cedar Valley, 190 pounds).

5A Divisional B results (points/qualifiers): Box Elder (263.5/17) won the Divisional B tournament while Salem Hills (220.0/13) was second. Spanish Fork (17.0/1) finished 14th out 14 teams.

Local champions: Makayle Carrick (Salem Hills, 115 pounds); Kelseigh Banks (Salem Hills, 130 pounds); Avery Winterton (Salem Hills, 145 pounds); Ruby Lindstrom (Salem Hills, 155 pounds).

Girls 4A Divisional A results: Provo was the only local team and placed tenth out of 12 teams that had participants. Provo had six wrestlers qualify for the state tournament. Bear River (376.5) won the tournament and Tooele (279.5) was second.

Girls 4 Divisional B results (points/qualifiers): Mountain View (141.0/10) placed sixth, Payson (92.0/7) placed ninth, Orem (31.5/1) was 12th and Timpanogos (3.0/0) was 13th out of 14 participating schools. Mountain Crest won the Divisional B tournament with 404.5 points while Uintah was second with 367. Sophia Johnson of Orem placed first at 130 pounds.