2025 Daily Herald All-Valley Girls Wrestler of the Year: Westlake’s Tevia Rarick posts perfect record
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- Westlake’s Tevia Rarick competes in the 6A 190-pound championship at the girls state wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.
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- Westlake’s Tevia Rarick competes in the 6A 190-pound championship at the girls state wrestling finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.
Pinning to perfection is exactly what Westlake sophomore Tevia Rarick did in the 2025-26 season. She wrestled a total of 43 bouts and came away with 43 pins and easily won her second straight 6A title at 190 pounds. This perfection and dominance has led to a national ranking of No. 2 and her being named the Utah Valley Girls Wrestler of the Year.
Her older sister Keilikki, or Likki as she is more commonly called, set the standard winning four state titles and last season she was the Utah Valley Girl Wrestler of the Year. So this award has stayed in the family and Tevia sees Likki as both a great role model but one who she competes with to push the level of excellence even higher.
“My sister won four state titles but was only undefeated in one of her seasons,” said Tevia. “My goal is to take state four times and go undefeated in my high school career.”
So far so good and nobody in Utah has really threatened to make her wrestle all six minutes of a wrestling match. In fact, the four matches she wrestled to earn her second 6A crown didn’t even add up to three minutes as all four ended in the first round by pin. Her longest match at this year’s state tournament was against Makayla Walden of Corner Canyon in the semifinals and that bout lasted a mere 47 seconds. In her freshman season, she pinned Walden in 1:06 of the championship final so as dominant as she was in 2025 going 38-0, she’s improving and that should scare any future opponents.
Because Rarick plays rugby she will miss some of the spring high school national tournaments but she plans on going back to Fargo this summer to compete in the USA Nationals. Last year she was the 16-and-under (16U) champion.
“One of my goals is definitely to go back-to-back at Fargo,” Rarick added. And she definitely is hoping to move up a peg in the national rankings as the top spot is held by junior Brooke Huffman of Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Wisconsin.
Her older sister Likki was definitely the team leader last year but this past season Tevia stepped up into that role impressing her head coach James Hatt.
“She’s a phenomenal leader,” Hatt said. “She cares about her teammates and she does a great job leading them.”
This was evident when her teammate Kennedy Jeppson won her 110-pound state championship match by a 7-4 score and besides Jeppson, no one seemed happier than Rarick as she was there to embrace her teammate when she came off the mat. It’s not like Rarick wasn’t happy when she won her own state title about an hour later but after a few quick congratulatory hugs she actually started doing wind sprints across the arena floor.
“She wants to compete, she has an amazing drive to win and to keep working on it,” added Hatt.
“She wants to prove she’s No. 1. The only person that will limit her is her. Her biggest strength is her attitude. She has an amazing drive to win and to keep working on it.”
Rarick’s mother Hika is an assistant coach on Hatt’s staff and with Likki now wrestling at Lindenwood, she serves as Tevia’s main workout partner.
“It’s definitely fun having her as a coach,” related Tevia. “She’s a great role model and is very supportive.”
Speaking of fun, wrestling wasn’t always fun for Rarick and it might be hard for some to believe this, there were some losses in her youth career and she even gave up the sport for a couple of years. But as older sister Likki entered high school and was having success, Tevia made the decision to start wrestling again.
“I started wrestling pretty young, then stopped, and then about seventh, eighth grade I picked it up again and I have been locked in ever since,” Rarick said.
Rarick definitely has goals to wrestle in college and perhaps compete to get on the Olympic team but she also has incredible perspective even at her young age about having balance in her life.
“I’m just a sophomore and I have a hard time keeping my bedroom clean,” joked Rarick. “I still have things I want to do (outside of wrestling).”
And one of those things is being a force in the sport of rugby. As for whether rugby or wrestling is her favorite sport, it’s a bit complicated.
“I like rugby more because it’s easier. But then I like wrestling because it’s harder. I definitely like a challenge.”
Family has been a big reason for a lot of her success and the Utah wrestling world better get ready as she has five younger siblings who are also dominating youth wrestling in the Beehive State.
Tevia Rarick File
2-time state 6A champion as a sophomore
43-0 with 43 in pins 2025-26 season
81-0 record in high school
2-time Rockwell Rumble Champion
2-time participant and winner in the Ross Brunson All-Star Dual
16U champion at USA Nationals
Ranked No. 2 in nation by High School by Sports Illustrated
Her older sister, Keilikki, won the Daily Herald Girls Wrestler of the Year in 2025
