Photo by Will Cornelius
Senior Bella Priddy after her win in the 125-lbs division over Mead High School’s Addyson Mooradian on Jan. 12.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

In a dim gymnasium, senior Spartan wrestler Bella Priddy locked arms with Mead High School’s Addyson Mooradian as the two sparred during a Friday night dual.

Above the two wrestlers hung a single 500-watt mat light that made the varsity girls wrestling dual feel like a primetime Las Vegas boxing match. Pushing and pulling, the pair went back and forth in the opening round before Priddy lifted Mooradian off her feet for a takedown.

“Run it! Run it!” yelled Jim Sanchez, the first-year head coach of Berthoud’s girls wrestling squad. Moments later Priddy had her opponent on their back for a pinfall to win the 125-lbs bout as her teammates erupted in excitement.

“Oh, I thought we wrestled really well,” Sanchez said after the dual. Across eight matches against Mead, the Spartans won three contests—all by pinfall. “They’re an established team, they’ve been around for five years or so and they had some tough kids.”

In just their second season, the girls wrestling team at Berthoud High School has elevated their performance on the mat week in and week out. “We got three solid pins, the other girls fought hard. I thought that was probably the best dual performance that we’ve had all year. I think they’re executing well and looking solid. So, I’m really happy with the performance tonight,” Sanchez commented.

With decades of experience as a high school wrestling coach, as well as accolades as a wrestler himself, Sanchez has laid the foundations to build a powerhouse program for girls wrestling in Berthoud. “It’s been progressive, every week we’re wrestling better. I mean they’re improving. They’re catching on to the technique, they’re building confidence and they’re being aggressive,” he said.

But it’s not just the coach making it happen. “The other piece is, they’re thinking, they’re committed, they’re showing up and they’re focused during practice,” Sanchez said in praise of the team and their persistence. “What you do in practice is what’s going to happen during the competition.”

Two weekends ago, the team traveled to South Denver High School for the Raven Rumble tournament, where the team placed fifth out of 12 teams. “A lot of our girls placed. Two of us placed second. We had like 19 pins I think, so we did really good,” said junior Miah Ardis, who placed second in the 130-lbs division at the tournament.

Then last weekend, Berthoud’s girls wrestling team reached a new milestone. At the 2024 Wiggins Girls Invitational, the Spartan team finished in first place out of 10 other high schools for their first program tournament win. “I think after Christmas we all have expectations of doing better. I mean we’ve worked hard through Christmas break and just the whole season,” said junior Addie Davidson about the confidence the team is gaining.

This coming weekend the team will compete in their home tournament, the Diny Pickert Invitational tournament at Berthoud High School, along with the boys wrestling team.

“I want to keep improving every week so we’re ready to go at regionals,” Sanchez said about the final stretch of the wrestling season. “See if we can take some kids to the big show.”