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West Valley City Journal

Lady Pirates get takedowns at wrestling tournament

Feb 03, 2021 12:25PM ● By Greg James

Cyprus junior Tayleigh Robertson won a medal at her first wrestling tournament, the next day she won a drill competition with the Spinnakers, Cyprus’s drill team. (Greg James/City Journals)

By Greg James | [email protected] 

On a Friday night Tayleigh Robertson won a medal in the school’s first-ever girls-only wrestling tournament then Saturday morning she competed in an individual drill down with the Spinnakers drill team and won her division. She can throw ‘em down.

“Some of my friends wrestled so I thought I would try it,” Robertson said. “It is so competitive, and I have been dancing my whole life so it is a lot different.”

Robertson is a junior at Cyprus High School. She is starting her first year on the wrestling team but is also a member of the Spinnakers, the Pirates drill team. Wrestleutah.com currently ranks her fourth in her weight class for the entire state.

“I think drill helps me be competitive, but I learned not to be scared to give something new a try, wrestling is fun,” Robertson said.

In her first tournament, the Girls Christmas Clash, Robertson placed third.

This season is the first as a sanctioned high school sport for girls wrestling. On Dec. 19, 2020, Hunter High School hosted the first-ever girls-only tournament in the Granite School District; nearly 50 girls competed.

The Pirates wrestling head coach Charlie Brown oversees both the girls and boys teams although they are operated separately. He began an assistant program with several former wrestlers to help him keep things organized.

“It is a challenge,” Brown said. “It has been good though. This is the first official year for girls wrestling, but I have coached a few of them before. I really think girls are the best and hardest working athletes, but they need to enjoy it.”

Cyprus began the year with nearly 20 girls on the team, but injuries and the pandemic have pared down its roster to 11 girls. The team still has room to grow.

“The girls are always asking their friends to come to try it,” assistant coach Terron Eagen said. “We have been successful so far. We have had a few girls place and we won the Granite School District tournament.”

Cyprus held the first-ever Pirates Ladies Invitational on Jan 2. Westlake took home the initial trophy by finishing 70 points ahead of Mountain Crest. Cyprus finished ninth overall and 17 schools participated in the tournament.

“I am having fun watching the girls wrestle. They all seem to be having fun,” Brown said. “I think the biggest difference (between girls and boys wrestling) is it is emotional for these girls. They want to enjoy it.”

The sport has the same rules as boys wrestling does. The Utah High School Activities Association is still experimenting with weight classes. As the season began they supported 10 classes, but may expand to 14 before the season ends.

“I have been a huge supporter of girls wrestling,” Brown said. “I knew a few years ago that we would have a lady Pirates team. I feel like we got a jump on it last year with our organized team. I have seen cute frilly girls step out of the girly thing and throw down their opponent.”

Coaching girls in wrestling is not much different.

“For the most part it is the same,” Eagen said. “I explain things better and try to be softer with the girls. I try to help them understand. It makes it more comfortable.”