Comparatively speaking, girls wrestling is still a new sport in high school. At Davis, the team is progressing and working toward building a program that can contend for a championship. 

Head coach Malia Roundy likes what she has seen so far out of the girls. 

“Our team is looking strong and committed to success,” she said. “We have great goals we are working towards and on track with them. We are just getting going with our season, but our first tournament, the Davis Duels, was exciting. I love watching the girls take to the mat for the first time in a competition setting. It really shows where we are growing and where we need work.”

In any sport, team unity is crucial. Wrestling is no exception. Though it’s a one-on-one sport, everyone contributes to the team’s point total and final outcome. Roundy said the girls cheer for one another and want every wrestler on the team to do her best.

“This year’s team is unified and focused,” Roundy said. “I love the way they support and encourage each other. My girls are physically and mentally tough, making them great competitors.”

Roundy selected three captains at the beginning of the season: senior Kristina Kent (105 pounds), senior Alejandra Martinez (135) and senior Eliza Davis (170). All three are not only talented, hard-working wrestlers, but they are good leaders and provide the examples on and off the mat that Roundy wants for the rest of the girls. Roundy is eager to see which wrestlers on the team emerge as the top competitors. 

“I will let them determine that by their own efforts this season,” she said. “I am proud of all of them, and we train them to all be top wrestlers. Earning that designation is on them.”

The biggest goals Roundy and her wrestlers have this season are to reach the state tournament. The 6A tournament will be held at Utah Valley University Feb. 14 and 15. Before state is the divisional tournament, where wrestlers compete for the right to qualify for state. Roundy hopes that every member of the team gets to the state tournament. 

Reaching those goals won’t come without putting in a lot of effort, Roundy said. 

“For this season to be a success, we need practice, practice, nose plugs, athletic tape and some more practice,” she said.

More importantly, Roundy wants the girls to do well outside of wrestling. She is pleased with what the girls have achieved in the classroom and in life. 

“I care who they are and who they are becoming,” she said. “Many of our goals are a lot larger than wrestling. They are exceptional ladies, and I am proud to be in their corner.”

Wrestling isn’t an easy sport, Roundy said. However, she said the time the girls spend in the wrestling room and on the mat in practices and at tournaments is worth it. She believes her pupils can learn life lessons by wrestling, and she said working hard to be one’s best can prepare the girls for other challenges. Roundy loves her job and enjoys seeing the girls accomplish so much.

“Wrestlers make for amazing humans,” Roundy said. “We push in where most people back away. We thrive when it is tough, we smile when we bleed, we feel honored that most people don’t do what we do, and we don’t ever let numbers on a scale define what strong and healthy mean. We define strength and grit one match at a time. Wrestlers learn to be accountable for their wins and losses. Wrestlers learn how to master their minds from a devastating loss to a winning mind set in 45 minutes. How many people do that? I guess what I'm getting at is I get to coach the coolest kids in the world that will not only win on the mat; they will win at life.”λ