Sunnyside senior Audrey Jimenez first had to win an appeal with the Arizona Interscholastic Association just to compete against boys this wrestling season.
She followed that through by making history Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Jimenez became the first girl to win an Arizona state wrestling title against boys, capturing the Division I title at 106 pounds.
Her win was part of another dominant performance at the AIA high school state wrestling championship tournament by Sunnyside, which has been the top high school wrestling program in Arizona over the past decade. The Blue Devils won their seventh straight boysβ team championship, edging second-place Peoria Liberty for the fourth straight year in Division I, followed by Tempe Corona del Sol in third.
In the girlsβ Division I team championship competition, Liberty took first, with Sunnyside second and Mountain View (Marana) third.
Eight Sunnyside wrestlers won individual state championships Saturday in the boysβ competition, according to the Arizona Interscholastic Association.
Peoria Liberty, another state wrestling powerhouse, last won the D-I boysβ team title in the 2019-20 season, when Sunnyside was in D-II and won that division.
Southern Arizona as a whole was on display throughout Saturdayβs championship rounds, with wrestlers from Tucson or Marana schools either winning or finishing as runner-up in 10 of the 12 Division I weight classes. In all, 36 from Tucson and surrounding areas across all six divisions either won or finished second in their weight classes.
Jimenez, a senior who previously won three straight girlsβ individual titles, defeated four male counterparts on her way to the record book. Jimenez culminated her triumphant day with a 7-5 decision over Peoria Libertyβs Carson Miles for the state title.
βItβs an incredible accomplishment, considering all the adversity she has overcome,β Sunnyside coach Anthony Leon said in a text. βI am grateful for having witnessed it in the best seat in the house.β
In 2021, the AIA sanctioned girls wrestling, making girls compete against girls during the season and at state.
Audrey Jimenez wrestles Adyn Bostick in her familyβs yard during training in 2020.
But because Jimenez and Phoenix Desert Vistaβs Everest Leydecker were so dominant in wrestling through the years at the club level and found the competition lacking against other girls, they petitioned the AIA to let them wrestle this season against boys.
βFor me, wrestling against the boys is going to test me a little bit more,β Jimenez said in December after winning her appeal with the AIA. βEither way, wrestling against the boys or the girls, Iβm happy to represent Sunnyside.β
Former Phoenix North wrestling champion Nick Kehagias, who has been a big proponent of girls wrestling in the state, wrote a letter last spring to the AIA to allow female athletes to compete against boys if they had the desire to do so.
βAudrey Jimenez did what she has been doing her entire career, pushing herself to wrestle at an incredibly high level,β Kehagias said in a text. βWinning boys state in AZ and making history is a sign of what is yet to come for her wrestling future in college and internationally.β
Coach Audrey Jimenez watches two of the younger students practice a new hold during the "Counting Takedowns" week-long wrestling and economics camp at Sunnyside High School on June 14, 2022. Jimenez was one of three Sunnyside wrestlers leading the camp.
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