Natalie Wilhoit was a few seconds from winning a state title last year, but her near-pinfall victory came just a few seconds late.
This year, she didn’t let the clock get in her way.
On Saturday night, Wilhoit capped off a dominant run in the state tournament, pinning all four opponents she faced en route to the winning the 170-pound weight class in the 5A/6A state championship tournament.
Wilhoit is the first girls wrestling state champ in school history.
“It feels amazing,” Wilhoit said. “Like I’m top of the world.”
She won her first three matches with a pinfall in the first period of each. In the state championship match, she picked up the pin 39 seconds into the second period.
“She wrestled a perfect tournament,” Tigard Head Coach Kaleb Reese said.
Reese said he noticed a big jump in Wilhoit’s skills last year, when she started to wrestle more confidently.
“She just figured out how to position herself and put herself in winning moments,” Reese said. “That really translated this year. She got in big moments and she faced the adversity early on in some big tournaments from really good girls in Washington. I think that helped build her confidence and get her even better.”
