2022 Tricia Saunders Award Winners
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced the state and regional winners of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award (TSHSEA).
First presented in 2014, the TSHSEA is named for Tricia Saunders, a four-time World Champion and women’s wrestling pioneer. Saunders was the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.
The award recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.
Regional winners are selected from state winners, and the national winner will be chosen from the regional winners.
The state and regional winners of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award will be announced on Wednesday. The DSHSEA recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior male wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.
The national winner of the TSHSEA will be announced on May 24 while the national winner of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award will be announced on May 25. The national winners will be honored during the 45th Annual Honors Weekend at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum on June 3 and 4 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For information on Honors Weekend, visit https://bit.ly/3KAFjWw or telephone (405) 377-5243.
“We are excited about honoring this deserving group of young women as recipients of our Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award,” said Executive Director Lee Roy Smith. “Women’s wrestling in America has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and these honorees exemplify all of the qualities of well-rounded student-athletes. We look forward to seeing what they accomplish in wrestling, academics and life.”
Thirty-six state high school athletic associations have approved girls wrestling as an official sport and 32 held official girls high school state wrestling championships in 2021-22. Hawaii was the first state to host a girls state championship in 1998 while Texas began its girls tournament in 1999. The number grew to six states by 2015 and has exploded in recent years to 36 states.
States that hosted state-sanctioned girls wrestling championships are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Iowa, Ohio and Wyoming are scheduled to host their first official state championship in 2022-23 while North Carolina is scheduled to host its first officially sanctioned tournament in 2023-24.
To date there are 119 intercollegiate women’s wrestling teams. The NCAA has approved “Emerging Sport Status” for women’s wrestling at the Division I, Division II and Division III levels while the NAIA recognizes women’s wrestling as an official varsity sport.
Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports with participation growing by more than 71 percent from 16,562 in 2018 to 28,447 in 2020. Growth has continued through the pandemic and more than 33,000 female high school wrestlers competed in 2022.
TSHSEA winners are evaluated and selected on the basis of three criteria: success and standout performances and sportsmanship in wrestling; review of GPA and class rank, academic honors and distinctions; and participation in activities that demonstrate commitment to character and community.
The Hall of Fame accepts nominations for its high school excellence awards from state chapters and coaches. The nominations are reviewed by a committee, which selects state and regional winners. The committee then determines the national winners from the regional winners.
The 2022 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award Regional Winners are:
Southeast: Ella Beam of Lawndale, North Carolina, is a four-time North Carolina high school state champion for Burns High School and was ranked sixth at 180 pounds in the National Girls High School Rankings for March. The daughter of Luke and Kathy Beam, she was 20-0 in her prep career against girls and 85-65 overall, while also lettering in soccer and swimming. Beam was a finalist at Preseason Nationals and Folkstyle Nationals in 2021 and did not place in 2022 due to illness. She earned all-conference honors for boys wrestling while also earning all-conference honors in girls soccer. Beam received the wrestling team’s “Before Self” award in 2019 while sharing team MVP honors in 2020 and being named Outstanding Wrestler in 2021. She earned the swimming team’s “Most Improved” award and was also the recipient of the KTC Broadcasting McDonald’s Athlete Award. Class president as a senior and class marshal as a junior, Beam was a member of Air Force Junior ROTC, Students Leading A Change and FFA while also serving as school mascot and being a member of the marching band. She served as AFJROTC Corp Commander in 2021 and received the AFJROTC AMVETS National award, the National Sojourners award and the Air Force Association National award after being named Cadet of the Year in 2019. Beam volunteered with the Pleasant City Church Kids Ministry, the PCC Next Level Team, on JROTC community service projects, filling bird feeders at nursing homes, and participated in Mission Serve missions stateside and internationally. Beam has a GPA of 4.44 and plans to wrestle for Presbyterian College.
Southeast (11) – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia
As a result, we recognize those winners from the Southeast Region (even those states not usually covered by sewrestle.com).
Alabama – Yasmine Oliveira, Hoover, Spain Park High School
Florida – Juliana Diaz, Orlando, Dr. Phillips High School, Missouri Baptist University
Georgia – Lisa Glymph, Marietta, Marietta High School, Life University
Kentucky – Ivy Partin, Flat Lick, Knox Central High School, University of Cumberlands
Louisiana – Briana Araujo Batista, Baton Rouge, East Ascension High School, Iowa Central High School
Mississippi – Meagan Guzman, Moss Point, East Central High School
North Carolina – Ella Beam, Lawndale, Burns High School, Presbyterian College
South Carolina – Bella Hoffman, Tega Cay, Fort Mill High School, Montreat College
Tennessee - Valerie Smith
Virginia – Kaylee Anderson, Berryville, Clarke County High School, Shenandoah University
West Virginia – Micah Fischer, Lewisburg, Greenbrier East High School