Jet Sports Training Female Athlete of the Month: Pueblo wrestler Elizabeth Valenzuela Smith

Pueblo High School freshman Elizabeth Valenzuela Smith, who is establishing herself as one of the top female wrestlers in the nation at her weight class, placed third in the 46 kg competition at the U15 USA Wrestling Pan American Team Trials at the Air Force Academy at Colorado on Aug. 13.

Valenzuela Smith went 3-1 in her matches, including wins by fall and technical fall in the consolation bracket.

She was challenging to be the U.S. representative at 46 kg at Panama City, Panama, from Nov 23-26. Only the champion of each weight class qualifies.

She ranks No. 24 in the nation at 100 pounds in the latest ratings released by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, USA Wrestling and FloWrestling.

In July, Smith placed fifth in the 100-pound competition of the prestigious 16U Fargo (N.D.) National Championships.

For this performance and her overall stature in female wrestling in Arizona and the country, Smith is the Jet Sports Training Female Athlete of the Month for August.

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.