Sunnyside High School great Audrey Jimenez earned her first national championship at the collegiate level after winning four state championships with the Blue Devils in her historic career.
Jimenez, a sophmore at Lehigh, won by fall in 1:10 over Grand Valley (Mich.) State’s Sage Mortimer in the 110-pound championship match in the inaugural NCAA NC Women’s Wrestling Championships at Coralville, Iowa.
Jimenez, who was 23-0 in her first full season of competition at Lehigh, was the No. 1 seed of the tournament. Mortimer (21-2) was the No. 2 seed.
At 110, No. 1 Audrey Jimenez (Lehigh) pins 2025 national champion No. 2 Sage Mortimer (Grand Valley State) at the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships. pic.twitter.com/qUxDmYZu5P
— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) March 8, 2026
Jimenez wrestled Mortimer in 2024 during the U.S. Olympic trials. She secured a 10-6 win over Mortimer in the challenge tournament finals. Mortimer scored the first four points before Jimenez reeled off 10 straight in that match.
In the semifinal match Saturday, Jimenez won by technical fall 13-2 over Iowa’s Nyla Valencia.
Jimenez rallied after trailing Valencia midway through the second period. Jimenez locked her signature leg lace to win.
She was a three-time Arizona girls state champion and a one-time boys state champion at Sunnyside.
After winning girls high school titles as a freshman, sophomore and junior, she won an appeal with the Arizona Interscholastic Association to compete against boys and made history by becoming the first Arizona girl to win a state wrestling title against boys, capturing the Division I title at 106 pounds.
Jimenez was a two-time U17 World Championships team member, winning a bronze medal in 2021, and a two-time U20 World Championships team member, earning silver medals in 2022 and 2023. She won a silver medal at the U23 World Championships in 2023 and a bronze medal at the Pan-American Championships in 2024.
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