Karis Begaye has been wrestling since she was in second grade. She’s now a sophomore wrestling on the Page Sand Devils boys wrestling team in the 106 pound weight class.
“She’s legit,” said head wrestling coach Kyran Keisling. “She can compete with the boys.”

Begaye traveled with the boy’s squad to the Iron Town Duels where she had five wins and three losses.

“These were impressive wins against schools with big wrestling programs,” said coach Keisling.

“And she beat her opponents with some remarkable moves. She pinned one guy with double arm-bar.  It’s pretty awesome to watch. She made several boys cry last weekend.”
But now Begaye has a tough decision ahead of her, because this year the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) has instituted girls wrestling statewide. As the wrestling season nears the end she and her coaches have to decide if she’s going to wrestle at the state tournament on the boys team or the girls team.

“If she wrestles on the girls team she’ll most likely take the state championship,” said coach Keisling. “If she wrestles against the boys she’ll go very deep and maybe even take one of the top six spots. For her future, for things like college applications and things like that, we’re trying to decide which might look most impressive.”

To say that Begaye is committed to wrestling, and being very good at it, is an understatement. She lives in Tuba City and commutes to Page every day.

“Because the academics aren’t as good in Tuba City and the wrestling program here is a lot better,” Begaye said.

Begaye’s older sister and two older brothers also wrestled. At first, she says, she watched them and pretty soon joined them. Then, what was a fun family game, evolved into serious practice. When she was in third and fourth grade she was allowed to wrestle at the Tuba City Boarding School.

“I like wrestling because I like what I learn from it,” she said.  “It teaches me discipline, the value of hard work, and respect for my opponents, my teammates and my coaches. It’s a very demanding sport and, whether I win or lose, I love the feeling that I gave it my all and I tried my best.”

Begaye’s teammate, Wynette Nez, wrestles on the girls squad but, like Begaye, she’s been wrestling against boys since she was in kindergarten. She was also drawn into it because her old brothers, Tyrel and Taylor, also did it. And one day when her parents dropped off her brothers at the Dust Devils, Nez got out of the car and went with them.

“I wrestle because it’s hard,” she said. “It’s the opposite of being a princess. I’d rather be the person who can take care of herself, rather than the person who has to get saved by somebody.”

Latasha Slim is a sophomore wrestling in the 132-pound weight division. She started wrestling in the sixth grade.

“Wrestling challenges me to do my best and also motivates me to keep my grades up,” she said. She believes the lessons she learns from her time in the wrestling room she’ll carry with her into her adult life.

“I like the concepts I’m learning from wrestling,” she said. “You have to be physically and mentally strong to be a good wrestler and I think all that will prepare me for college and working after college. Those concepts will carry over into my adult life and lead me to a more successful future and life.”

Currently the girls wrestling team don’t have their own coach. They train under wrestling coaches Keisling and Matt Penrod in the same room at the same time as the boys team.
Keisling is happy to see it.

“It’s about time this happened,” he said. “It’s been a long time in the making.

Wrestling has been popular in northern Arizona for a long time, especially on the reservation. There have always been girls from the reservation who have liked to wrestle.”

Back in the mid-2000s Arizona held a one-day only girls state wrestling championship and the event was very popular with Page girls back then as well, said coach Keisling.
“Some years we’d take a vanload of girls to it, and they often did very well.”

Among them was Logan Gracia who took the state title one year.  Logan is the sister of other famous Page wrestlers Sean, Dante and Hayden Gracia.
Girls wrestling has been growing in popularity around the country and finally reached a point where the AIA felt like they needed to ake a closer look at it, said AIA sports administrator, Dean Visser.

“This is an emerging sport  in Arizona and Colorado,” he said,” but in Oregon, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, Hawaii and California, girls wrestling is aleady big, and very popular.”
The new league has been very well-received in Arizona, said Visser.

“Some teams this year have only two or four, maybe six girls on their team, but we expect that number to grow as we further recognize it,” said Visser. “The girls, schools and coaches I’ve talked to have embraced it. It’s been a very positive thing.”

The girls wrestling league won’t feature a team championship this year, but will have a state championship for individuals.

Page High Scholl Athletics Director, Ernie Rivers, echoes what Visser said.

“I think this is a fabulous opportunity for our girls,” said Rivers. “I think this will open up new doors and there will be a lot of new college opportunities taking place with this too. It’s about time this is has happened, and particularly great for Page where we already have a lot of interested in wrestling.”