Doherty girls’ wrestling title winner Sarah Savidge spurns doubters, earns Peak Performer
Sarah Savidge has been told she can’t or shouldn’t for a while.
Flash back to sixth grade when she wanted to start wrestling. Her mom, following the opinions of many, told her no. You’ll get hurt, she said. That’s a boys’ sport, she said.
The tune changed quickly when Savidge made a boy cry in her first weekend of matches as an eighth grader.
Fast forward and Savidge is now making her mark against fellow girls’ wrestlers in the sport’s growing landscape — including a 127-pound state title and now the title of Peak Performer.
“When the season first started, I didn’t think of it differently,” Savidge said. “It didn’t hit me that it was my last season until we were hitting Christmas break. Once that hit me, I made sure that every tournament I came in to — I’d take a second to sit back and enjoy the moment.”
Even in the final match, the closing nature of it all didn’t hit right away. Savidge wrestled Chatfield’s Taylor Miess in the state final — a 7-0 win by decision for the Spartan standout.
The win came just a year after falling to another Chatfield wrestler in the final as a junior.
Once she reached the hallways of Ball Arena, following the hugs and smiles shared with coaches on the mat, it began to hit even more. She began to bounce around as the excitement hit.
That excitement started a long time ago.
Even before Savidge was given a blessing to wrestle competitively, she had a drive. That motivation showed itself even more once she was able to collect milestones from the effort.
High school was a lesson in discipline. While several classmates were living a social life, Savidge was practicing multiple times a day, along with keeping up her grades. Many of her coaches just call it putting money in the bank — and hers is never at risk of going empty.
“To be a champion like she is, that’s the work it can take,” coach Jacob Masias said. “The drive and the mentality that she has shown every day. She wants to stay late, she’s always early. Her work ethic is scary and I think that’s what is going to take her far in the wrestling world, as well as the regular world.”
And just to stay hungry, Savidge even battled through a loss early in the year. She fell in a 136-pound, tournament match after wrestling up. But across a 32-1 season, it proved to be an outlier.
In her final year, she had many goals. Metros, the area’s most storied tournament, was the first. She won her own bracket en route to leading the Spartans to the first girls’ team title.
Winning state was another one, even if the emotions of the win took a minute to settle in.
Now, she’s aiming higher.
“I knew the title would happen eventually because I’m not training to win state,” Savidge said. “I’m training to make a world team this year and do bigger and better things. When you’re training for that higher level, things fall into place.”
She was able to escape the pressures this year, too. So often before, Savidge would weigh herself down with wanting to make sure the team does well and wanting to live up to expectations. Setting the goals higher and putting trust in those around her lifted the anvil.
The mindset became one of a predator, not prey — the former always has its eyes set forward, not on the things around it, especially when it came to the people who battle against her.
“When someone tells you that you can’t do something, you want to do it more,” Savidge said. “I try not to let it hurt my feelings, because I get it from all sorts of people.
“I’ve been discouraged a lot in this sport, but if you haven’t noticed, women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the world — there’s a reason that we’re doing this. It just motivates me.”
A wrestler from Doherty taking home a gold medal one day? As a smaller school, even in the state of Colorado, most would turn their nose to the idea.
Flying in the face of naysayers and taking home hardware? That’s just what a Savidge does.
First-Team All-Area performers
Ciara Monger, Calhan
Victoria Guinard, Discovery Canyon
Mia Hargrove, Discovery Canyon
Katey Valdez, Doherty
Bella Cross, Mesa Ridge
Aspen Barber, Palmer Ridge
Alison Evans, Vista Ridge
Hayden Newberg, Vista Ridge
Second-Team All-Area performers
Taylor Knox, Calhan
Candice Brickell, Coronado
Mia Thorne, Discovery Canyon
Naomi Kidd, Doherty
Cheyenne Dyess, Vista Ridge
Kaydence Bonewell, Vista Ridge
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge wins the state title match against Chatfield’s Taylor Miess during the 127 pound match at the 2022 CHSAA wrestling state tournament championship finals at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (Chancey Bush /The Gazette)
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge wins the state title match against Chatfield’s Taylor Miess during the 127 pound match at the 2022 CHSAA wrestling state tournament championship finals at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (Chancey Bush /The Gazette)
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge loses the 127-pound championship match against Chatfield’s Savannah Cosme during the 2021 CHSAA state wrestling girls’ tournament at the Southwest Motors Arena in Pueblo, Colo., on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge loses the 127-pound championship match against Chatfield’s Savannah Cosme during the 2021 CHSAA state wrestling girls’ tournament at the Southwest Motors Arena in Pueblo, Colo., on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge loses the 127-pound championship match against Chatfield’s Savannah Cosme during the 2021 CHSAA state wrestling girls’ tournament at the Southwest Motors Arena in Pueblo, Colo., on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge wins the state title match against Chatfield’s Taylor Miess during the 127 pound match at the 2022 CHSAA wrestling state tournament championship finals at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (Chancey Bush /The Gazette)
Doherty’s Sarah Savidge wins the state title match against Chatfield’s Taylor Miess during the 127 pound match at the 2022 CHSAA wrestling state tournament championship finals at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (Chancey Bush /The Gazette)