Shooting the takedown: Vanessa Gonzalez Pliego on the hurdles of wrestling and reviving the U of U’s Wrestling Sports Club.

By Frank Regalado

 

With just two weeks of practice due to limited access to training spaces, no headgear and generic singlets from Amazon, club President Vanessa Gonzalez Pliego led the University of Utah's wrestling teams into battle on the mats at Utah Tech's Stampede Invitational last November.

The folkstyle women's team specialized in top control over opponents, which includes pinning other wrestlers on their backs and chests. They hadn't yet learned collegiate freestyle wrestling, emphasizing takedowns and back exposure. As a result, they only had access to one of four tournament mats, where they endured painfully long wait times. The team won four out of 12 matches. Even with competitive disadvantages, the team leaned on their training and pushed forward throughout the tournament.

"I feel like it's consistency," Pliego said. "It's all, 'work harder for it.'"

Despite financial challenges and leadership obstacles in recent years, the University of Utah's wrestling club has experienced a revival under Pliego, who resurrected the dormant program and integrated a women's roster, bringing new energy to a traditionally male-dominated sport.

"She's a trailblazer," said men's wrestling teammate Ty Jarvis, "an amazing wrestler [who] has inspired each and every person in the club to be more involved and improve."

 

The lone girl

When girls high school wrestling received official Utah sanctioning for the 2020-21 season, Pliego, now 21, was the lone girl on Jordan High School's team. She went on to Salt Lake Community College, graduating in 2023, and enrolled at the U. She arrived on campus in the fall of 2023 to a wrestling program that had been largely inactive for six years because of post-covid challenges and issues keeping a president, she said.

Unlike varsity sports, which are run by university athletic programs and receive school funding, sports clubs like wrestling are student-run. Building a team and registering with the National Collegiate Wrestling Association allows opportunities for students to compete, she said.

"A lot of people don't know that we have [wrestling] athletes on campus," she said.

Pliego took on admin work reactivating the club, recruiting coaches and talent. Along with men's wrestling, she integrated a women's roster.

"Before any of us were on the team, she started all the paperwork and found us an amazing coach, [Jon Price]," said teammate Brynlee Hansen, a freshman who wrestled at Uintah High School in Vernal. "Although we don't have many resources, we still try."

While women's wrestling faces obstacles like limited resources and participation, the sport continues to develop in popularity and technical ability, said Geneva Gray, women's director with USA Wrestling Utah, in an interview with The Daily Herald last year.

As of January 2025, the NCAA added women's wrestling as its 91st championship sport, advancing from its Emerging Sports for Women program. This provides another opportunity for female athletes to compete at the collegiate level.

"Wrestling has taught me how to trust myself," Pliego said. "When you start the sport, you're kinda scared, but having that fear makes you have courage."

That persistence has become central to Pliego's approach both on and off the mat, and she likens it to learning wrestling moves. If there's a position she can't grasp, she drills it until it becomes part of her, she said.

"I'll need to learn it because it'll show up on the mats," Pliego, a health and kinesiology major, added.

 

Near-fall

Early on, as a high school junior novice, Pliego said she struggled being the only girl in practice. Much like a bridging move, where a wrestler arches their back to avoid being pinned, Pliego said she wasn't interested in defeat.

"A lot of girls quit, usually, because [the boys] were being disrespectful or saying mean [things]," she said.

At practices, she added, other wrestlers often excluded her from conversations and training exercises. YouTube tutorials helped her practice on an oversized teddy bear at home.

Teammate Sav Smith, a freshman from Park City who won the 2024 state championship in the 145-pound division, said the gender disparity continues to shape the sport's culture.

"[It's] hard to keep or get women out on the mat since it's still a male-dominated sport," she said. "Lots of people consider it to be too rough."

Despite the challenges, Pliego said she has found ways to adapt and grow in the sport, including finding comradery in other female athletes.

"I worked on myself. On building up confidence, bringing aggressiveness into it," she said, recalling a time she befriended an opponent. "We talked after and hung out. That's when you start building community with other girls."

The experiences, she added, taught her about her mental capacity and the need to be a part of a welcoming environment.

"[People] think it's all strength, muscle, endurance," she said. "But there's also this side of how it can take a mental toll on you and affect your performance."

By senior year of high school, Pliego said she had recruited 10 girls to the team, and the school had found a new girls coach, Luis Cruz.

In his first season at Jordan High School, coach Cruz told the Sandy Journal he recognized that girls competing and training alongside each other, and not just boys, was a positive development for the sport. 

“I’ve seen plenty of girls handle themselves against boys. But for other girls it’s an opportunity to wrestle girls and feel more comfortable,” said Cruz in a 2020 interview with the Sandy Journal.

Pliego added, "Because of the environment he set up, he motivated me to grow and to have passion for the sport."

 

Leadership life

That early experience with team building prepared Pliego for what she would face at the collegiate level, even after reactivating the club. When faced with finding reliable training spaces, Pliego said West High School shared its facilities thanks to help from men's captain, Joseph Arrington, who also coached the high school’s girls’ team.

Expenses have been another hurdle. Pliego said the team almost didn't make it to Utah Tech's Stampede Invitational in St. George last November because of costs. A three-day tournament in Louisiana in March posed even greater challenges with travel costs and housing, she said. The club couldn't go.

“We [pay] out of pocket … for our NCWA membership and our shoes,” she said.

To raise money, team members fundraise or take on tasks through the Associated Students of the University of Utah, like parking enforcement for university football games.

Despite the challenges, Hansen said Pliego remains upbeat, recalling a time the club president rallied the team for a training run despite their coach canceling practice.

"She'll fight for every one of us and make sure we get what we deserve," Hansen said.

Jarvis, who wrestles on the men’s team, said Pliego's efforts keep everyone on the club team motivated.

"She embodies the mantra 'lead by example' because she never asks the team to do anything she is not already doing," he said.

 

Looking forward

This same mindset that makes Pliego an effective leader also translates to her technical approach on the mat. Her favorite pin, she said, is a half-nelson – a move where one arm goes under the opponent's arm and wraps over their neck from behind.

When a past opponent anticipated her half-nelson attempt, Pliego said she transitioned into a cross face, a move where the wrestler drives their forearm across the opponent's face to turn them backwards. It was unsuccessful. She said that informed her philosophy to keep learning.

“I got confused in the moment and that's when I realized I have to learn new things, because whatever you go for doesn't always work,” she said.

Her younger sister, Camily Gonzalez Pliego, trains alongside her as a teammate.

"When I spar with her, I feel like we have this energy where we want to rip each other's heads off," the elder Pliego said. "She's really good. I know she knows more than me."

Before she graduates, Pliego said she wants to boost fundraising efforts and compete in a dual meeting with another school. This milestone, she said, would ensure the team's structure could continue after she leaves the U.

"With wrestling girls, you're more excited to go onto the mat because it's the same energy they're giving you," she said.

Smith, along with Pliego, said she would love to see the university develop an NCAA wrestling team, though Utah Athletics officials would not say whether this was a possibility when reached by email.

"I'm hoping women's wrestling continues to grow even faster," Smith said. "I hope the U steps up and invests more in wrestling overall."

Likewise, on the men's side, the dream exists.

"If we can keep up momentum, acquire more funding, be recognized by the University of Utah's Athletic Department, and be given a space to practice on campus, we'll achieve that goal in no time," Jarvis said.

Whether or not Utah sees collegiate wrestling soon, Pliego said women particularly benefit from the discipline and mental toughness the sport demands, both on and off the mat.

"Wrestling has taught me how to trust myself," she said. "When you start the sport, you're kinda scared, but having that fear makes you have courage."