Justice Gutierrez is on the fast track to Colorado wrestling stardom.
As a freshman on a talented Pomona girls squad, featuring senior Persaeus Gomez, a three-time individual state champion, Gutierrez has found a way to gain national respect.
She’s the . And on Thursday afternoon, she improved to 31-1 after pinning Bayfield’s Leilani Ramos in just 54 seconds on the first day of the 2024 CHSAA state wrestling tournament at Ball Arena.
But as all her accomplishments rolled off the tongue, all she did was crack a smile, and turn to her mother, Curisha. There was a sense of humility from Gutierrez even though she could walk around the arena with plenty of mat cred. Yes, her high wrestling career is already off to a great start, but now she is striving to immortalize herself into the state record books by helping Pomona win a title.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was really young, so to have it all pay off is exciting,” Justice said.
Matthew, Justice’s father and assistant coach at Pomona, is not surprised by his daughter’s success. Itap a reward for all the hard work she has put in since she was four, wrestling against boys and her older brother, Elijha.
Justice also played softball, but the sport couldn’t match her passion for wrestling. She loves being on the mat against another competitor and knowing she’s in complete control of her success.
Whenever she’s victorious, the feeling is unmatched.
“It was hard at first watching her because she was my baby girl,” Curisha said. “A lot of the girls she’s wrestling are older but she’s so talented and dedicated. I’m proud of her.”
Matthew’s wrestling dreams live on through his daughter. He wrestled until he was 16, walking away so he could take care of Elijha. Matthew kept Elijha away from the sport until he was 13. He thought wrestling would be a good opportunity to create a bond between his son and Justice since they were 10 years apart.
But Matthew felt like he was a little too hard on Elijha, who eventually stopped wrestling. He promised he wouldn’t do the same with Justice, so he turned wrestling into a fun family affair. Matthew practices with Justice four to six days a week and maintains the same healthy diet as her. He encourages Justice to live in the moment and focus on one match at a time.
Matthew believes making wrestling a family thing has helped Justice by de-emphasizing the pressure that comes with competing in such an intense one-on-one sport.
“It truly warms my heart just to see her go out to compete and still have love for this sport because it is so tough,” Matthew said.
Justice’s success in her first season has helped Pomona rise to . After Thursday’s preliminary matches, , and is 10 points behind first-place Grand Junction (30 points).
If Pomona wants to prevent Chatfield from winning four straight team titles, the Panthers will need Justice, the mighty ninth grader, to step up on the biggest stage.
She has already shown she has the talent to do so.
“We’ve watched her videos and (how) she moved when she was five (and) six years old. To see that growth is amazing,” Matthew said.
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