Ahwatukee teen wrestler wins gold medal at U17 Pan-Am Championships

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — When 16-year-old Everest Leydecker is on the mat, she’s in her element.

“I love it,” she said.

Leydecker has been wrestling since she was 8 years old and is now ranked as the No. 1 high school wrestler in the country for her weight class for the second year in a row.

“I just go out there and wrestle. I try not to put too much pressure on me,” she said. “I can just be creative and do what I want. It’s an individual sport. Everything’s on me. I control the outcome.”

And her outcomes have been successful.

Last week, Leydecker was in the Dominican Republic, representing the U.S. for her weight class in the U17 Pan-Am Championship, where she won the gold.

“It was really cool. I got to run around the mat, holding the (U.S.) flag. And that was probably the coolest part for me because that’s been a goal for a while to be able to do that,” she said.

Her coach, Mike Douglas, was right there with her, pushing her to do her best like he does back in the Valley at practice with their club, Thorobred Wrestling.

“It was awesome representing the United States of America, in any capacity,” said Douglas.

He said Leydecker sets her mind to do something and is bound to happen. He also said she is a team player.

“She’s a leader. She sees when people are down. She picks them up and helps everyone, no matter who they are,” he said.

Everest said she practices six days a week and sometimes twice daily, especially in the summer.

At 16, she couldn’t try out for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but Everest isn’t giving up on that dream.

“Hopefully, in four years, I’ll be good enough to be a contender for the (2028) Olympics spot,” she said.

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