It was a historic state championship for Hillcrest. 

For the first time in school history, three sisters were crowned state champions.

Not only did 100-pound sophomore Katie Zimmerman stand atop the podium for the first time, but her sisters, 110-pound junior Eva and 125-pound senior Eliza, followed up their back-to-back championships with their third individual state wrestling titles. 

In the five years girls wrestling has been sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association, the Zimmermans have dominated the sport and next season, Eva Zimmerman has the potential to be the first to win state titles all four years of high school.

Hillcrest’s monumental day extended to fourth individual girls’ title when junior Eleni Nonu, who wrestled at 175 pounds, was crowned champion.

The Huskies’ success didn’t stop there. 

Junior Moroni Mahe won his 215-pound title on the boys’ side. It had been 20 years since the Huskies had won an individual boys’ title.

“The kids were hungrier this year,” said Hillcrest coach Nick Pappas, who was named 5A Coach of Year from Utah Wrestling Coaches Association. “They wanted to work and wanted to see what they could do.”

With fewer athletes wrestling this year, the Huskies conceded points in several dual meets.

“Our boys, I don’t think we won a dual in region. Our girls won more than they lost,” he said. “We don’t put a lot of stock into that. Winning tournaments is fun, but we’re not a big enough team to have that be our goal so we put more time in individual performance and that was reflective of the result.”

In the friendly rivalry between Hillcrest and Brighton, the Battle of the Axe, the boys fell short of retaining the axe which they have held onto for the past three seasons. Three boys qualified for the state competition.

On the other hand, the girls triumphed in the Battle of the Axe and captured the 5A region 4 championship. They finished third at state with 11 athletes.

Even though they worked hard, they had to battle through injuries. Katie Zimmerman had her knee bursa sac drained just a day before the state tournament. Wrestlers Eva Zimmerman and Mahe were dealing with shoulder injuries and Nonu was recovering from an elbow injury.

“They didn’t make excuses; they came to win, but you just never know how those injuries will impact them,” he said.

Katie Zimmerman, who finished third as a freshman at state, began the girls’ state tournament by advancing to the finals to face Olympus senior Rhiannon Towers, the returning state champion. Although the two were expected to meet earlier in the season, illness kept them from facing off until the finals.

“We hadn’t seen that Olympus girl all year and we wanted to see what Katie could do before wrestling her in the state finals, but that didn’t happen. I was excited for her, obviously concerned as she just had her bursa sac drained in her knee. Her knee was incredibly swollen, and she was limping at the tournament that first day. She had just sustained the injury Wednesday before wrestling Friday and Saturday. But she went in there to fight. She was down three points in the first period and tied it up in the second. Then in the third, she defended a shot and ended up countering and scoring off the counter. They were on the edge of the circle, so nearly out of bounds, and Katie was able to get a good pinning combination and ended up winning by 10. She has a mental toughness and wants to get in there and compete. It was incredibly impressive, especially with a bum knee, and a fun way to start the finals.”

Her sisters, Eva and Eliza, who were “heavy favorites,” then took their titles. 

Eva Zimmerman pinned Salem Hills junior Hannah Coyne in the finals to claim her championship. Older sister, Eliza Zimmerman defeated Alta junior Riley Levin for her crown.

“Eva’s locked in to wrestling. In the offseason, she wants to represent Utah on the national team, so she’s doing everything she needs to. She’s going to be tough to beat,” Pappas said.

The three Zimmermans earned their state titles before Nonu took to the mat.

“It was a fun thing; they were all excited and celebrating each other,” Pappas said.

When Nonu stepped onto the mat, the coach was confident in her ability.

“I was confident she had what it took with her work ethic and attitude and the way she’s been wrestling all year, especially after the winter break,” he said. “There were girls in the bracket who she hadn’t seen, but the way the bracket played out, she wrestled the girl in the finals, she already had won twice against. Eleni is deserving of it.

She just wanted it and worked incredibly hard. She’s always ready to compete; I’ve never had to pump her up for a match.”

Also earning podium placements for the Huskies were 105-pound senior Antonia Ingabire, who took third; 105-pound sophomore Kallie Doverspike, who finished fifth; 125-pound sophomore Silei Batimana, who also took fifth; and 135-pound senior McKenzie Manning, who placed fifth.

“It was a lot of fun. We were the only team with four champions, and the only team which had everybody who was in the finals win a title,” Pappas said.

While Hillcrest seniors Noah Slack and Hunter Hansen both competed at state, with Hansen winning his first-round match, it was Mahe who was in the spotlight.

“He wrestled a senior from Salem Hills and beat him 14-0, that kid ended up taking third. Then, in the semi-finals match, he wrestled the Viewmont kid who he lost to the year before and got some revenge and that kid took fourth.

In the finals, he wrestled a junior from Spanish Fork who was the bracket buster on the other side and that was a good match. He won on points. It was the well deserved. Moroni put in a lot of work in the room all year long.”

Pappas hopes following Mahe’s leadership, “the other boys can see Moroni’s work ethic and what it’s going to take to get them there. He’s a fantastic teammate and he can give them the recipe to help them out.”

Looking ahead, the team plans to create programs at nearby Union and Midvale middle schools, which will help foster even more success in the future.

“We’re hoping we can get them going earlier before they get to Hillcrest. We’ll take mats over to those schools and maybe have a dual Union versus Midvale with a traveling trophy,” he said. “We finished our season on a high note. This is something we’re excited to build on. It’s great we have champions on both sides, boys and girls, so the other kids can have role models to look up to. I’m expecting more success next year; we’ll see where we go.” λ