MANHEIM, Pennsylvania – The National Wrestling Coaches Association announced on Tuesday that King University’s Sage Mortimer, the Utah winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award in 2021, is the first-ever NCAA Women’s National Wrestler of the Month.  

Mortimer started her collegiate career with seven straight wins. This includes two wins over top-five opponents. She won the highly attended Missouri Valley Open at 116 pounds with a 6-0 record with two ranked wins. 

In the quarterfinals, she earned a first-period pin, coming in 2:52 over third-ranked and two-time All-American Sugey Ceja of Tiffin. She pushed to a 10-0 technical fall over fifth-ranked Carly Valleroy of McKendree in her tournament’s opening match. Mortimer then defeated Mateah Roehl of North Central, who is now ranked seventh, in the semifinals before topping Life University’s Salyna Shotwell in the championship bout. 

Mortimer was chosen from four regional winners, announced last week: Olivia Shore, Tiffin University (Northeast), Yalena Makoyed, North Central College (Northwest), Mortimer (Southeast) and Cameron Guerin, McKendree University (Southwest). Guerin was the Washington winner of the TSHSEA in 2018 while Shore was the Ohio winner in 2021.