YOUR AD HERE »

Pfau-erful performance: Cody Pfau of Parachute wins third national wrestling title

Staff Report

FARGO, N.D. — Cody Pfau of Parachute won her third national wrestling championship Tuesday, July 16, capturing the title match of her 105-pound weight class by technical fall at the USAW Junior Women’s Freestyle Nationals at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D.

Pfau, who in February earned statewide notoriety by becoming the first female to win a championship-bracket match at the State Wrestling Championships in Denver, won a national championship for the third consecutive year. She also set the tournament record for most pins in the least amount of time, winning six matches by pin in 7 minutes, 21 seconds.

The tournament was a part of the ASICS/Vaughn Junior National Championships.



“There was more people trying to put pressure on me for this one,” Pfau said from Fargo. “I just wanted to wrestle my style. I never think past my very next match, and everyone just kept saying ‘you ready to win this?’ And I don’t even know how to respond to that because I don’t think that far out.”

Pfau, who reached the Colorado state wrestling tournament three times at Grand Valley High School in Parachute, triumphed 11-0 in the weight-class final to beat Amy Hou of Georgia, who had just returned from the Pan Am Games and had taken second to Pfau in the Folkstyle Nationals. This is the third consecutive year she was won a national title in Fargo.



Asked afterward how she was able to win the title match against Hou so convincingly, Pfau replied: “I just went out there and wrestled my game.”

Also earlier this month, Pfau, who was the valedictorian at Grand Valley High School in May, was a first-team recipient on the ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team. She was named to the team for the second consecutive year and was one of six female wrestlers from around the nation who are now two-time All-Americans.

The team is selected by a national panel of wrestling experts and is the only national team for which female high school wrestlers competing on all four grade levels are eligible.

Pfau, who will attend Oklahoma City University and compete in women’s wrestling there, was one of only two Colorado female wrestlers recognized by the panel. Maya Nelson, a junior-to-be at Denver East High School, was named to the second team.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.