Doherty’s Katey Valdez chasing second gold at state wrestling, eyes 2028 Olympics

You wouldn’t know it to talk to her, but Doherty’s Katey Valdez is an F-5 tornado.

It took the soft-spoken senior a mere 24 seconds to pin Grand Junction Central freshman Kenadee Stewart in the opening round of the 105-pound division of the Class 5A state girls wrestling tournament Thursday night.

In the second round, Valdez needed just 39 seconds to pin Mia Moran of Fountain-Fort Carson. Moran actually got the first takedown, but Valdez quickly escaped before overwhelming Moran with a lightning-quick shot.

In Valdez’s three regional matches, she won each match via pin, taking a combined 121 seconds to win the 105-pound crown and enter state as the No. 1 seed.

“I can be a bit shy — until I get on the mat,” said Valdez, who’s headed to McKendree University in Illinois, which has one the nation’s top programs in Division II women’s wrestling.

“She’s two different people,” Doherty coach Sam Martinez said. “Off the mat, she’s super humble and super nice. But when she gets on the mat, she’s a completely different person.

“She flips that switch.”

Summing up Valdez’s whirlwind style, Martinez said, “She’s super aggressive and tenacious, and she trusts her technique. She takes what her opponent gives her and then reacts. And at this point, wrestling is muscle memory for her.”

Valdez finished third at state as a freshman in 2022 and took home gold as a sophomore in 2023. But she didn’t compete in last year’s state tournament because she injured her right knee midway through the season.

Winning a second state title tops her must-do list — for now.

“It would be a milestone for me,” she said. “Everything I do is a stepping stone for where I want to go.”

Valdez doesn’t like to talk about the knee injury, declining to say how severe it was. She only says, “I hated it. It (stunk) not to be able to wrestle.”

But she was competing on the mat again in four months and won a title at the prestigious U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., seven months later.

Valdez enters Friday’s quarterfinals with a 38-1 high school record this season. Her only loss came last month at the Chatfield Lady War Horse Invitational. Bennett freshman Emma Faczak shocked Valdez by pinning her late in the second period.

“I stayed on the attack, and I was able to get, I think, three takedowns,” said Faczak, who’s in the hunt for a 4A title. “And then I punched in my favorite pinning combo (move). The moment was surreal. Everyone was around the mat. I got up and looked at my coaches and smiled everywhere. It was awesome.”

Valdez didn’t dodge a question about her lone defeat.

“She’s quick,” Valdez said. “She just outwrestled me in that match. I overwrestled myself that week, but she won the match.”

Valdez’s ultimate goal is to compete for the United States in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She’s already building her resume for L.A.

She’s won two gold medals in the under-17 PanAm Games, one in Argentina and one in Mexico. She is Colorado’s only girls wrestler ranked in Flowrestling’s top 20 pound-for-pound category, coming in at No. 17. She’s the top-ranked 100-pound girls’ high school wrestler in the nation, according to USA Wrestling.

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