Athlete of the Month
Madison Worden

Pictures and Content courtesy of The Worden Family

I’m Madison Worden and I started my journey into wrestling in 2017, when I was 9 years old. I am currently in the middle of my 5th year of wrestling. When I decided to try wrestling I went to a meeting for House of Centennial with my dad and my older brother Austin, who had been wrestling for 4 years before I started. This is where I got to meet my head coaches, Coach Tyson and Coach Jose. Not long after I had my very first wrestling practice, I fell in love with the sport. About a month later I had my very first wrestling tournament.
My first year of wrestling was just a learning experience. Practice after practice I kept getting better and better. My coaches in the first year were Coach Mike, Nate and the Giffords. They are the ones that taught me the basics of what I needed to know and how to succeed. I ended the season placing 6th in Folkstyle at Regionals. At the End-of the-Season Banquet I was awarded the most Outstanding Rookie on my team!
The start of my second year was when I was able to practice in the Advanced and Rookie rooms. I was able to practice with my younger brother Mason in the Rookie room, and then my older brother Austin in the Advanced room. This is the year that I started double-bracketing in every tournament. I was wrestling kids with the same experience as me, and kids with way more experience than me. This got me ready for my third year.
In the Spring/Summer of 2019 is when I started traveling for wrestling. Jay Alejandro and his family opened up my eyes to all the opportunities there are for girls wrestling, and the benefits of traveling and finding competition after the Folkstyle Season ends. This is also where I started competing on All-Girl team duals. Since I’ve started traveling I’ve been to Texas three times, California multiple times, Utah five times, and Arizona a few times. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do with my team, coaches, and my family, and this is something I plan to keep on doing in my future.
This same year I went to the Wrestle Like a Girl camp in Utah. I was able to meet and work with Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist Helen Maroulis, Team USA Olympian Jacarra Winchester, and Sally Roberts. It was an amazing experience to meet and work with them. My favorite wrestlers that I have met over the years are, Gold and Silver Olympic Medalist Kyle Snyder and Olympic Silver Medalist and Multiple World Champion Adeline Gray! Kyle Snyder was also able to work with me and my House of Centennial team.
My third year of wrestling was my toughest year, because I went from wrestling kids with 1-2 years of experience to wrestling kids with 3-7 years of experience. I was excited for this year, as well, because my sister Hailey decided to start wrestling. As the year went on I had some 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Medals. In the Advanced room, Coaches Jose and Tyson taught me everything I needed to know to in all three styles, and kept pushing me to get better as the year went along. One of the last tournaments I competed at for HOC was the SNWA Regionals. At this tournament, House of Centennial earned 2019-2020 Team Champions! This was something our team was extremely proud of accomplishing because most of us had grown up through this program! This is also the year I saw all my hard work show, and I really made some huge leaps from my first year to my third year!
My fourth year was not the ideal season for my brothers and sister, but we got out of it what we could. We started practicing out of a local gym in the fall of 2020 for a few months, and then that got shutdown. It was not until February 2021 that we were able to practice again. When we got that call that Coach Chris was opening up his garage with our wrestling mats to start practicing, we were extremely excited. Even though it was not our HOC wrestling room, it was great to keep on wrestling during that time. My coaches were Coach Tyson, Coach Angelo, Coach Chris, My Dad, and my brother Austin. This lasted for a couple months until we made a difficult but amazing decision to move on to Gold Rush Wrestling.
Starting up at Gold Rush was not easy at all for my family. We missed being around our old teammates and coaches. Also learning a completely different way of practicing was not easy. But as time has gone by, I have felt more comfortable each and every day. I have met some awesome new teammates and coaches such as Coach Chase, Jake, Max, and Sorgani. Gold Rush has quickly become my wrestling family, and I am very happy with how it is going.
Since being at Gold Rush I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in many camps and clinics. Some of my favorite camp clinicians, that my coaches have brought in, are Roman Bravo Young, Peyton Prussin, and Ty Smith. I have learned a lot of from all the camps I have attended.
I have had a lot of success since I started wrestling, and without these outstanding coaches I would not be who I am today. I would like to thank all my coaches that have helped me along the way. They are Coach Jose Sosa, Tyson Garamendi, Chris Garamendi, Mike Egbalic, Mike Mcfate, Nate Nelson, Greg & Chris Gifford, Angelo Gonzales, RJ Richter, John Beckerle, Steve Wike, Jay Alejandro, Carlton Kirkpatrick, Cesar Camacho, Kevin Robles, Don McGregor, Chase Pami, Ed Sorgani, Max Rohskopf, Jake Rollans, and My Dad. Also my Mom and family have always been their for me, and supported me from the day I started. I have had a lot of coaches, and I just want to recognize all of them for helping me.
When I recently went to Beehive Brawl and won my bracket, it felt amazing going from not placing, to placing Third, and Finally taking First–and getting Outstanding Wrestler. The day before, I saw what I could win, and I set goals for myself because Gold Rush has taught me: long game, communication, leadership, and maximum effort. I also have been enjoying helping the younger kids that have only been wrestling a couple of months, including my brothers. I look forward to continuing my work at Gold Rush with my coaches and the camp clinicians, and I will continue to in the future.
Here are some of my accomplishments over the years: 2017-2018 Team Most Outstanding Rookie 2018 SNWA Folkstyle Championship TB 4th place 2018 USA Nevada Folkstyle Champion 6th place 2019 USANV State championships Greco 5th place 2019 Marines Western Regionals Girls Freestyle 2nd place 2019 USA nationals Folkstyle Girls 2nd place 2019 USA nationals Freestyle Girls 2nd place 2019 Battle of the Belladonnas 3rd place 2020 Beehive Brawl Girls 3rd place 2020 USA Western States Championship Girls Folkstyle 2nd place 2020 USA Western States Championship Girls Freestyle 3rd place 2020 USA Western States Championship Girls Greco 3rd place 2021 The Supreme Gladiator Individual Girls 3rd place 2021 Pre Season Western states Girls 2nd 2021 Pre Season Western states Girls 2nd place and Boys 5th place 2022 Salt Lake Slam Girls 2nd place 2022 Beehive Brawl Girls Champion and Girls Outstanding Wrestler