DeAragon garners All-American wrestling honors

SANDPOINT — Former Sandpoint wrestler Anneliese DeAragon continues to make a name for herself in women’s wrestling, notching a couple of impressive wins at recent national tournaments and adding to her impressive résumé.

DeAragon, while wrestling for Team Idaho under the tutelage of Bonners Ferry coach Conrad Garner, won her second straight championship at the Fargo Junior Nationals. She dominated the competition, registering three of her five wins by way of pin, and not allowing a single point to be scored against her.

She was also picked for the Asics All-American first team, one of the highest honors a high school wrestler can receive, and is now a three-time Fargo All-American and a four-time national champion. She’s the No. 1 ranked female high school wrestler in the nation for both folk style and free style.

DeAragon, who graduated from Marquette Senior High School after transferring from Sandpoint, will wrestle next year at Northern Michigan University, where she will continue to train in her pursuit of someday wrestling in the Olympics.

“That’s her goal,” says mom Pilar DeAragon, who lives in Sandpoint. “She wants to go to the team trials for the 2012 Olympics. She may not make it, but wants to participate.”

Before Fargo, DeAragon got a taste of the top level at the Canada Cup, her first senior tournament. Despite being one of the youngest competitors there, Aragon finished fourth, getting a great learning experience when she lost to a Canadian Olympian in her bracket, scoring a point along the way.

She also made it to the finals of the Body Bar Nationals in Florida in May, falling in the finals to a college wrestler from Oklahoma City. She has been training recently with the No. 1 ranked U.S. woman in her weight class of 158 pounds.

While attending Northern Michigan, where she received a full-ride scholarship, DeAragon will continue to train at the nearby United States Olympic Education Center.

Her younger sister Lily DeAragon will be a freshman at Sandpoint this year, and plans to follow in her sister’s footsteps on the Bulldog wrestling team.