Girls Wrestling: Cuevas’ Commitment to Greatness Has Helped Her Dominate on the Mat

AURORA – Achieving greatness takes commitment, and Prairie View’s Jaydin Cuevas is leaning all the way in to chase her wrestling dreams.

After she finished third in the Class 5A state tournament as a freshman, the now-junior wasn’t satisfied. She gave up gymnastics, then the following summer she linked up with coaches Joe and Deanna Betterman in Colorado Springs to help fix her mental game.

Last year, Cuevas capped off an undefeated season with a state title at 115 pounds, which she completed with a 16-0 technical fall over Adams City’s Phoebe Gutierrez. Now, she’s looking much further ahead than the state tournament that’s only a few weeks away.

“Right now, I’m really thinking about colleges, but I want to go to the Olympics,” Cuevas said. “I never had that dream until my sophomore year when I realized that I really liked wrestling. It was something that I liked to do, but I didn’t really like it until my freshman year. I love the team environment, the coaches. I love the school. It made me realize I really wanted to wrestle for a long time.”

Since that 47-8 freshman campaign, she’s been on a 78-0 tear through Colorado high school competition. She didn’t give up a single point until the Chatfield Lady War Horse Invitational last weekend.

A takedown changed that narrative, ever so slightly, but she still finished that competition with gold in hand, three pins and another 16-0 technical fall over Alamosa’s Gizelle Meraz, who won the 4A state title a year ago. Now, she’s 35-0 and ranked sixth in the nation per Sports Illustrated.

With regionals right around the corner, she’s ranked No. 1 in her class in Colorado and will be among the girls wrestlers to watch in the postseason. Regionals are Feb. 13 and 14, and the two-class state championships at Ball Arena are Feb. 19 through 21.

Others to watch include senior Timberly Martinez of Pomona, who is seeking to become a four-time state champion, and Brighton junior Matilda Hruby, who is seeking a third state championship. While Martinez won the 140-pound title and Hruby won at 170 last year – both are listed in the 155-pound InsideCoWrestling Rankings this week, with Hruby No. 1 and Martinez No. 2.

In the team rankings, Chatfield is No. 1 in 5A ahead of second-ranked defending champion Grand Junction Central and No. 3 Pomona, while in 4A it’s defending state champion Pueblo Central ahead of No. 2 Sedgwick County/Fleming and No. 3 Las Animas.

Meanwhile, Cuevas switched to online schooling this season so she can train in Colorado Springs in the morning, then drive back up to Henderson for her high school practices with stepdad and head coach Jessie Mills.

He first met her when she was 10 years old, and said he’s always been impressed with her athleticism and ability to scramble and score.

“Right after freshman year, we saw her just take this leap,” Mills said. “Since she took third, she had this chip on her shoulder, like she knows she can do better and she wanted to do better. So she stepped it up and we started training a little bit more. She got a lot more help from different coaches.

“We all bought in. Even that summer going into sophomore year, me, her, her mom, and her brother woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning, trained, went on runs, did everything we could do as a family to make it a family matter.”

Her dominance has started attracting notice.

Recently, Cuevas inked an NIL deal with No Excuses Sportswear, which designs singlets for girls. She has her own line of singlets, hoodies, hats and beyond, and is looking to get one important message out.

Just have fun.

“I got to create all of (my No Excuses line),” Cuevas said. “I used my back tattoo and my tattoo on the side of my wrist, because my back tattoo is pretty meaningful to me. It says, “Believe in your own strengths,’ which that’s what (my coaches) tell me a lot when I’m not. I’m glad a lot of girls liked it. I’ve heard a couple people talking about it, so it’s exciting to know that girls are looking at it now.”

For now, Cuevas has another state crown directly in her sights, but from there, she hopes to place within the top four at nationals.  She said that she couldn’t have done any of it without Mills, the Bettermans and her many other coaches — Pete Alvarado, Katherine Shai, Maya Nelson, Archie Colgan and Emma Bruntil.

Whatever happens, she’ll always keep it light. She knows she has a target on her back.

“If you see me before a match, I’m always dancing, I’m singing. I’m talking to my friends. I’m having fun, because I always tell everybody, if you’re not having fun with it, then it just ruins it,” Cuevas said. “Never underestimate anybody, because somebody can always come and surprise you. You never know what people are doing to train to beat you, so I never underestimate anybody.”