Grand Valley State wrestler Sage Mortimer has a secret weapon.
Her stubborn personality and fierce competitiveness are weapons but not a secret. Some slight anger issues when she was younger, she admitted, gave her an edge. But her secret weapon?
The utmost confidence in herself and her abilities.
"I believe in myself more than anyone else believes in me or anyone else believes in themselves," she said.
Mortimer remembers at 8 years old, when her parents would not let her play sharks and minnows with her older brother, Quenton. It infuriated her. It was not fair, she told her parents. She should be able to play with the boys, even if she was younger and a girl.
Beginning at 8 years old, Mortimer's competitive drive propelled her early wrestling career. (Photo courtesy of Sage Mortimer)
"I wanted to play," she recalled. "So, I was like, 'OK, I'm gonna wrestle then. And then you can't stop me from playing the games.'"
It didn't matter that Mortimer would be wrestling against boys. The Springville, Utah, native did not look around the room and see the difference between boys and girls. All she saw was her competition. All she thought about was how she would beat them.
"I was born with this competitive drive, this gritty personality," she said. "Even if I was like the underdog in the fight, I was always wanting to come out on top."
At 15, Mortimer became the first girl to win an All-America title in a men's division at the Greco-Roman Junior National Championships. She credits her early success to her stubbornness, competitiveness and mental toughness.
"My mentality is unlike any of my competitors, in the way that no one has as strong of a mental game as I do," she said.
As she was growing up in Utah, coach Craig LaMont would work with her on mental toughness as an aspect of their practice. Through breathing techniques and meditation before matches, Mortimer's mental toughness, paired with her talent and work ethic, made her a dominant competitor.
"In my brain, it doesn't matter who it is across the mat. I see every match as something I can win. There's no doubt in my mind," she said.
By the time she reached high school, Mortimer still wrestled on the boys team. But although Mortimer was usually the only girl on the mat, she was not the only girl in the gym.
"Younger girls started seeing me, and it kind of paved the way for a lot of younger girls to say, 'Oh, I can do that. I can be a girl wrestler,'" she said. "It was awesome because once those girls saw me, it exploded through Utah. It was exploding across the country at the time, but once I was seen on the national level and having success against guys, it kind of exploded the sport wide open for younger girls."
By the time she reached her senior year, girls wrestling was sanctioned in Utah. Although Mortimer did not achieve her goal of becoming a boys state champion, she took pride in paving the way for young girls to wrestle.
Out of high school, Mortimer wrestled for two seasons at King (Tennessee). Yet she said she found herself going through the motions, lacking the love she once felt for the sport.
Mortimer wrestles an opponent during the U.S. Olympic Trials in April. She finished third in her weight class. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
Then, during a summer training camp in Utah, Mortimer met Jake Short, coach of the new Grand Valley State women's wrestling team. The two hit it off immediately.
"He made me fall in love with the sport again," she said.
Mortimer decided to transfer.
"I found this coach who makes me love the sport of wrestling, and he's a very talented coach at technique," she added.
Short helped Mortimer rekindle her love of wrestling. (Photo courtesy of Grand Valley State)
Between her sophomore and junior years, Mortimer took an Olympic redshirt year to train. During this time, she won a national title at the 2023 USA Women's Senior Nationals and then finished third in her weight class at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
In October 2024, Mortimer and Short traveled to Albania for the Under-23 World Championships.
After a comeback win in the semifinals, Mortimer entered the championship match with complete confidence in herself.
Mortimer won a gold medal, becoming a world champion.
"I broke down in tears on the mat, and then I was in tears walking off the mat. I was in tears for my interview," she said. "I was in shock but also I was so proud of myself because I believe in myself so much. And it came true."
Back on Grand Valley State's campus, Mortimer settled back into the routine of being a student-athlete. She trains with her teammates, an experience she has cherished after spending her Olympic redshirt year training alone.
"I'm so grateful for all my teammates. They have made this sport so much fun," she said. "They support me in every way, and we all are always building each other up. I appreciate how amazing it is to have these women around me."
Now that Mortimer has experienced being on a women's wrestling team, she never wants to go back to wrestling on the men's team.
"I grew up always being the only girl, so I was used to it. I didn't really see how great it could be to be on a team with other women who love the sport just as much as I love it," she said. "It's so much better being surrounded by women. They just get you at a different level than high school boys ever could, obviously."
Mortimer said she looks forward to the inaugural NCAA women's wrestling championship in 2026. Through whole-heartedly believing in herself, she has helped pave the way for generations of women wrestlers.
"You can feel like you're doing your sport in a safe space, and you can grow exponentially when you're in a sport surrounded by other individuals like you," she said. "Having women's wrestling is a big deal."
Mortimer said having supportive teammates has made her collegiate experience more enjoyable. (Photo courtesy of Grand Valley State)
