Wrestlers · Senior level
Skylar Grote
2022 U.S. Open and Pan American champion at 72 kg; U SPORTS champion at Brock; joined Blair Academy's all-male team in 2012
Frelinghuysen, NJ · Blair Academy HS · Brock University
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 10, 2026
Skylar Grote joined the all-male wrestling team at Blair Academy in 2012, at 14. She was one of fewer than a dozen girls wrestling in high school in New Jersey. The state association did not sanction girls wrestling with its own tournament until 2018, two years after she graduated.
She chose Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, over the NCAA route. She took bronze at the U SPORTS championships as a rookie in 2019. The next year she won the national title at 67 kg, about 148 pounds, over Ellise Daynes of Calgary as Brock swept its seventh straight U SPORTS team championship at home.
That November in Omaha she went through a three-woman round robin to win the U23 national title at 68 kg, and she was runner-up at the Senior Nationals in the same weight. In 2022 she won the U.S. Open at 72 kg with a 10-0 technical fall over Marlynne Deede of the Twin Cities RTC, then took gold at the Pan American Championships in Acapulco. She opened there with a 10-0 technical fall in 40 seconds over Brenda Aguiar Dos Santos of Brazil and closed with another 10-0 over Maria Garcia Bautista of Mexico. In June she added a ranking series gold at the Matteo Pellicone in Rome.
At the 2025 Zagreb Open she went 4-0 in a five-woman round robin. She won three straight morning matches by technical fall, outscoring Noemi Osvath Nagy of Hungary, Zahra Karimzada of Azerbaijan and Veronika Vilk of Croatia 31-0, then beat Pauline Lecarpentier of France 2-0 for the title. In 2026 she placed fifth at the U.S. Open and third at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament.
She wrestles at 72 kg for Titan Mercury and opened her 2026 international season with a bronze medal at the Poland Open in Warsaw.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-16 | High school | Blair Academy varsity wrestling | four-year team member | Joined the all-male team in 2012 as one of fewer than a dozen girls wrestling in high school in New Jersey; the NJSIAA sanctioned girls wrestling with an individual state tournament in 2018 | |
| 2018-19 | College | U SPORTS Wrestling Championships | 3rd | Rookie season at Brock, which she chose over the NCAA route | |
| 2019-20 | College | U SPORTS Wrestling Championships, St. Catharines, Ont. | 67 kg | 1st | Def. Ellise Daynes (Calgary) in the final as Brock won its seventh straight team title at home |
| 2020 | Senior | U23 Nationals, Omaha | 68 kg | 1st | Won a three-athlete round robin ahead of Samantha Bush (Grand View WC) and Julia Lhotellier (Lion WC), wrestling for the New York AC |
| 2020 | Senior | U.S. Senior Nationals | 68 kg | 2nd | |
| 2022 | Senior | U.S. Open, Las Vegas | 72 kg | 1st | April 2022; def. Marlynne Deede (Twin Cities RTC) by 10-0 technical fall at 5:28 in the final; her third U.S. Open finals appearance and sixth placing match |
| 2022 | Senior | Pan American Championships, Acapulco | 72 kg | 1st | May 6, 2022; opened with a 10-0 technical fall in 40 seconds over Brenda Aguiar Dos Santos (Brazil) and closed with a 10-0 technical fall in the first period over Maria Garcia Bautista (Mexico); first Senior Pan American gold; Beaver Dam RTC and New York AC |
| 2022 | Senior | Matteo Pellicone ranking series, Rome | 72 kg | 1st | One of four U.S. women's medals at the event |
| 2025 | Senior | Zagreb Open ranking event, Croatia | 72 kg | 1st | 4-0. Feb. 8, 2025; three morning technical falls over Noemi Osvath Nagy (Hungary), Zahra Karimzada (Azerbaijan) and Veronika Vilk (Croatia) by a combined 31-0, then a 2-0 win over Pauline Lecarpentier (France) in the last match of the round robin |
| 2026 | Senior | U.S. Open and World Team Trials Challenge Tournament | 72 kg | 5th and 3rd | Lost 14-2 to fellow American Precious Wieser at the World Team Trials Challenge in May |
| 2026 | Senior | Poland Open, Warsaw | 72 kg | 3rd | 2-2. Aug. 29, 2026; lost 5-1 to eventual champion Wiktoria Chołuj (Poland) and 2-2 on criteria to fellow American Precious Wieser after leading on a step out and a shot clock point; her first international outing of the year |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.blair.edu/about-blair/publications-news/post/~board/news/post/the-rise-of-womens-wrestling · Skylar Grote, Blair Academy class of 2016, joined the school's all-male wrestling team in 2012 at 14 as one of fewer than a dozen girls wrestling in New Jersey high schools; later ranked second in the United States and 11th internationally at 72 kg; lives in Colorado and trains at the Colorado Springs Olympic and Paralympic Training Center; returns to Blair to help at the school's girls training camp
- https://www.njherald.com/story/sports/college/2020/12/05/nj-womens-wrestler-skylar-grote-seeking-olympic-bid/3820221001/ · Frelinghuysen, N.J. native; started at Blair Academy in 2012 when fewer than a dozen women wrestled in New Jersey high schools; the NJSIAA sanctioned girls wrestling with an individual state tournament in 2018; senior at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 2020; U23 World Team Trials champion in November 2020 and Senior Nationals runner-up at 68 kg; two U SPORTS national championships
- https://gobadgers.ca/news/2020/2/22/mens-wrestling-brock-wins-seventh-straight-u-sports-wrestling-title-at-home.aspx · 2020 U SPORTS championships at Brock: Grote beat Calgary's Ellise Daynes in the 67 kg division as Brock won a seventh straight team title; she took bronze at the 2019 U SPORTS championships as a rookie; a New Jersey native who chose Brock over the NCAA route
- https://www.themat.com/news/2020/november/14/u23-womens-nationals-finals-set · November 2020 U23 Nationals in Omaha: Grote of the New York AC led a three-athlete round robin at 68 kg over Samantha Bush and Julia Lhotellier and was the 2020 Senior Nationals runner-up
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/may/06/pan-am-championships-day-2-wrap · May 6, 2022 Pan American Championships in Acapulco: Grote won 72 kg gold with a first-period 10-0 technical fall over Maria Garcia Bautista of Mexico in the final and a 10-0 technical fall in 0:40 over Brenda Aguiar Dos Santos of Brazil; her first Senior Pan American title; listed with Beaver Dam RTC and New York AC
- https://www.teamusa.com/news/2022/june/25/us-women-claim-four-medals-at-wrestling-ranking-series-event-in-rome · June 2022: Grote won gold at 72 kg at the Matteo Pellicone ranking series event in Rome, one of four U.S. women's medals
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/february/08/winchester-makoyed-grote-win-golds-usa-takes-team-title-in-women-s-freestyle-at-zagreb-open · Feb. 8, 2025 Zagreb Open: Grote went 4-0 in a five-athlete round robin at 72 kg, beating Pauline Lecarpentier of France 2-0 in the final match and winning three morning bouts by technical fall over Noemi Osvath Nagy (Hungary), Zahra Karimzada (Azerbaijan) and Veronika Vilk (Croatia) by a combined 31-0; described as a National Team member and 2022 Pan American champion
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/august/29/wieser-grote-medal-in-women-s-freestyle-to-cap-30th-annual-poland-open · Aug. 29, 2026 Poland Open in Warsaw: Grote took bronze at 72 kg with a 2-2 record, losing 5-1 to champion Wiktoria Chołuj of Poland and 2-2 on criteria to Precious Wieser; she was fifth at the 2026 U.S. Open and third at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, where Wieser beat her 14-2 in May; this was her first international outing and medal of the year
- https://gobadgers.ca/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/skylar-grote/8555 · Brock University roster page for Skylar Grote, women's wrestling
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/april/29/five-champions-claim-their-first-us-open-title-after-the-womens-freestyle-finals · USA Wrestling, April 29, 2022: 'Skylar Grote of NYAC/DAMRTC shut out Augsburg junior, Marlynne Deede of TCRTC, 10-0, in the 72 kg finals match. This is Grote's third finals appearance and her sixth placing match at the U.S. Open.' The results block reads '1st - Skylar Grote (NYAC/DAMRTC) tech Marlynne Deede (Twin Cities RTC), 10-0 5:28'.
- https://www.americanwomenswrestling.com/senior-level-results/2020-junior-amp-u23-nationals · Results page for the Nov. 13-15, 2020 Junior and U23 Nationals in Omaha lists 68 kg: 1. Skylar Grote (New York Athletic Club), 2. Samantha Bush (Grand View Wrestling Club), 3. Julia Lhotellier (Lion Wrestling Club)
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