Bloomfield Teen Pins Down Prestigious Award Honoring Female Wrestlers

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A four-time state wrestling champion from Bloomfield High School recently pinned down yet another honor.

On Tuesday, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced that Kira Pipkins has been named as the 2023 national winner of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award.

First presented in 2014, the award is named for Tricia Saunders, a four-time World Champion and women’s wrestling pioneer. Saunders was the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.

The award recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their “excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.”

That would be an apt way to describe Pipkins’ achievements on the mat. Read More: Bloomfield Star HS Wrestler Wins Her 4th State Championship

According to the hall of fame:

“Pipkins became the first female wrestler, and the fifth wrestler overall, to be a four-time New Jersey state champion while also becoming the first female wrestler in New Jersey history to reach 100 career wins (106-9). She was named the NJ.com Girls Wrestler of the Year and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Most Outstanding Wrestler. Pipkins was team captain of both the BHS boys team and the girls team from 2021-23, and received both the BHS Most Valuable Wrestler award and BHS Wrestling Scholar-Athlete award four years in a row.”

The Bloomfield High School alum also excels off the mat, as well:

“Pipkins gave motivational speeches to youth groups, painted murals in BHS hallways, participated in park cleanups, and produced art for senior citizens through the BHS on the Corona Homefront. She also volunteered at Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair and the Montclair Emergency Services for Hope while spending time with senior citizens at nursing homes and collecting and donating to canned food drives and food pantries. An entrepreneur, she owns and operates art, personal training and babysitting businesses, including prospecting, selling and servicing clients.”

“I would like to thank the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for this award, and to Tricia Saunders for being a true trailblazer for women's wrestling,” Pipkins said.

“It means a lot to be recognized for this award,” she said. “When I watched a few of Saunders' matches during my freshman year of high school, I was immediately inspired by her grit and focus on the mat.”

“These are traits I continuously strive for in my own wrestling,” Pipkins said, adding that she hopes her feats will inspire more women to take up the sport.

The daughter of Robert and Shantale Pipkins, the Bloomfield High School standout plans to continue her wrestling career at Columbia University.

“Clearly a young woman on a mission, Kira has a driving desire and passion to excel in the sport of wrestling while also impacting her community and the world in a positive way,” Executive Director Lee Roy Smith said.

“She is constantly holding herself to a higher standard of effort, responsibility and respect for others,” Smith said.

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