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Charli Raymond

An Athlete of “Firsts” Aims to Make the Best of Her Last

Randolph, Minnesota – population 460. A typical small town.

“It’s really small.”, Charli Raymond says while speaking of her home town. “There’s not much to do there.”

Then she quickly adds, “But it’s got a gas station!”

Even though she has a sense of humor about her home town, you can tell Charli is very proud of where she comes from when she says, “…but growing up, it was the best!”

Charli recalls lots of family dinners and fun times spent outside on the family property with her sister and two brothers.

Charli’s older sister is a softball star, currently playing for the University of Minnesota. Her older brothers Skyler and Cash both wrestled. Cash is currently wrestling at Augustana University in South Dakota. Her father Josh also wrestled in High school and is involved with youth wrestling and coaching.

It’s safe to say that athleticism, and specifically wrestling, is in the family’s blood.

When Charli was little, she would tag along with her older brothers to watch them wrestle. Enamored with the sport, naturally she wanted to give it a try.

There weren't any girls wrestling divisions back then, but Charli didn't care. She was willing to wrestle against boys

“I tried to convince my mom (Joline) to let me wrestle, but she WOULD NOT let me.”, Charli recalls. “I had a little pink and purple singlet I used to bring everywhere with me, and I’d even wear it around the house”.

She remembers that there was one tournament where her dad brought her along to watch her brothers, but her mother didn’t attend. She said, “I snuck into the bathroom when my dad wasn’t paying attention and put my singlet on. “When I came back, I basically told my dad that I HAD to wrestle.”

It was her first match ever. She was 3 years old.

Of course, her mother eventually warmed to the idea, and a career of wrestling “firsts” began.

Fast forward to 2026.

Charli is currently a Senior at Simley High School and she is preparing to wrestle in her 6th and final season of High School wrestling. Along the way, she’s racked up some major awards and accomplishments.

Firsts

2022 First female to wrestle in a Minnesota State Tournament match

2022 First Minnesota Girls State Wrestling Champion.

2023 First female to wrestle in a boys’ team match at the Minnesota State Tournament

2023 First female to win a team match at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament

State Championships

2022 (7th Grade) 100-pound State Champion (19-6 record)

2023 (8th Grade) 107-pound State Champion (15-0 record))

2024 (9th Grade) 118-pound State Champion (26-0 record)

2025 (10th Grade) 124-pound State Champion (37-0 record)

2026 (11th Grade) 118-pound State Champion (27–0 record)

Overall High School record: 124-6

It’s important to note that all six of her losses were against boys. Charli has never lost to another female wrestler. In addition, she estimates that she's wrestled around 40 boys over her career. She couldn’t remember the exact number. But if that estimate is correct, her record against boys would be 34-6.

Asked if she feels bad for the boys she beats, she replied, “No. That’s just 10 times better.”

Charli credits not only her family with helping her achieve her successes, but also her coaches. Specifically, she speaks of Ben Kissling & Will Short at Simley, as well as Brandon Paulson & Jared Lawrence of Pinnacle Wrestling.

She feels that all of those influencers have taught her about hard work and how it applies not only to wrestling, but to every aspect of life. “Every week [Coach Short] sits us down and we go through a lesson at the white board. I’ve learned a ton.”, she said.

When asked how she feels about words like, “pioneer” or “trailblazer”, you can tell it makes her a bit uncomfortable. When she was a kid, she never even thought she’d be wrestling against girls. She just assumed she’d be wrestling against boys her entire life.

Humbly, she responds to the question by acknowledging that she was not the first female wrestler and recognizes those that came before her like Caley Graber from Northfield and Emily Shilson from Centennial. Both wrestle in college and are considered role models by her.

The weight of being a role model, however, is not lost on Charli. She is very aware that young girls around the state look up to her when she’s competing. She was even asked for an autograph by a young girl once.

Charli’s goal for many years now has been to win 6 individual state championships. If she wins again this year, she will be in elite company. She would be the second wrestler in Minnesota High School history to win 6 individual state championships. Mark Hall of Apple Valley was the first - 2016.

Charli would be the first female wrestler to accomplish that feat.

Another “first” on a long list of firsts for this reluctant role model and trailblazer.

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Charli about her favorite moments during her High School athletic career.

She responded with two memories. The first was the 2023 moment that she wrestled in the boys State Tournament team Quarterfinal vs Totino Grace and won her match.

“I just remember winning in overtime and everyone on the bench just went crazy. My brother and everyone else and coaches were just going crazy jumping up and down.”

The other memory she cited was being stuck in a hotel in Mankato all day because of rain and having a blast with her teammates even though they didn't get to play that day.

Charli also plays softball. The memory she is referring to was during one of Simley’s three State Tournament appearances over the past four seasons.

It’s not technically a secret, but it may be news to some - Charli will NOT be wrestling in college. She is planning to enroll at Augustana to play softball and possibly study Nursing.

The reason?

“I just started to like softball more.”, she said.

Adding to her decision is the fact that she's recently dealt with some back issues. As one might imagine, wrestling can be very aggravating to back problems.

As surprising as Charli's decision might be to those in the wrestling community, it actually makes sense in a strange way.

She has spent her entire life doing things that were unexpected. Amazing things.

Choosing a different sport than everyone thought she would? – is simply another “first” in the life of Charli Raymond.

Sources

Interview with Charli - 11-2-26, 4pm.

MSHSL

https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/tournament-news/wrestling-2026-simleys-charli-raymond-captures-title-no-5-eyes-softball

Records and stats

MSHSL

http://tstuff.com/

https://www.simleywrestling.com/page/show/3581530-history

Star Tribune