Uintah High alum Candace Workman is one of two inductees this year into the Brunson Utah Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Workman began wrestling when she was 7 and fell in love with the sport. She won a junior high state title, seven age group national titles, and numerous All-American honors before entering high school.
During her time at Uintah High, she was a trailblazer for women’s wrestling in Utah, placing 3rd at Region and 6th at State her sophomore year. She was Region champion her junior and senior year, and made history in 2008 as the first female to advance to the UHSAA State Wrestling Finals.
In 2008, Workman was selected to the Asics Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team. She was a two-time Junior Nationals Freestyle finalist, a FILA Juniors National Champion and a four-time Rocky Mountain Nationals Champion.
In 2009, Workman received the BJ Stupak Olympic Scholarship and attended the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. The following year she transferred to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where she began training as a full-time resident athlete for USA Wrestling. She remained there through 2016.
Workman is a two-time University National Champion (2011, 2013); a U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier Champion (2012); and placed 4th at the 2013 World Team Trials and the U.S. Open National Championships. In 2013, she was a member of the University World Team and in 2015 she placed 7th at Senior Nationals. She finished 4th at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. She has traveled the world representing USA Wrestling and Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.
In 2017, Candace returned to Vernal. She is the head coach of the Uintah Wrestling Club and is an assistant coach for the Uintah Middle School and Uintah High School programs. In 2019, she earned the opportunity to coach the USA Wrestling Cadet Women’s PanAm Team, which brought home the gold team title. She looks forward to continuing her coaching career for Uintah, Utah and USA Wrestling.
Workman will formally be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday night during USA Wrestling Utah's banquet at Utah Valley University.