DENVER >> When Ashley Booth’s parents first enrolled her and her younger brother in karate in the sixth grade, they couldn’t have imagined where it would take her.

What was once an attempt at teaching their kids self-defense turned into a high school career that not only took the Mead sophomore, who attends Lyons High School, to the state tournament at Ball Arena for the state championships on Thursday, but one that’s seen her take a dominant turn in just two short years.

In her opening match in the 140-pound bracket, she wasted no time taking down Fort Lupton’s Aneesa Chavez, pinning her in 55 seconds flat to move onto the second round. Her teammate, 145-pound senior Kirsten Davis, took even less time as she dropped Evergreen’s Avery Cox in 44 seconds.

Booth’s trip to Colorado high school’s biggest stage as a freshman prepared her for what she would see. And she was ruthless.

“When I was a freshman coming in here, everything seemed 10 times larger,” Booth said. “I was just eyes wide, like, Oh my gosh. And now, I know what to expect. I know what times to be on the mat, where I can go to warm up.”

Karate eventually turned into jiu jitsu, which became wrestling at the high school level. Once Booth entered MHS, the girls sport was already in its second year of CHSAA-sanctioned existence. She had a pretty great teacher in last year’s senior state champion Jenna Joseph (161 lbs.)

Even though Joseph beat her up.

“It’s really cool because it was people and, specifically, girls, who enjoyed the same thing that I did,” Booth said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. It was really cool to meet a whole bunch of people that I could find a common ground with.

“I’d say it made (the sport) easier because I was able to open up to them more. ‘You understand what it’s like.’ I can get opinions and things from them. It was interesting seeing Jenna, who just graduated last year. I was like, ‘She’s so cool.’ And I got a whole bunch of stuff from her, which was awesome.”

Throughout her sophomore year, Booth has hardly let anyone touch her. By night’s end on Thursday, she boasted a 35-4 record. Last year, it was 34-7.

The sport has done more for her than mere wins and losses as she continues to assert herself among the fiercest competition.

“It’s a blossoming and watching her just grow, come into fruition — she was saying she found people that have the same interest as her,” head coach Rachel Salaz said. “It allowed her to find people that could relate to what she liked and what she was doing and where she was going with things. Even personality-wise, she just came out of her shell. She’s very quiet, very meek, very timid, and all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Who’s this new person?’”

Somebody that wrestling fans should keep an eye on.