Top female Scholar-Athlete for 2025 is aspiring Olympian/attorney — and much more

Never mind that Belton High’s Louise Juitt already had won national wrestling events and become a legitimate Olympic hopeful for 2028.

Forget that she had amassed the Missouri high school record for most career wins by a female wrestler even before she seized the 140-pound Class 2 state title in March to punctuate a 54-0 season.

Winning that was like “a big ol’ bubble just floated away off my chest,” she said, beaming as ever. “It was like there was an elephant (on her), and then there wasn’t an elephant.”

Not that she had been carrying a burden.

It’s just that Pruitt, The Star’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, tends to take her quests seriously — much like she will with her ambition to become an attorney.

“She goes after what she wants,” said her father, Joe Sr., a retired U.S. Army medic, “and doesn’t let anybody tell her no.”

That seems an apt reflection of what her father and mother, Lashonda, stressed: to always strive to be the best at whatever you do.

But what’s really compelling about Louise Juitt is that there are so … many … things she feels that way about.

And the way she goes about it all — with an upbeat demeanor that reflects the name she took for her French class.

Lumiere, derived from “Beauty and the Beast” but nonetheless signifying “the brightness given by the sun.”

“You just always want that kind of student in class,” said Carie Schuster, her French teacher, adding that she’s never been more impressed by a student who also is a stellar athlete.

Echoed Michelle Sumler, who taught Louise for three years of college-credit math: “I’ve been teaching for 27 years; she is the hardest worker I have ever seen.”

Or as wrestling coach Greg Linhart put it: “She never settles for subpar.”

That helps explain why Juitt earned a 4.3 GPA and was relentless about improving on the mat, reflecting the same energy she apparently brings to anything she touches:

From being in the choir for “Hello, Dolly!” to playing the Fox (and singing a solo) in the school’s “Cinderella” musical, from her painting to her tutoring to being an American Public Square ambassador to …

Well, you name it.

But the most inspiring and reassuring part of her nature is the thoughtfulness that informs her achievements.

Shortly after we met for a long talk, for instance, she texted with a simple request to convey a statement in this story: “A nation’s true character is revealed by how it treats its most vulnerable. Ignore their suffering, and discontent will spread like wildfire, consuming us all.”

When she wrestles, Linhart said she always sought out opportunities to go against the best. And when Schuster watched her compete, she was struck by how Juitt doesn’t gloat or taunt and respects her opponents.

Then there’s this: When Sumler’s dog Koda died last year, a number of students mourned along … and Juitt drew a painting of the Daschsund-Beagle mix that hangs now in Sumler’s home.

“It’s just such a special memory to have … there were tears,” said Sumler, a KC Current season ticket-holder who also treasures the Current-themed shoes Juitt painted for her.

Something else comes with her seemingly boundless and determined mindset — resilience and an abiding ability to channel adversity,

That helps explain why she never mentioned in our interview that the family’s rental home had caught fire one night during wrestling season.

No one was hurt in what is understood to have been an electrical fire. But the home was rendered uninhabitable and the family was displaced to a hotel (though since moved into another home), even as she was in pursuit of her first state wrestling title after placing third, fourth and fourth the last few years.

“Still, life continues,” her father said. “You’ve just got to keep moving.”

So she did.

“She missed one day of school,” Sumler said, “and then she was, like, ‘Nope.’“

As easy as it would have been to let that divert or deter her, Sumler added, “she never, ever has that attitude. Ever.”

Just like when she suffered a broken ankle after her sophomore year while wrestling. The injury required extensive surgery featuring a plate and seven screws.

“But it is what it is,” Juitt said. “I like to think that everything happens for a reason.”

In this case, it merely reaffirmed her love of wrestling, which she only began in earnest in ninth grade at the suggestion of her older sister, Keshana Jones, who also wrestled at Belton.

Early on, she even worked against her brother, Joe Jr., who now is wrestling at Avila. That made her better from the get-go, she said.

But she also was a quick study always intent on improving, Linhart said.

And it helped that she was bolstered by unusual hand-eye coordination and nimbleness from her broad scope of athletic endeavors, including cheerleading, rugby, track, golf and, most of all, gymnastics.

Flexibility and balance and a strong grip, after all, were second-nature for her.

“It was, like, this stuff is not hard compared to what I used to do — like a 4-inch beam 4 feet above the ground,” she said, laughing. “I think I can run my feet a little bit.”

As much as that variety of sports helped prepare her for wrestling, after her freshman year Linhart urged her to narrow that scope to the one in which he believed she could become great.

So she began training year-round in wrestling, supplemented by running for the Linhart-coached cross-country team.

And here she is — an Olympic contender ranked third in the nation among high school female wrestlers at 140 pounds.

“Louise Juitt is an exceptional talent and should be considered a hopeful for the 2028 Olympic Games and beyond,” USA Wrestling director of communications Gary Abbott wrote in an email to The Star. “She burst onto the national scene a few years ago and has shown great progress.

“The fact that she is winning national high school events, such as the (2024 and) 2025 National Girls High School Recruiting Showcase, shows that she stacks up well with her peers. The fact that she is already entering the U.S. Senior Open to challenge herself against current Olympic-caliber athletes shows that she has aspirations to compete at the highest level.

“There should be a bright future for Louise if she continues on the path she has already established.”

With limited Division I options for women’s wrestling despite it being an Olympic sports since 2004, Juitt still is working to find the right fit, where she can best enhance her academic profile for law school — so she can help people — and hone her wrestling.

She hopes to have that sorted out in the next few weeks even amid national competitions.

Wherever she ends up, though, she figures she can keep being the scholar-athlete who can make both dreams come true.

“If I set my mind to it,” she said, “it’s going to happen.”

No wonder it’s easy for Sumler to picture NBC host Mike Tirico introducing a young lady who is an Olympic wrestler on her way to law school.

“She,” Sumler said, “would be the one.”

Vahe Gregorian

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4868

Vahe Gregorian has been a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star since 2013 after 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has covered a wide spectrum of sports, including 10 Olympics. Vahe was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his master’s degree at Mizzou.