A high school junior in North Carolina has become the first female ever to win an individual state championship.
Heaven Fitch took home gold in her weight category after beating her opponent with an 11-3 major decision, WRAL reported.
According to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), she is the first female ever to win an NCHSAA Wrestling Individual State Championship.
“I just wrestled my best and I kinda dominated the match if I’m being honest,” Fitch told WTVD.
Fitch competes alongside teenage boys as part of the Uwharrie Charter wrestling team in the 106-pound weight class.
She dominated the male competition to take home the 106lb title and make teenage wrestling history in North Carolina.
In the tense last few moments of the match, shown in a video posted on twitter by NCHSAA, it looked as if it could have been over for Fitch.
But, with cheers of support from the crowd as a backdrop, she flipped out from underneath him and turned the tables, pinning him to the ground until the referee raised his hand.
Fitch has wrestled most of her life since the age of six, becoming interested in the sport after watching her older brothers compete, she told the Independent Tribune in 2018 according to CNN.
"I'm pretty sure it was because they didn't want me to get hurt. But I would just be like, 'Well, if they can do it, then I should be able to do it.'"
She has cemented herself as a state-wide role model to other young women in wrestling and beyond, demonstrating a female's capacity to triumph in a sport that still remains heavily male-dominated.
"I'm just glad I can be a role model for people younger than me and it's so insane to be inspiring to others,
“To think that others look up to me is kind of crazy," she told WTVD.
After finishing the season with a 54-4 record, she was also awarded the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 1A state championship, NCHSA said.
NCHSAA Director Que Tucker told CNN that there around 300 women currently compete in association-sanctioned wrestling, and that number is growing.
