Heaven Fitch makes history, becomes first female wrestler to win state title in North Carolina
This photo provided by North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) shows Heaven Fitch, center, Luke Wilson, left, and Hunter Fulp, right, and Brandon Ropp, far right, after the state wrestling championships in Raleigh, N.C, on Saturday. Credit: AP
RALEIGH, N.C. — A female wrestler has made history by winning a state high school wrestling championship in North Carolina.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association said on its website that junior Heaven Fitch of Uwharrie Charter became the first female to win one of the association’s individual state wrestling championships. She won the 106-pound (48 kg) weight class at the 1A division on Saturday.
A photo released on the association’s official Twitter account shows her beaming, standing next to three boys who finished behind her in the tournament.
She had a 54-4 record for the season and won Most Outstanding Wrestler for the 1A division.
“I’m just really overwhelmed . . . It’s like insane what I’ve done, it’s not fully sunken in yet,“ she told WRAL-TV.
WRAL reported that she faced Robbinsville’s Luke Wilson in the state championship and won on an 11-3 major decision.
She said that when she started high school, she would have never expected to have this much success.
“I thought as a freshman I wouldn’t even have a winning record, and to do this now, I would have never thought of it,“ Fitch said.
