'It feels good to pin a guy': the North Carolina girl making history on the mat
Heaven Fitch just wanted to be like her three older brothers. At six years old, she followed them onto the wrestling mat and she hasn’t stopped since. Two weeks ago, she became the first girl in North Carolina to win an individual state men’s wrestling championship.
Fitch, 16, is the only girl on Uwharrie Charter Academy’s 26-person team in Asheboro, where she recently finished her 11th-grade season with a 54-4 record. She was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler for North Carolina’s 1A division. Last year, Fitch placed fourth in the state’s high school wrestling championships.
Related: 'I kind of dominated': teenage girl beats boys to North Carolina wrestling title
Because there are few women around to compete against, Fitch estimates about 95% of her matches from been against boys in her 11 years of competition. She can’t hide her preference.
“It definitely feels pretty good to pin a guy,” she told the Guardian.
Originally from Illinois, Fitch and her siblings grew up watching WWE pro wrestling on Saturday mornings, then recreating the matches wherever they could find room. Not one to keep on the sidelines, Heaven was always in the thick of it. When she asked her parents if she could join the kids’ wrestling club as its only girl, they didn’t hesitate. She had proven her mettle taking punishment from her brothers. “My parents are probably the ones who pushed me the most,” Fitch said. “They always encouraged me.”
Alongside her brothers, Heaven competed wherever she could. When the school season ended, the Fitch kids would continue to practice and compete in the circuit outside of it, an intricate track of junior tournaments that eventually lead to Olympic contention. Fitch often practiced five days a week. Sometimes she attended two practices in a day. “Every Saturday there would be a tournament, and sometimes I’d be back in the wrestling room on Sundays,” she said.
When she and her family moved from the Charlotte area to Asheboro, Fitch’s parents met with her new coach, Chris Waddell, to make sure she would fit and thrive in the school’s program. “You could tell she was talented right away,” Waddell said. “She was one of the hardest workers, if not the hardest worker on the team.”
Walking into a wrestling room full of boys wasn’t anything new for Fitch, though it still made her nervous. “It always is [nerve-wracking],” she said. “I’m a shy person, so I didn’t talk the first few months.”
Her wrestling partner put her through her paces and her strong work ethic won her the respect and trust of the group. One day, a boy talked to her. Then the rest followed.
The petite Fitch wrestles in the 106lb (48kg) division. She walks around at 102lb, and doesn’t have to cut weight like many of her male opponents. This often plays to her disadvantage since wrestlers commonly make weight through dehydration, then are able to pack back on a few extra pounds with fluids.
For her history-making turn two weeks ago, the weight limit was increased to 110lb within regulation. Fitch weighed in at 102lb; her opponents at 110lb. Once rehydrated, her opponents likely weighed closer to 115lb when they met her on the canvas.
Fitch compensates with agility and a tenacious, but controlled pace. She’s proven to be an asset and last year, the team went 41-0.
“She’s mentally tough,” Waddell said. “At this age, I think the only thing that’s equal to the boys is core strength. Everything else – leg strength, arm strength – the boys will be stronger.”
Fitch’s gender-inspiring win has garnered heavy media attention. She has fielded inquiries from major news outlets around the country. A clip of her state victory went viral. In a podium picture that made the rounds, the silver-haired Fitch beamed from her first-place step, flanked by the less-enthused boys she bested.
“Last year people didn’t know who she was and they shook their heads when she came out,” Waddell said. “This year everybody knows her.”
Fitch described the attention she has received as “overwhelming”, but it hasn’t detracted from her goal to study medicine in college, whether or not the institution she chooses has a women’s wrestling program. She said she is considering a focus on psychiatry, psychology or biology.
“I know I could continue to wrestle in college, but it’s juggling the academics that I need with being able to do this,” Fitch said.
Waddell believes Fitch could earn an academic scholarship to the University of North Carolina, which houses one of the stronger men’s teams in the country. Though there is no women’s team, many female national team competitors train there under the tutelage of the legendary Kenny Monday, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle.
Wrestling is the only sport Fitch has ever competed in. She is a straight-A student, sings and plays the ukulele. She listens to alternative music and wears flannel shirts.
The sport continues to be a family affair. Fitch’s oldest brother helped coach her Eagles’ squad this season. Her middle brother has been state placer for North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
In March, Fitch will compete in the Virginia Beach National Championship – a rare occasion where she will wrestle other girls. In the off-season, she will pick her training back up again for the world team trials. Whether she decides to pursue wrestling after her senior year or not, her victory, and the attention it has received, will continue to push the women’s wrestling movement forward. She has become a role model. A girl from the local middle school team will join her next year. Six more girls will follow behind them.
“Heaven is one of a kind,” Waddell said. “A great wrestler, a great musician. Most important, she’s a good person.”
