Fresno teen asked to compete in world wrestling tournament by Olympic Committee
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- 14-year-old Paige Morales is training hard. Five days a week, she works on her wrestling skills alongside her little brother.
Now the athlete has to train even harder.
"I have to push myself harder then I have ever had to push myself," she said.
Next month, she's competing against the top 15-year-olds from across the world in the United World Wrestling Tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
"It is really crazy, it's really hard to imagine," Paige said. "I'm going across the world basically."
The Olympic Committee personally asked Paige to compete after they witnessed her clean house in a Texas tournament. She faced off against seven other girls, some of them older. It didn't phase her; she beat them all and took first place.
"I was really nervous in the beginning," she said. "But then a started my first wrestling matches and all started to come back to me, and I was like, 'I got this.'"
Every match is just as stressful for her parents, Francis and Andy Morales.
"Oh, it is nerve-wracking," Francis said. "I am always nervous, and I get sick to my stomach."
"Very intense, there was a lot of really good competition there," Andy said.
Because of her skills, the 14-year-old will once again compete against 15-year-olds.
She's also the only wrestler from the entire state of California to represent team USA in Budapest.
Her coach of four years Damani Buckley says she's come a long way from her first competition.
"Our first match she dislocated her elbow," Buckley said. "Since then, the sky has been the limit."
In two weeks, Paige is taking her practice to the next level.
She's heading to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, a place she's always dreamed of going.
"I'm so excited to see where all the big people from the Olympics train and to see what they have all gone through and now I'm one of those people," the wrestler said.
One day she hopes to earn a gold medal at the Olympic games.
Until then, Paige is focused on her current task, bringing home the win.
