WAUKESHA, Wos. — Waukesha South High School sends off freshman wrestler Penelope Juarez, the only wrestler from the school to qualify for the state tournament this year. She is one of a group of students going to state.
Juarez, who began wrestling at age 6, came into the season with a clear goal.
"In the beginning of the season it was a big goal I had. I had my mind set I was going to make it," Juarez said.
Her path to state nearly came to an early end when she badly sprained her ankle before the sectional tournament. According to her coach, when she was off the mat she struggled to walk — but she hid the injury to compete.
Watch: Waukesha South freshman wrestler Penelope Juarez heads to state tournament alongside bowlers, powerlifters
"She won sectional on basically one foot. She pinned all three of her opponents with that injury," wrestling coach Ryan Green said.
Her parents say that kind of determination is nothing new
"We had it in the mindset that she could get there, and she did it," Kristen Juarez said.
"She said she wanted to make it to state, and she did it. She put her mind to it," Miguel Juarez said.
"So proud, very proud," both Kristen and Miguel Juarez said.
Juarez is not the only Waukesha South athlete heading to state. The school's bowling team and powerlifting team are also making the trip.
"There is something special about the five guys we have," junior bowler Bryce Krueck said.
"It is always surreal having a bunch of your friends going to state representing your school," Krueck said.
Back Row left to right: Jeremiah Moore (State qualifier), Matthew Davila, Charlie Rewolinski, Ayden Lenz (State qualifier), Coach Salb and Edison Messerschmidt
Second Row Left to Right: Liam Nimkie, Kevin Wang (State qualifier), Iain Mayer, Domanic Bergeson Hernandez (State qualifier)
First Row: Israel Benitez
Junior powerlifter Kevin Wang said the program has grown significantly.
"We had three people last year, this year we have six," Wang said.
Fellow junior powerlifter Jeremiah Moore said the moment is about more than individual achievement.
"It is just nice to see my peers represent the school and the programs we have here," Moore said.
The wrestling, bowling, and powerlifting teams are among a larger group of Waukesha South programs that have headed to state competition in recent weeks, including cheer, dance, swim and dive, the snowboard team, an esports team, and DECA, the business competition.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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