MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — At Ringers, you can always find a group of young wrestlers breaking in the mats.
Among them are 7th grader Penelope Juarez and her brothers Miguel and Pablo.
"That's Pablo, he's the one with the black shirt and black pants. And then Miguel is there wrestling Kylie," says Penelope Juarez, 2019 and 2021 state champion wrestler out of Sussex.
Penelope's brothers were the first to grapple, but it's Penelope who fell in love with the sport.
"I didn't join right away but my brothers did, so I watched them, and then I was like 'I want to do that,'" says Penelope. "You look at all the women that accomplished everything that they wanted to do in life with wrestling. Then you know you can do this sport and you're not the only one."
Already a two-time state champion at 12 years old, Penelope is still taking down barriers.
"I always see guys like point and laugh before matches. It's like okay I'm a girl, I get it. I feel like they think it's going to be easy and then I go out there in the match and do what I do," says Penelope.
Entering her 7th year of competition, Penelope has no plans of stopping no matter who is on the mat.
"I've only done one tournament this season and I took first. I was in an all-girls bracket. I had to wrestle four times and they were good," says Penelope.
And like we all did at her age, Penelope can't wait to grow up.
"I'm planning on doing this all through my life. High school, college, and then after college I want to open my own gym and do what they are doing right now," says Penelope.
So watch out world, there's nothing more dangerous than a girl with a plan and a passion.
