Port Alberni teenager Daley Forbes is now a three-time national champion.
Forbes, 18, defended her crown in the juvenile girls' 75-kilogram category at the national wrestling championships, which wrapped up this past Saturday in Fredericton, N.B.
Besides a juvenile division for those aged 17 and 18, the Canadian tournament also included a cadet class, for those who are 15 or 16.
Forbes, a member of the Hesquiaht First Nation, won her first national title as a cadet competitor in 2010. She then moved up to the juvenile ranks and captured her second Canadian crown last year.
But Forbes, who competes for the Alberni Valley Wrestling Club (AVWC), said her most recent national title means the most to her.
"I think it means more because it's my senior year," said Forbes, a Grade 12 student at Alberni District Secondary School.
Forbes was one of seven entrants in her weight class at this year's nationals. She won the gold medal by winning all three of her bouts.
Forbes defeated Kyla Litmola, who represents the Matmen Wrestling Club in Brampton, Ont., in her championship final.
After easily winning her first two bouts, Forbes had a rather lofty obstacle to overcome in the gold-medal match.
"I was a little bit concerned as she tweaked her back in the warm-up," said AVWC coach James Messenger.
Forbes said she was practising a dive roll about 20 minutes before her final was scheduled. And she said she didn't feel right as soon as the move was completed.
"I hobbled over to my coach and he told me to stretch it out," Forbes said.
Though she said the thought of forfeiting the match never crossed her mind, Forbes was still in pain when the gold-medal bout started.
And she got off to a rocky start as Litmola managed to knock her down and onto her back, scoring three points.
"I don't know the last time she has been taken down for three points," said Messenger, who has been coaching Forbes since 2007.
Forbes recovered from that early setback though. And she managed to win the bout by pinning Litmola in the third and final round.
Each round lasts two minutes.
Since she was the defending national juvenile champion, Forbes knew she could also be successful at this year's Canadian tournament.
"I was fairly confident," she said. "But I was more nervous because it was my last chance (in this age grouping)."
Messenger also knew that Forbes was capable of faring well at the nationals. But he would not have been able to predict how his athlete would fare prior to arriving for the Canadian meet.
"You never know until you get there and get rolling and you see your competition," he said.
Forbes added she was able to block out thoughts of her injured back as the match progressed.
"I put it out of my mind," she said. "I don't even remember feeling it at all."
Forbes, however, was still in pain when she returned home. Even three days after the competition she was walking gingerly and contemplating whether to go see a doctor.
Forbes must also soon decide what she plans to do upon graduating from high school.
"She's got to figure that out - what she wants to do with her wrestling career and her education," Messenger said.
Some Canadian universities have expressed interest in Forbes attending their schools and wrestling for their varsity squads.
Ideally, Forbes would like to stay in British Columbia and attend Simon Fraser University.
"I want to study kinesiology and then move up and get a physiotherapy degree," she said.
