Woman Working to Win Arm Wrestling World Championship

Woman Working to Win Arm Wrestling World Championship


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Alex Cabrero reporting Ask someone what Preston, Idaho, is best known for, and most of the time you'll get the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" as the answer. But somebody in Preston is trying to make her town famous for something else.

In a little, tiny gym, Lisa Wolfley is chasing a big dream. She's not a bodybuilder, though she probably could be. She's not a model, though she could probably do that too. No, she's a pro at something you wouldn't ever guess. Wolfley is America's female arm wrestling champion.

Wolfley says, "It's a very competitive sport." And after finishing fourth in the world tournament recently, she's determined to win it all next year.

"I beat one, but I lost to another Russian. She was amazingly strong," she said.

For Lisa, the hardest part about training is finding female competition. That's why she practices against the guys. Damon Hull is her training partner. When he first saw Lisa, he thought she was joking. "I got down here on the table with her, and yeah, she took me down. Ha ha ha," he said.

She's been beating guys since she was a little girl, although, at first, her dad wasn't too happy about it. "Now that I'm pro and I earned the USA championship, my dad is like ‘Yeah! Go for it!' He's all for it," Wolfley said.

So is her husband, Lance, who competes and trains with her, too. "We can win some, lose some, laugh and cry together. It's a great thing. It really is," he said.

It'll be even better, if her dream comes true: to be a World Champion in her weight class. Next year's national arm wrestling tournament will be held in Salt Lake City. Lisa, her husband and her son each are hoping to win titles.

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