Amy Fearnside has a history of success on the mat and the former Live Oak wrestler showed those skills to the rest of the world.
Fearnside qualified to compete at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, on where she finished with a silver medal Nov. 29.
She competed in the 51 kilogram weight class (112.4 pounds).
Fearnside, a sophomore at Jamestown University in North Dakota, earned her ticket to compete with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, but she was the only one from her team to do so. As a result, she joined with Team USA and got to know them on her trip.
“It was an honor to do that because no one on the team got to do that,” Fearnside said.
While there, she befriended Elena Pirozhkova, an Olympic wrestler who holds gold, silver and bronze medals from world championships over the last four years.
Fearnside said she learned a lot about competing on the world stage from her time with Pirozhkova.
Fearnside’s road to the medal started off rocky when she lost her opening contest 5-4 thanks to being penalized for playing passive. Fearnside said she attempted to get her opponent in a gut wrench, but slipped off and was dinged in the last 10 seconds of the match.
“That match lasted the full six minutes. She had really good defense,” Fearnside said. “She was just a physical athlete. I’d love a second shot at her.”
That landed her in the consolation bracket, where she cruised through her next two matches setting up a silver medal bout with Spain.
Fearnside dominated her opponent from Sweden, winning by pin and followed that up with a technical fall against Belgium.
That set up a bout for second with Spain, but the Spanish wrestler had to withdraw due to injury.
Fearnside said she was visualizing a win before the match and was a little sorry she didn’t get to see the Spanish opponent’s technique.
“In my mind, I had already won it,” Fearnside said. “I just had to go out there and do it. I was a little disappointed because wanted to see España’s style.”
All of the wrestling occurred over the course of one day. The rapid-fire schedule is nothing new for Fearnside, who said she trains to do multiple matches in one day.
She said there are some tournaments that can go as many as 20 bouts in one day, “It’s just something we train for.”
This was the first time Fearnside has left the continent to compete. She said she has traveled to Canada for tournaments, but never gone overseas.
She said when she arrived in France, she could tell right away that the country was much different from the United States.
“It was a very different. You could tell you were in another country,” Fearnside said. “It was not just the language, but the people you met there and how town looks. Everyone gets around by train and they walk a lot more. So it’s like New York, but less busy.”
Fearnside said the language was a bit of a problem, as she doesn’t speak much French.
“You have to use charades to make anyone understand you,” Fearnside said.
She said it took several people to help her get the opportunity to compete on the international level. Fearnside said she had to give credit to her former high school coach Robert Fernandez, her college coach Tony DeAnda and her Titan Mercury coach Marcie Van Dusen.
And then she gave credit, as she never forgets to do, to God.
Now that she’s back in the states, she is resuming her studies at Jamestown University and training to continue her college season, which was on a break after starting up in October.
Fearnside is 12-2 in collegiate competition this year.
