To make it onto the podium in an international athletic competition is impressive.
A Fredonia woman did just that for arm wrestling.
Angela Matthews has been a champion athlete for a long time – with a training schedule to match. She gave us a tour around her workout space.
“My pull up bars, I can do my triceps, and I have a ton of grips because in arm wrestling, your grips, your fore arms, your grip strength is very important,” she says.
Angela just got back from Turkey and the World Arm Wrestling Championships. She says she did not expect to be recognized overseas.
“It was really fun for people to come up to you at the airport and be like, ‘hey Angie!’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know who you are!’” she says.
But Angela says, ever since she was a little girl, she’s wanted to wear a Team USA jersey – for anything. And over the years, she’s won a lot of hardware.
“But level up to World Championships, to actually get a bronze medal, I had a little freak out moment, and I was just cheesin’ the whole time,” she recalls.
Angela says she never knew this would be the sport that would take her so far, because she’s tried everything, including soccer, tennis, bowling, and gymnastics.
“I did varsity basketball,” she says with a laugh. “I got bored with that!”
Angela has always wanted to be involved in unique sports. So, she got a college scholarship to play rugby. She also played arena football for the Green Bay Chill. Angela says she was arm wrestling team mates and male football players – just for fun.
“And I remember seeing this video of a girl and she was yelling and screaming on the table, and I was like ‘oh my goodness! That’s so cool, I’m about to do that!’” Angela says.
That whim has led Angela to some really exciting places. She’s planning to travel to Hungary next year for tournaments. Last year she went to Romania.
“Stopped in Switzerland. I ended up in Qatar last year. For some apparent reason I missed my flight,” Angela says. “I’ve been through Iceland. This year we’ll go back to Costa Rica. I’m going to places a lot of people don’t get a chance to go to and it’s fun.”
It’s been quite a ride.
“I don’t know where I would be without sports. I probably wouldn’t have made it far in life without sports.”
And even when she can’t arm wrestle anymore, Angela says she’ll still be an athlete.
“When I turn 75, I’m going to be one of those power walkers!”
