KATY, Texas — An athlete from Cy-Lakes High School is attracting worldwide attention after bringing home a national title.
Zhariyah Whittington started off on her school's wrestling team but quickly realized she had a knack for something a little more unique.
At just 16 years old, Zhariyah is now one of the best sumo wrestlers in the country.
The high school student is now taking down men and women of all ages and has become a full-blown sumo tsunami.
Zhariyah made her way to the national championship, where she placed in the top three in four different events, winning the U.S. junior lightweight title.
She's not stopping there. This fall, Zhariyah is competing in the world championship in Japan.
“I’ve been working out more, my arms are getting better,” she said. “The fact I can be one of the first people to do this is crazy.”
Zhariyah said she's been upping her training and typically has to go up against adult men, since there's not a big pool of sumo wrestlers, here in Houston.