BOISE, Idaho — In the summer months, most teenagers are asleep at 7:00 am. Not Ornella Kero. The former Boise High School wrestler was in the basement of the Boise High gymnasium Wednesday morning, training.
In February, Kero won the Idaho State Championship for girls wrestling at 152lbs. The accomplishment was the culmination of years of hard work and grit.
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It was something Kero, herself, didn't even expect.
“It was unbelievable," Kero said. "I didn’t really think I had it in me to win the state championship."
Her path to a state title started in another country.
When Kero was young, her family decided to leave Cameroon. They became refugees, looking for a place to call home, and Boise is where they landed.
For the first time in her life, Kero was surrounded by foreigners.
“Coming to the United States, and getting on the plane was a little bit scary because I had only seen it on TV back home," Kero said. "There were a lot of different people that didn’t look like me, so it felt weird. I was like, who are these people?”
As Kero was acclimating to her new home, there was one thing that was constant in her life. Sports.
Kero played football, basketball, rugby, softball, and eventually, she wrestled. These activities not only got her out of the house, they introduced her to friends and helped her learn English.
It was her football coach that got her into wrestling. Her coach said it would help Kero become better on the gridiron, but when she transitioned to the mat, she was a natural.
When Kero started to wrestle, there weren't a lot of girls in the sport. She had to wrestle boys. That wasn't much of a problem for her though, and coaches noticed her aptitude for the sport immediately.
"She's resilient," Jeff Dinwiddie, her long-time wrestling coach, told Idaho News 6. "Kids, especially growing up in our neighborhood, it's hard to grit them up. But Ornella has grit that some kids might not ever have in this generation."
Dinwiddie says it's crucial for wrestlers to have grit.
He was there when Ornella won the city championship in eighth grade, and he was there when she took home the state championship four years later.
After Ornella realized she won, she collapsed on the mat with emotion and she gave Dinwiddie a big hug, causing them both to cry.
"She's not emotional, she's not going to show you that side of her," Dinwiddie said. "When she collapsed on the mat, and she knew she won, she was emotional, we were all emotional."
Because of Kero's success, she was invited to Fargo, North Dakota for the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals. If she placed high enough, she would be named an All-American.
Initially, Kero wasn't going to be able to go. The travel fees would have racked up too high.
That's when the Boise community stepped in. A fundraiser for Kero sparked and was pushed all over social media. Within the first hour, the goal of $1800 was reached. After the fundraiser closed, 72 people had donated a total of over $5000.
Organizers say with the goal exceeded, the rest of the funds will go to future travel expenses Kero might need, and also given back to the youth of Boise.
"I had no idea," Kero said. "I was shocked at how much people wanted to support me to go and I am beyond grateful for that.”
The tournament, which starts Friday can be watched on FloWrestling.
Kero's goal is to become an All-American, but her coaches think regardless of what happens, her legacy is cemented.
“She is the girl that you can say 'Hey, that girl did it. She comes from where I come from and she has circumstances that I have,'" Dinwiddie said. "If she did it, I could do it.”
