Maruawai College pupil Jaxon Friend, 15, attended the 2024 Oceania Wrestling Championships in Guam in February and the Australian Wrestling Championships in June.
Wrestling in the under-17, under 65kg grade Jaxon finished second in Guam and fifth in Australia.
The two international tournaments had given him insight into what he would need to do to achieve his goal of representing New Zealand at the Olympics, Jaxon said.
"I’ve learned a lot."
While he was in Australia he also attended a training camp which had been helpful.
When he attended the South Island Wrestling Championships last month he was awarded the most promising wrestler of the tournament.
On Sunday at the Southland Wrestling Championships he had a talk to New Zealand selector Steven Hill, of Christchurch, who offered to help him to work out a plan to progress his career.
Mr Hill suggested Jaxon aim to attend the 2026 Youth Olympics in Senegal.
To do that Jaxon would need to compete in the same international tournaments he had attended this year in 2025.
One obstacle he faced was the lack of competition in the South, Jaxon said.
Jaxon is now training for the national championships in October, where he hopes to win another New Zealand title.
Jaxon’s father Aidan said another obstacle his son faced was the cost of attending overseas tournaments.
