TOM Denham may have only been introduced to wrestling three years ago, but already the talented Darlington teenager is on his way to the top.

The 16-year-old, a pupil at Darlington Education Village, Haughton, and a member of the Tees Active Academy, trains with Stockton Wrestling Club under the guidance of coach Dave Sudron.

Since being introduced to the sport by his father, Neil, a former wrestler, Tom has already won a number of titles, the latest being the English junior championships.

Tom's sister, Lydia, is also a keen wrestler and the ten-year-old was with the rest of the family to watch her brother come first out of more than 100 competitors from throughout the UK.

"It was great to win all four matches," said Tom. "There are three rounds in each match, but I managed to win in the second round in all four matches.

"It was an 80kg class competition and it was quite difficult, so it was really good to go on and win it."

In July last year, Tom retained the British junior championship in Olympic freestyle wrestling.

He is now training hard in preparation for the Irish Open in Northern Ireland, where he will represent Stockton Wrestling Club, which was formed by Mr Sudron in 1983. The Welsh Open follows.

The youngster finished fifth in the English seniors in Sheffield recently - winning one and losing two against older competitors - and is poised for a place in the European championships in Latvia.

"I was really proud when I was chosen to represent Great Britain and it would be great if I'm involved again," said Tom.

He added: "I've done well so far and to represent Britain at the 2012 Olympics would be a dream come true. It's a long way off but all I can do is keeping working hard and winning competitions."