VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - New Lexington's Matt Adams can add national champion to his accolades.
Adams
pinned Norton’s Mitch Bischoff in 2:35 in the Senior
Division heavyweight finals during the High School National Wrestling
Championships on Sunday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
Adams
led 2-1 after one period, then opened the second period on the bottom.
Adams scored a reversal, and after Bischoff countered by dropping to one
leg, Adams turned him over and used "a mixer" to earn the pin.
He also pinned Bischoff to win the state championship in March.
"I
knew he would come out strong and try to get me down first," Adams
said. "I watched Bischoff wrestle all weekend, and he beat a three-time
state champ from New York so I knew it would be a tough match."
The
run to a national championship started last summer. New Lex wrestling
coach Dave Ratliff noted Adams wrestled 60 to 70 matches, which is the
equivalent of two high school seasons. He was able to gain mat awareness
and blend it with his dedication.
Those elements are why Ratliff was not surprised with Adams coming out on top again.
"He's
reaping benefits of hard work. He's definitely well-deserving," Ratliff
said. "I told (Matt) he could win it, and that no one knows you down
there. You're the most dangerous wrestler, you just need to be confident
and wrestle your match."
Adams credited that experience as well as being overlooked.
"After
making state (as a junior), my coaches told me to push myself, and that
I could be a state champion," he said. "They predicted me to be sixth
down here, but I like being the underdog. I knew I could definitely
place. I thought I could be top three, and I was going to push myself to
the limit."
Now, he will come home to New Lex as a national champion. Adams thanked all his supporters.
"I
want to give a shoutout to my coaches Matt Reed and Dave Ratliff and my
practice partner Luke Shively. They push me all the time," Adams said.
"This feels a little better than state, but I'm happy I was able to do
this for my school and community."
On Saturday, Adams earned a
5-4 semifinal win against Florida’s Gabe Beyer, which followed an 8-3
decision against Christian Rebottaro of California in the quarterfinals.
Beyer is verbally committed to Penn State and Rebottaro to Michigan
State.
His first-round match Friday featured a 1:59 pin of
Connecticut’s Josh Angel followed by a 3-1 decision against Brandon
Ngati in the second round.