Photo by Jenny Millsaps Hayesville wrestler Gage Michael fi nished second in the 145-weight class in Regional Competition and will advance to state.
By Coach Daniel Sherlin
Guest Writer
Gage Michael dominated his way through the Western 1A individual regional tournament taking on some of the best wrestlers in the entire region and working his way up the ranks to place second at regionals. He will now be competing at the N.C. State Tournament in the145 pound weight class at 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Feb.17 and 18 at the Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd, in Greensboro, N.C.
Michael started his Western Regional Tournament ranked as No.7 and came out on top grabbing the No. 2 spot in the region. In the regionals he scored a take down on his first opponent in 52 seconds and then pinned him 20 seconds later moving to the quarterfinals.
Entering the second match, his opponent scored a take down first, but Michael easily got a reversal then dominated his opponent throughout the rest of the match. Michael received a major division win of 13-2.
Headed into the semi-finals, the pressure was on as the winner was guaranteed a top two spot. Michael and his opponent were evenly matched at the beginning but Michael was down by 5 points in the third round. With 30 seconds left in the match, the outcome looked dire, then Michael successfully scored a reversal, flipped his opponent with a pin for the win.
Michael moved into the finals where he went the distance to grab the No. 2 spot at the regionals and seal a spot in the N.C. State Tournament.