Volume 14 Issue 6

Page 7

BLACKHAWK

program are going to say, 'I want to be like Marcus, I want to be like Michael, I want to be like Will (Davis at 160).' Seeing Marcus on the stand getting that gold medal, that's going to be a great motivator for them."

Edgington also performs well in the classroom. His grade-point average is just above 4.0.

"I felt the same work ethic and the same drive for everything," Edgington said. "It probably started with wrestling and carried over to school."

 

of his commitment to success. Seeing it come true was amazing, Lewis said.

"Going into that match, we said we're going to stick with the program we've been doing all year," Lewis said. "From the very first match of the year, we wanted to control the tempo, wrestle our match. Nothing changes, no matter who it is, no matter where you're at. It's nice for that to pay off."

Edgington and his 1-minute-older twin brother, Michael, who placed sixth at 145, have been wrestling since they were in kindergarten.

In some cases, they had bigger areas to wrestle in than the practice room at school.

"It is so small, unbelieveably small," Edgington said. "People probably have bedrooms the size of our wrestling room."

With a smaller squad, the room does work with what Lewis is trying to accomplish with the program.

Edgington said he hopes the championship causes crowding in the practice room. Lewis said kids can now imitate the three wrestlers who qualified this season.

"We don't have the uncles, dads and the grandpas who have wrestled before," Lewis said. "This is going to be huge for us because all of these little kids in the

qualifier.

- He is the school's first multiple placewinner, taking fifth at 112 as a freshman and fourth at 145 last season.

- Edgington is first on Hinton's career wins list with 164.

Hinton was one of four schools to get a first individual wrestling champion Saturday night. Eddyville-Blakesburg, Rockford and South Hamilton also earned a first gold medal.

Waiting to wrestle in the finals, Edgington said he was pretty calm.

"It was pretty surreal. I don't think it really sank in yet," Edgington said. "I'd say for the most part I was pretty relaxed. Ecstatic, obviously, but it was something I'd been wanting to do forever."

Without a state champion to emulate, Edgington said he turned his full attention to becoming one.

"I kind of dedicated myself to it," Edgington said. "I stopped cross country, baseball and all that. I decided (wrestling) was my favorite, so it was what I wanted to stick with."

Hinton coach Kyle Lewis, a 1990 graduate of Des Moines Lincoln, said the championship would find Edgington because