Cody Karns has made an impact on the wrestling mat since he arrived at Lake Norman High.

Placing fourth in the state in the 103-pound weight class as a freshman and following that up with a third-place finish last season, the junior hopes the third time is the charm so that he's able to claim a coveted state championship later this month.

"The main goal is to win it all this year," said Karns. "That's been my motivation."

Karns, the No. 1-ranked 113-pounder in 4A according to retrorankings.com, is well on his way, starting the year with a 44-1 record and dominating most of his competition along the way.

The 5-foot-4 Karns goes out on the mat on a mission, trying to score early points to get the upper hand. He excels on his feet, aggressively looking to get takedowns and the top position, where he can work his tilts to get near falls.

"He's very relentless," said Lake Norman coach Morgan Fore. "He's constantly on the attack. "

Karns' aggressiveness has paid off, as he leads the state and is fifth in the nation with 21 technical falls - "mercy rule" style wins awarded when a wrestler gets a 15-point lead in a match.

The 17-year-old leads the team in take downs, as his 97 to start the year are 30 more than any other Wildcat. Karns also broke his own school record for most near falls in a season, having 110 already.

Although he's had more than 190 wins at Lake Norman and has had several marquee wins this season, Karns knows he has room to grow.

He said his only loss of the year, to a Pennsylvania wrestler at the King of the Mat tournament at North Davidson in December, showed his main weakness.

"When I get down early in the match, for some reason it's hard for me to come back," said Karns. "I think that's what happened then."

Karns said he sees potential in his team, which was 28-4 heading into Wednesday night's regular-season finale against Mooresville for the I-Meck 4A regular-season title, as they move on to the conference tournament, which they will host Saturday, and the rest of the postseason.

Blue Devil wrestlers reach milestone wins

Last month, Mooresville's Matt Krider and Sam Crisp won their 150th and 100th career matches, respectively.

Krider, a senior who's the No. 4-ranked wrestler in 4A's 126-pound weight class, was 38-4 heading into Wednesday night's meet against Lake Norman. Crisp, a junior ranked No. 5 among 4A's 106 pounders, is 26-4 to start the year.

Jones claims 100th win

Concord Robinson's Hamilton Jones won his 100th career match during the team's regular-season finale against Concord last week. The junior, who is 27-6 this season, is 3A's No. 3-ranked 132-pounder. Jones and the Bulldogs will participate in the South Piedmont 3A conference tournament Saturday at Hickory Ridge High.

Rock Hill wraps up 10 first-place finishes

At the Region III conference tournament last Friday, Rock Hill High (S.C.) had 10 wrestlers win their respective weight-class titles.

Champions for the Bearcats were Devon Faile (106), Robert Douglas (132), Bishop Ashley (138), Robbie Haselrig (145), Seth Swoope (160), Cody Childers (170), AJ Walker (182), J. Schavey (195), Cameron Bell (220) and Mitchell Jeter (285).

Patriots win SW4A title

Independence finished with a 7-0 record in Southwest 4A meets to claim the conference's regular-season title. The Patriots defeated Butler 55-10 Monday to claim the title.

Olympic hosts MEGA 7 tourney

Olympic High will host the MEGA 7 conference tournament Saturday. Weigh-ins will take place at 7 a.m. while first-round matches kick off at 9 a.m.

All-day passes are available for $8.

NCHSAA deadline looms

Coaches have until Monday at 6 a.m. to report their team's and wrestlers' records to the N.C. High School Athletic Association to compete in the dual and individual state tournaments.