Chris Caton has more hardware for his trophy collection.
Caton, a Northside Christian senior, won his fourth NCISAA wrestling championship Saturday at Charlotte Country Day, pinning A.C. Chancellor of Christ School in 80 seconds to win the 132-pound title en route to earning the outstanding wrestler honor.
"It feels great," said Caton, an Air Force signee who improved his record to 40-2. "It's like working all the way to this point throughout the whole season, all the pain and everything is worth it. It never gets old."
Caton made quick work of Chancellor by using his strength to gain the upper hand, then pinning him to end the match with 40 seconds in the first round.
"I was going out and doing what I do best, be aggressive, not letting up and applying pressure," he said. "This is wrestling, so anything can happen. Never underestimate your opponent."
Charlotte Latin won the team title with 179 points, edging Southlake Christian by seven. Wesleyan Christian was third with 150 and Providence Day fourth at 121. Freshman Billy McClelland earned the Hawks' lone win at 113 pounds, but five other Latin wrestlers finished second in their weight classes.
"It's good," said McClelland, who outscored Providence Day's Tanner Love 6-1. "A lot of hard work has paid off now."
McClelland, who improved to 29-5, took command in the second round by using his quickness to gain an advantage and held it through the third to earn his first state title.
"It went about the way I wanted it to, just go out and go hard for six minutes," he said. "I just wanted to get on my offense and don't react to him, and I was able to do that."
Country Day senior Will Davis gave the host team something to cheer with a pin of Latin's Sam Wilson 75 seconds into the 160-pound final. Davis, who finished third in the state last year, breezed to first-round wins in every match. The finale was no different, although Davis was surprised after edging Wilson on points at the CISAA event.
"I had wrestled Luke in conferences and it was a complete dogfight," said Davis, who ran his record to 28-4. "We wrestled around a little bit and somehow I got on top with a head and arm and got him down. It's very exciting to me because he's a wrestler I really respect."
