NCHSAA wrestling finals: Familiar name leads Mooresville’s state wrestling hopes

Most of the wrestlers in Isaac Shaw’s weight class have 30 or more victories this season.

Shaw’s 16 match triumphs pale in comparison, but his opponents in this week’s state high school wrestling championships know better.

Shaw will be the wrestler to beat in the Class 4A 152-pound weight class, a strong favorite to win his second state championship in a row, and he figures to be among top contenders for most valuable wrestler honors in the 4A tournament.

He and his Mooresville High teammates, along with neighborhood rival Hough, are contenders for the 4A team title, too.

Opening rounds of the 2A, 3A and 4A events will be Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum (the NCHSAA postponed the scheduled Thursday opening due to expected wintry weather). Competition in those classes, along with the 1A state meet, continue Friday and Saturday.

Shaw goes to Greensboro with a 16-0 record this season, but when he has been healthy, he has been a powerhouse.

“I got hurt early in the season,” said Shaw, who injured a rotator cuff and didn’t really get started competitively until after Christmas. “Since then, I’ve done pretty well.

“I finally feel like I’m at 100 percent now. I had some good tests in the regional tournament.”

Anyone even remotely familiar with North Carolina high school wrestling knows about the Shaw family.

Isaac’s two older brothers, Noah and Silas, won state championships. Silas Shaw is wrestling at N.C. State. The three sons of Chris and Stephanie Shaw have provided 13-year Blue Devil wrestling coach Ben Watson with building blocks for what has become a state powerhouse.

Watson has talked about how a scrimmage between the Shaw brothers brought his team practice to a standstill. Silas Shaw told the Observer two years ago about a broken window at the family’s home that had resulted from some roughhousing.

Isaac Shaw says the three brothers have different personalities. But he says they share some things in common, like a joy of fishing — and a desire to succeed.

“We’ve had the same goals,” he says of the three brothers. “We want to win a state title.”

A senior, Isaac Shaw says he hasn’t made a college choice yet.

“I guess I’ve got to get serious about that,” he says. “But first, there’s the state meet.”

To prepare for this weekend’s meet, Isaac Shaw says he had watched his diet carefully and worked hard to maintain his weight.

And in recent weeks, he says he has tried to keep learning.

“Don’t be selfish,” he says. “You’ve got to listen to what the coaches say. There’s always something to learn.”

And that also means taking advice from his older brothers.

“Sometimes I don’t want to hear it,” he says with a laugh. “But I know they’re trying to help me, and I listen.”

State wrestling meet

Isaac Shaw faces Wilmington Laney’s Brayden Wagner in the first round of the 4A meet. Those first-round matches begin at 7 p.m. Wrestling starts at 9 a.m. Friday, with additional sessions at 2 and 6 p.m.

Finals for third and fifth place are set for 9 a.m. Saturday, with championship matches set for 4 p.m. All matches will be at the Greensboro Coliseum.

In addition to Hough and Mooresville, several other Observer-area schools are contenders for team titles. Those include St. Stephens in 3A; defending champion Central Academy, Fred T. Foard and West Lincoln in 2A; and Avery County in 1A.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 6:59 PM.