Centennial junior Austin Kraisser is no stranger to the biggest stage having been in the state finals as a freshman and sophomore.
This year, however, he took his game to the next level and dominated each of his opponents, including a 21-4 technical fall victory over Leonardtown's Andrew Lee in the 3A/4A 152-pound championship match to snag his second straight state title.
"You try to think it's just another match, but it's really not," Kraisser said. "You have to get in the mindset that it is just another match and there's no pressure and nothing is different."
Kraisser earned the first takedown in the first period, but failed to turn Lee to his back and entered the second period with a 2-0 lead.
After that, Kraisser decided to dominate in the neutral position "to open him up," and eventually hit a big five-point move that built his lead to 14-3 going into the third period.
"There's a saying that everyone is good in the first two or three minutes, and that's you see in high-level matches," he said. "But I just kept working."
Kraisser would secure the technical fall as time ran out by getting a takedown and adding three near-fall points.
The three-time county and regional champion finishes the season 39-3 with all three losses coming to out-of-state nationally ranked wrestlers at the Ironman wrestling tournament in December.
"Any loss is tough to cope with right then, but then you look back on it and see what you need to fix," Kraisser said. "Sometimes a good thing."