Day two here at the State Wrestling Tournament in Austin. At stake are podium positions for both 'Cats wrestlers, D.D. Fields and Thayer Atkins. Win and advance or lose and go home.

At 112 lb., Atkins faced off against a familiar opponent - Marc Henning from Strake Jesuit. At Regions two weeks ago, Atkins lost to Henning in overtime in a closely contested match in which Atkins gave up points after letting up prematurely due to an inadvertent whistle. While he lost the match, he had the mental advantage and went into his do-or-die match confident, and it showed.

Atkins scored early in the first period with a strong take down. Henning chose bottom at the start of the second period but Atkins controlled his opponent and retained the 2-0 lead heading into the third period. Aktins chose down and was able to escape, pushing his lead to 3-0. Atkins added to his tally with another take down and scored scored three more points on a near fall. Atkins advanced with an impressive 8-0 win.

Unfortunately, D.D. Fields was unable to advance after another closely contested match. Facing Petey Martinez from Katy, Fields was unable to advantage off any openings to score. Down 1-0 late in the third period, Fields took a shot and missed which allowed Martinez to get the easy take down and win the match 3-0.

The loss ends Fields high school career on a down note but he has little hang his head about after a great wrestling career at LHHS.

For Atkins, his victory earns him a podium spot but he has more work do to. A win in his next bout against Aaron Ryals from Azle gives him the right to battle for 3rd place in the consolation finals while a loss puts him in the 5th or 6th place match.

Congrats to D.D. on a great career and best of luck to Thayer as he looks to improve his podium position this afternoon!

GO 'CATS!