After watching teammate D.D. Fields fall earlier today, freshman Thayer Atkins was the last 'Cats wrestler standing in the State Wrestling Tournament going into the consolation semifinals. Atkins was matched up against a formidable opponent in senior Aaron Ryals from Azle who was ranked #2 in the state heading into the tournament.

The match started out in Ryals' favor with an early take down of Atkins. He maintained control throughout the first period and ended with a 2-0.

Atkins chose bottom to start the second period and it worked in Ryals' favor. Ryals' capitalized on three near fall points on two separate occasions in the second period to give him an 8-0 advantage going into the third period, when the odds were stacked against Atkins.

Ryals had the starting decision going into the third period after deferring to Atkins in the second. He chose bottom which gave Atkins an opening to make his move. Atkins was able to get arm control and leverage on Ryals with just under a minute left in the match and pinned him with only :21 seconds remaining in the match.

The win puts Atkins in the third-fourth place match against top wrestler Sean Ambrocio from San Antonio Reagan. The third-fourth round matches start at 6:00 p.m. tonight at the Delco Center in Austin.

GO 'CATS!