Justin Meyers stands alone this morning among the area's Class 1A athletes.
The LeRoy senior hopes tonight to hold that status among the state's 138-pound wrestlers.
Of six area Class 1A athletes in semifinal matches of the 75th IHSA state wrestling tournament, the unbeaten Meyers was the only one to qualify for the finals during Friday night's semifinals at the Assembly Hall.
It should hardly be surprising. He's in the title bout for the third consecutive year and wants to improve on back-to-back runner-up finishes.
"That will help a little," Meyers said, "but every year is different. There is no preparation for the finals."
Meyers scored three of his five semifinal takedowns in the first period and overpowered Mercer County's sixth-ranked Derrick Morford 12-6.
"I took it to him and dominated from the beginning," Meyers said. "That's the way I like to wrestle. It was awesome."
Though he has been close to a state title for two years, he was far away when he made his debut in the sport as a sixth-grader.
"I got knocked out in the regionals," he said, "but I worked in the offseason and came back and placed (at state) the next year."
Two LeRoy teammates were among the five from the area who came up short in the semifinals. Austin Matlock (120) and Josh Johnson (152) return to action this morning in the wrestlebacks but are assured of their first state medals. They cannot place lower than sixth.
Matlock's 100th win was almost a loss. He needed a buzzer-beating takedown to pull off a 4-3 triumph against Lisle's Ryan Kilroy in the quarterfinals. After two one-point wins, however, he dropped a 9-6 semifinal decision to second-ranked Garrett Webb, from Sterling Newman.
Johnson, one of the meet's biggest surprise stories, lost 5-3 to top-ranked Zach Nelson, from Mercer County, in the semifinals.
Entering his senior season, Johnson had 26 varsity wins. This season, he is 34-3.
"He has come a long ways," LeRoy coach Doug DeWald said. "He was behind Devin (Bulington) as a freshman and sophomore and then grew about 6 inches and put on 30 pounds.
"He cracked the lineup as a junior but wasn't satisfied. He has come back and had a really nice year."
LeRoy's wrestleback trio includes Bulington (126), Caleb Wilson (160) and Brad Simmons (220). Seniors Bulington and Simmons were each ranked second but dropped quarterfinal matches by scores of 3-1 and 4-3, respectively.
"For seniors, I've said it's harder to get third than to win state," DeWald said, "because you have to come back from that devastation. With those (wrestleback) performances, you see the type of character we have. It didn't take long to understand pride and not give in."