Brandon Hannahs

Reporter

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - New Lexington's Matt Adams can add national champion to his accolades.

Adams pinned Norton’s Mitch Bischoff in 2:35 in the Senior Division heavyweight finals during the High School National Wrestling Championships on Sunday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Adams led 2-1 after one period, then opened the second period on the bottom. Adams scored a reversal, and after Bischoff countered by dropping to one leg, Adams turned him over and used "a mixer" to earn the pin.

He also pinned Bischoff to win the state championship in March.

"I knew he would come out strong and try to get me down first," Adams said. "I watched Bischoff wrestle all weekend, and he beat a three-time state champ from New York so I knew it would be a tough match."

The run to a national championship started last summer. New Lex wrestling coach Dave Ratliff noted Adams wrestled 60 to 70 matches, which is the equivalent of two high school seasons. He was able to gain mat awareness and blend it with his dedication.

Those elements are why Ratliff was not surprised with Adams coming out on top again.

"He's reaping benefits of hard work. He's definitely well-deserving," Ratliff said. "I told (Matt) he could win it, and that no one knows you down there. You're the most dangerous wrestler, you just need to be confident and wrestle your match."

Adams credited that experience as well as being overlooked.

"After making state (as a junior), my coaches told me to push myself, and that I could be a state champion," he said. "They predicted me to be sixth down here, but I like being the underdog. I knew I could definitely place. I thought I could be top three, and I was going to push myself to the limit."

Now, he will come home to New Lex as a national champion. Adams thanked all his supporters.

"I want to give a shoutout to my coaches Matt Reed and Dave Ratliff and my practice partner Luke Shively. They push me all the time," Adams said. "This feels a little better than state, but I'm happy I was able to do this for my school and community."

On Saturday, Adams earned a 5-4 semifinal win against Florida’s Gabe Beyer, which followed an 8-3 decision against Christian Rebottaro of California in the quarterfinals. Beyer is verbally committed to Penn State and Rebottaro to Michigan State.

His first-round match Friday featured a 1:59 pin of Connecticut’s Josh Angel followed by a 3-1 decision against Brandon Ngati in the second round.

bhannahs@gannett.com

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Twitter: @brandonhannahs