Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — As Corky Graham would call him “Beast,” his name is actually C.J. Graham.
The 86-pound Fairland Dragon wrestler has quite the junior high school resume and is generating some hype heading into his high school career.
Graham has set some high standards for himself and his main goal of his eighth grade season was to get to 100 wins on the mat. This accomplishment had never been done before at Fairland.
“I knew that I wanted to get 100 wins and set the record after I finished last season with 69 wins,” said Graham.
He achieved this goal at the Ohio Valley Conference meet this season where he won his 86-pound weight class and got his 100th win while doing so.
“I got a takedown at the very beginning and a few back points. It went to a third and I got a chin whip to get the pin,” said Graham on winning his 100th match.
The eighth grader has not been defeated yet this season and currently sits at a record of 104-6 in his junior high career.
The six losses all came from his seventh grade season.
He also won the state tournament as the only qualifier from his team.
The tournament was broken down into divisions but he also plans on attending the open state tournament in just a few weeks. This will allow all wrestlers to meet up with no school size divisions.
Graham faced off against four opponents at the state meet and there were a total of 15 competitors in his weight class to qualify.
He won the final match 3-0 to be named the state champion in Division II.
Graham finished up by saying, “It just goes to show that all my hard work and dedication is starting to pay off.”