Anson High School senior Justice Leak said his third-place finish in the state wrestling championships didn’t sink in right away.
“Glamour really didn’t hit me until I got home that night and I was holding my medal and I was like, ‘I did it!’” Leak said. “I didn’t go as far as I wanted to, but I’ve at least seen the hilltop.”
Leak, 18, said his love for wrestling began in the eighth grade when he walked in and saw the guys wrestling.
“I was like, Me and my brother do this all the time,’” he remembered, “and I just touched the mat and it was life from there and I just loved it.”
The biggest challenge that Leak faced in his matches was fear and pride. To get over that he said, “you just gotta go out there and put everything aside and just do you, just not being afraid of the next thing or what the next guy’s gonna do.”
Leak’s record for the year is 43-5.
The senior just got accepted to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and is talking with the wrestling coaches there. He wants to major in either accounting or mechanics.
Leak said his biggest supporters are his mom, dad, grandma, brother and sister. He also has the support of Bearcat parents, including those whose children have already graduated.
He is also thankful for his coach of four years, James Wall, saying that if he ever needed advice, Wall was always there for him.
Before the matches, Leak said Wall tells his players, “Everybody has the same opportunity you have to get over your fears and just go out there and wrestle hard for 6 minutes — and may the best man win.”
Leak’s coach was proud to see the senior earn a bronze medal in the state tournament.
“I felt he should have been on the podium prior to this year, but to see him ultimately get his hand raised you know, to be one of those kids on the podium, that was fulfilling for all of us,” Wall said.
Tracey Brewer is a freelance correspondent for The Anson Record.
