Malachi Sanders wins 7A wrestling state title

Alyssia Hamilton

Editor-in-Chief

Malachi Sanders took on Walton’s Emil Necula for the 150-pound state championship match on Feb. 18 in Macon, Georgia. The day before, Sanders had to win his first three matches to compete against Necula.

“I started off by listening to music while doing a 30 minute warm up to get me pumped for the match,” Malachi Sanders (12) said.

Dec. 16 at the Cobb County Invitational was the last time Sanders matched up against Necula. Necula won the match. Sanders knew before the state championship that the final match would be between the two of them.

“I knew that I was going to have to work extremely hard to pull it off and I knew that I would have to switch up my game plan,” Malachi Sanders (12) said.

As Sanders took the floor to battle Necula for the title, bringing home a win for the Blue Devils weighed on his mind. Necula led 9-3 in the first two periods until Sanders took charge in the third period.

“Even though he started behind, I knew that if he stuck to the game plan we established then he would be fine,” Coach Tommy Carthers said.

Sanders’ quick thinking led him to escaping his opponent’s control, he added a takedown to turn the match around. He used three pins to take the lead with two minutes left of the match. Sanders earned the state title with a score of 11-9. Sanders was in disbelief because he knew how hard the match would be, but he was relieved to see his hard work pay off. Malachi is the second person to win an individual state title at our school this year.

“I believe our program is so successful because of our coaches and our strength program having high expectations. Our student athletes have to work year round to be successful. Having those coaches here working with our athletes through the summer and the school year adds to an athletes success. The work during the season and the off season is what really helps the hard work pay off and it’s what helps them achieve their goals,” Athletic Director Craig McKinney said.