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He'd like to raise a few more eyebrows by medaling at this week's Division 4 state wrestling championships at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Wyatt is one of two Forest Area wrestlers competing for state titles. The other is Justin Gordon, who is also seeded second in his weight division.

"I've been practicing hard every day," Gordon said during halftime of last Friday night's district tournament championship game between the Warriors and Kingsley at Manton High School.

"Hard work should pay off, and I can place in the state tournament ... hopefully."

Gordon came into the season brimming with confidence after attending a camp last summer that helped him sharpen his skills and taught him new techniques.

Although as a team the Warriors battled numbers problems and fell short of the ultimate goal of winning a league title, Wyatt and Gordon excelled individually.

Putting in the extra work has paid off so far.

Through half the season, Gordon had only one loss, and he had only two defeats going into the regional.

He comes into the state finals with three losses on his record. "We've been working at Manton, and I feel that helped," Gordon said. "I got different practice partners who have different wrestling styles. That helped me prepare.

"I feel that going against wrestlers from a different school, who have styles that I don't see during the season ... or even at the regional ... definitely was a plus.

"Not that I might not see a few more surprises in the state tournament, but I feel confident that I'm ready for just about anything."

Wyatt certainly isn't lacking for confidence heading into his final competition as a high school wrestler.

Like Gordon, he was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Warriors' football team that made the playoffs for the first time in school history after recording its first winning season as well.

But the realization that this is his last shot at a state title is a big motivating factor for Wyatt.

"I've been training for this all season long ... I can't wait," he said. "As a senior, this is my last year. I'm ready to go. I want to go out there and show them what I can do.

"My goal all along was to go to states, and I felt really confident that I could make it there. Hard work, and keeping the intensity up, sticking to what I had to do were the keys."

Wyatt admits he was a little nervous coming into the regional as a fourth seed.

But, he fought through some major challenges to come out seeded second.

He's also ranked heading into the states.

"Going against a number one seed from another district was tough, but I just gave it my all," Wyatt said. "And, well, I won. After doing so well at regionals when I was expected to really gave me a confidence boost. "I'm ready to go to states, get some more wins and surprise a few more people."