State Champ Returns to School Tuesday

Lindbergh High School junior Michael Slyman took the state champion wrestling title Saturday in a 2-0 decision to beat Timberland's Jesse Freise, according to the Missouri State High School Activities Association website.

Slyman posted this on his Facebook wall shortly after winning: "STATE CHAMP BABY!!!!!!!!!!"

Slyman went into the three-day state championship tournament at Mizzou with just one loss for the season. His record stands at 36-1 for the season.

Slyman competed in the Class 4, 152-pound weight class, and won his title at around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday.

This was day three of the competition, which started out with only 112 of the 896 wrestlers who began the tourney. 

Slyman's father, also named Mike, is a former state champion wrestler from Lindbergh, where he now serves as the Flyers' athletic director. The elder Slyman dominated the high school wrestling scene in the 1970s, just as his son is doing now. He took second place in his junior year.

Earlier in the year, the new state champ spoke to Patch sportswriter B.J. Rains.

“Wrestling runs in the family. All of my uncles were wrestlers and they were pretty successful at it. I’ve been wrestling since I was 4 years old, so for like a good 13 years. It’s what I love to do," the young Slyman said.

Going into the season, the younger Slyman admitted he wanted to join his dad as a state champion. He gave his dad credit.

“It’s not good to admit, but he does get the best of me sometimes,” Michael said. “He’s pretty quick for an old guy.”

The elder Slyman said he was behind the scenes Saturday, talking to his son.

“I told him to just have fun,”  he said. “That made it nice. I know he was calm, and I was calm, too." 

The elder Slyman also praised his son's persistence in taking the top title.

“We set that goal at the beginning of the year, and he stayed on track,” the elder Slyman said. "It was awesome."

Lindbergh finished tied with Lafayette (Wildwood) for 13th place with 38.5 points.