Wrester of the Year - Neil Erisman - Senior - De Soto - 171 pounds.

The Class 4A state wrestling tournament served as a personal house of horrors for Neil Erisman during his first three seasons at De Soto High.

During that span, Erisman lost just four matches in his varsity wrestling career. Three of them came on the grand stage in Salina, including a pair of championship showdowns — as a 145-pound freshman and a 152-pound junior.

So it’s no surprise that two emotions — joy and relief — battled for supremacy earlier htis month when the bulked-up 171-pounder took care of business in his final attempt, finishing off a dominating run through the bracket with a major decision in the state-title match.

“It was pretty awesome. It was the most exciting moment I’ve had in my life so far,” Ericsman said.

“I didn’t have to go through the pain and the agony I went thrugh the three years before that,” he added. “It was a great feeling overall.”

Erisman’s feat made him the lone area state champion this winter. It also makes him the All-Area Wrestler of the Year.

With his dominating performance in his Salina swan song, the Oklahoma State signee put the wraps on a 46-1 season and closed out his high school career with a 151-5 mark.

The lone loss — in the finals of the Baldwin Invitational Tournament in late January — may have ultimately been the deciding factor in Erisman’s ability to finally conquer his state tournament demons four weeks later.

“I felt like that loss showed me a lot on what I need to work on,” said Erisman of the 3-2 defeat to Oak Park (Mo.) grappler Brent Hayes. “It exposed my weaknesses and also some of my strengths. It was a good experience.”

Erisman didn’t have to worry about any such nip-and-tuck affairs once he arrived at state, using a pin, a technical fall and a 7-2 decision to reach the title match against Atchison’s Dustin Bartlett.

Determined to add a gold medal to his already impressive haul, Erisman took immediate control and closed out a 13-4 major decision to seal his fate as a state champ.

“The fact that I got to go out like that … it was the exact match I wanted to wrestle,” Erisman said. “It was an incredible feeling.”

It also provided a fitting final memory for those in the De Soto program who have come in contact with Erisman the last four winters.

“It’s been pretty great working with Neil, just to get to know him as a person, not just the wrestling part of it,” said De Soto coach Matt Jones, who joined the program as an assistant during Erisman’s freshman year before becoming the head coach the next season.

“It was neat watching him grow up over four years.”

Jones credited Erisman’s tireless work ethic and desire to add a new facet to his game each year as the primary reasons for his pupil’s consistent body of work over four seasons.

A body of work that will be tough for future Wildcats to match.

“Neil set darn near every record that we have,” Jones said. “He’s set the bar and he’s set it very, very high.”