Mariakis

Facing the Madison County senior, who many felt was perhaps the favorite coming in the tournament, Mariakis led 4-0 after the first period and ended the second period up 8-3, but had to call for injury time after appearing to reaggravate his shoulder toward the end of the period.

After stretching the joint and tightening up his shoulder brace, the match went to the third period and Bond would finally get his offense going.

Bond scored a pair of takedowns, although Mariakis was able to get what became a very important escape point. Bond was given one point with 10 seconds to go as Mariakis was hit for stalling, but time expired before Bond could mount one final charge.

“I knew sooner or later that Jacob was going to come to a point where the lack of matches would catch up, lung-wise and strengthwise,” Keith Mariakis said. “It looked like he was going to have to hold on, but (Friday’s) semifinal match kind of set the tone that he was going to be OK if he got scored on. But he still held on. Sometimes, that’s all you can do, just hold on. Like Jacob said, this one was a relief.”

Jacob also gave credit to his older siblings, including Caleb Mariakis – a past state finalist for the Panthers - who currently wrestles for Reinhardt University at 141 pounds.

“It’s remarkable how much (wrestling with Caleb) has helped,” Jacob added. “He’s been helping me ever since I was eight years old. He’s always been there to practice with me and I couldn’t have gotten very far without him. He’s been a big blessing to me, along with all my brothers and my dad.”

Mariakis finished his shortened season with a perfect 22-0 record.