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Ê MANCELONA - Cody Sehl got an eye-opener at the regional tournament when he was put on his back for the first time this season.

He recovered quickly, scored an escape and forged a hard-earned 8-6 decision in the championship match at 285 pounds.

The Mancelona senior takes a 50-0 record into the state finals beginning Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

But he didn't clinch the win until three seconds remaining in the third period.

"It wasn't my best match, but it wasn't horrible," Sehl said. "I wrestled decent. I wrestled until the whistle blew, pretty much."

This was despite finding himself on his back for the first time.

Remaining calm, he worked his way out of the jam to take the win and advance to the state finals.

He went over to Manton last Monday to work out with the Rangers, especially Brandon Norman.

"These guys are tough," Sehl said. "I got it handed to me, but they taught me a lot. Those guys are going to be tougher and bigger down there (state finals), and I just have to wrestle my match.

"I kind of wrestled the Iron Mountain kid's match. I didn't wrestle my match and the way I wrestle. If I keep working hard, I think I'll be ready." Sehl, the school's all-time career wins leader, is not only on a mission for himself, but the memory of his deceased grandfather.

Losing his grandfather on the eve of the Northern Michigan Championships was obviously hard on Sehl, but he perservered to win the title.

He's looking to finish his career with an undefeated senior season and a state championship.

"I want to do this for myself, because this is what I've been striving for," Sehl said last Monday night after working out at Manton High School. "He (his grandfather) is going to be on my mind the whole time while I'm down there wrestling."

Coach Edward Schmidt is confident Sehl will be as prepared as he can be for the state finals.

And he agreed that Sehl problems finishing off his Iron Mountain opponent in the regional final will serve as a motivator at state. Sehl had a 6-1 lead at one point, but then re-positioned himself ... and that caused him to get rolled.

But he made it through, and that's the bottom line.

"Sometimes, you learn more from your mistakes than anything else," Schmidt said. "I think he learned something real well there.

"You don't see him on his back very often. I know I haven't. I think he's ready. My personal feeling is he out-wrestled the Iron Mountain wrestler.

"Points were close at the end because of what happened. But, he was the busier of the two wrestlers. He had a pretty good opportunity to end it with about a minute left in the third period.

"That's all part of wrestling. But, he wrestled well. Anytime you're tied or you're down and you have to come back, and you can pull it off before the end of the time.

"When you know what you need to do, and you can do that ... that's the sign of a pretty good wrestler."

Getting a test in the regional final should also give Sehl a healthy respect for his opponents at state.

He's been polishing some things up since.

"But he he's focused, and he's ready," Schmidt said. "He's waited for this a long time. I have a lot of confidence in him."