BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
Instagram: stickradtdan
AUBURN HILLS — Weighing in at around 110 pounds, Mitchel Christensen came to the realization that football was not in his cards.
He was just too tiny to make an impact in that sport.
A standout wrestler at Essexville-Garber, he realized in the summer that his best sport was wrestling and he opted to put most of his focus into that sport.
It paid off for Christensen March 4 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
A junior, Christensen posted a 49-2 record this season and he capped off the 2016-17 campaign with a 8-3 victory over Perry’s Anthony Gallagher in the Division 3 112-pound title bout
Gallagher, a senior with a 48-3 record, was the reigning state champ.
“I’ve dreamt about this since I was a kid. But I didn’t think I could really do it this year,” admitted Christensen, who qualified as a sophomore but did not place. “Once I got here and started winning and reached the finals, I knew I could do it. I had to just trust myself, trust my (skills) and wrestle the way I have all season. I knew if I could just wrestle six perfect minutes that I would be fine.”
As for giving up football?
“Everyone grows up watching it on TV, but I realized that it wasn’t what I was going to be really good at. It’s not like I was going to play college football,” offered Christensen. “Now wrestling, I have a shot at wrestling in college. That’s where I have my best shot.”