From small town to big time is the best way to describe The Woodlands’ start wrestler Eric Spjut.

Though he wrestles in the 125-pound weight division, Spjut is in a class by himself. And with his many accomplishments and accolades, Spjut is this week’s College Ball or Bust.com Athlete of the Week.

Now with two state championships under his belt, Spjut proves on a daily basis that one main thing matters on the mat: winning.

“You have to always go into matches knowing you are going to win,” said Spjut, who finished with a 48-1 record. “You just have to have that winning mentality and even if the guy is better than you, you have to know you are going to win."

But it was quite evident that Spjut was the best wrestler in his weight class this past weekend at the state tournament in Austin. He came in with a 44-1 record and looked to build on that.

His first two matches were won by pin, while the final two were won by decisions. Either way, Spjut was dominant.

But coming in as the defending state champion usually brings a certain level of pressure. Whether it places a target on you for opponents to push for the upset or the pressure of living up the expectations of year’s past. Of course, none of these thoughts crossed Spjut’s mind going into the weekend.

“I think winning it (state) last year really took a lot of pressure off of me,” Spjut said. “So this year I just go in relaxed and just try to take care of business. But still, a lot of hard work goes into it.”

According to Spjut, he easily would have had a perfect undefeated season. But during a match he was winning, Spjut suffered a high ankle sprain and could not finish the match.

“I was winning the match pretty decisively, but I rolled my ankle (resulting in a high ankle sprain) so I couldn’t continue and lost by injury default,” Spjut said.

It all started when Spjut was in first grade. He started wrestling and found his niche. Now almost 10 years later, Spjut is a state and nationally ranked wrestler who still has one year of high school left.

“I started wrestling in a little town called Henderson (in East Texas)when I was seven,” Spjut said. “I really liked it and stayed with it. I kept working and setting goals for myself and tried to achieve them.”

Mission accomplished. Spjut is ranked No. 1 in Texas in his weight class. Nationwide, he is the No. 2 junior in the country and No. 6 overall (all classes). Next month, Spjut is headed to Virginia Beach for Junior Nationals.

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