Chandler High School graduate Heath Gray captured a national championship at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Tournament this past weekend in St. Louis, Mo.
With his parents Tony and Janice looking on, Gray won the individual national wrestling title at 184 pounds, completing an undefeated season that was shortened by COVID-19.
Gray was wrestling as a member of the University of Central Oklahoma Broncos and helped them finish sixth in the national team competition.
“It was a great feeling,” Gray commented earlier this week, in describing how he felt after winning the final match.
At the national tournament, the Chandler High School graduate had to wrestle three matches to make the finals and then the fourth and final match where he defeated Conner Craig of West Liberty, a university in West Virginia, he said. Gray said he had never wrestled Craig previously.
“It validated all the hard work and time spent and made it all worthwhile,” he added.
“I felt I was the best wrestler, but I had to go wrestle like it. I knew if I wrestled like I should, things would work out,” he said.
Gray pointed out, “I do hold the all-time most winningest record in UCO history. I have a 95 percent winning record and the previous record holder was at 89 percent,” he noted.
His overall college record at UCO is 92-4. He was the NWCA National Wrestler of the Year in 2020.
He has a 41-win match streak since the fall of 2019. In addition to being the 184-pound Division II National Champion, Gray is also the Regional Champion as well.
Gray called this year “A very untraditional season,” pointing to the COVID. “We arrived at the national tournament on Wednesday and we were tested every day,” he stressed.
Gray is a three-time All-American and the No. 1 ranked 184-pounder in Division II for two years running.
“I was 13-0 on a shortened season and that was due to COVID-19. I wasn’t taken down in any of those matches,” he said proudly.
He noted as a junior last year he made the national tournament but didn’t have a chance to compete. “They canceled the tournament just before it was about to start because of COVID,” he said.
Gray said during his high school career he was a threetime state placer and he won the state championship in 2015 wrestling at 160 pounds.
Asked what was next for him, Gray replied, “I’m still eligible for one more year due to COVID-19. But I haven’t made my mind up yet.”
He anticipates within the next month or so he will decide. “There is nothing set in stone. I’m really happy we were able to have a season this year,” he said.