By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

BOONE — Don’t go looking for East Rowan graduate Oren John “OJ” Bost if you’re searching for false modesty.

Bost is a confident young man. There’s a reason he’s confident. He knows he’s put in the time and the sweat to be as good as he possibly can be.

“From the very beginning of this season, I knew I was capable of winning a state championship,” Bost said. “I knew how much work I’d put in, in the summer and in the winter. I felt like I had jumped a couple of levels from last year.”

The last time we checked in with Bost he’d just won a 3A Midwest Regional championship and had his heart and mind set on winning it all.

Today, he owns that elusive first state title. He’s the 3A king at 160 pounds.

Bost shares the Post’s Rowan County Wrestler of the Year Award with South Rowan’s 138-pound 2A state champ Jacob Cox.

While Bost sailed through regional competition, racking up three pins and a  technical fall, the state tournament promised to be a tougher challenge.

It was, but Bost rolled through it.

After a 17-1 tech fall and a 10-0 major decision, Bost squared off with Enka’s undefeated Tony Torres in the semifinals.

Prior to the tournament, half of the experts believed Torres was the man to beat in the bracket, but Bost was ready.

“I had wrestled him in the quarterfinals last season so I knew what he could do and what I needed to do,” Bost said. “He’s a really tough kid, but I was confident.”

Bost couldn’t get Torres on his back, but he took a 7-1 decision. Torres (26-1) would bounce back to win the third-place match.

Bost’s match for the title was against Chapel Hill’s Alexander Gunning.

“I had not faced him before, but I had the mindset of getting to my attacks early, and I accomplished that,” Bost said.

The result was another 7-1 decision. Gunning entered 27-1 and exited 27-2.

It was a dominant state performance by Bost. Some touted the 3A 160 bracket as one of the toughest in any of the championships, but Bost mauled four worthy opponents by a combined 41-3.

“I try to score as many points as I can, and I don’t like to give up any,” Bost said. “Even in the state tournament, I felt like I had worked myself to a level above the guys I was wrestling against. Lots of hard work paid off. It felt really good to win.”

Bost (26-1) came awfully close to a perfect season.

His lone setback came in early May to Mooresville’s Luke Goodin, who won the 4A state title at 160. Bost lost that match in a 3-2 decision.

“Lost it with about five seconds left,” Bost said.

But state titles are what people will remember 10 or 20 years from now. They can never take this one away from Bost.

Wrestling state championships are hard, and they’re special. Hunter Land (171) was East’s last state champ before Bost, and that was in 2002.

Bost is working this week at a camp at Appalachian State, the university that will provide the next stage for his wrestling career.

“I’m getting an early start on making that transition from high school to college,” he said.