Shayne Brady was the first Carthage wrestler to ever make the state finals last year when he was the runner up at 170 pounds as a junior to Dan Spurgeon of Plainedge.

While he recognized the significance of the achievement, especially for his school’s alumni, he wasn’t totally satisfied.

“It meant a lot to all the former Carthage wrestlers because they know it takes a lot to get to the finals,” Brady said. “They were really to happy to see someone get that far.  But I really didn’t expect anything less than getting to the state finals.”

His run to the title bout didn’t go unnoticed.  Brady was recruited by a number of college wrestling programs and earlier this week gave his verbal pledge to North Carolina State, where he anticipates competing at 184 pounds.

“[NC State] has very good coaches and it is an up and coming program.  I really liked the team and the campus is a really nice place in a good location,” Brady said, explaining his decision to choose the Wolfpack over schools such as Maryland, Virginia and Brown as well some Division III programs.

Photo by Boris V

Since his silver medal showing in Albany, Brady has stayed active on the mat, participating in events such as the Journeymen Classic in late September and the prestigious Super 32 Challenge in October.

More than 50 New York wrestlers competed at the Super 32 in the high school division but Brady was the only Empire State representative to make the podium, as he took eighth at 182 pounds.

“I thought I had an up and down tournament,” he said. “I was recovering from mono so it made my matches a little more interesting.  I wasn’t really ok with my performance because my goal going in was to be at least top six and I fell short. But it was a good time and a tough tournament.”

Brady will remain at 182 for the upcoming campaign, where he has set his goals high.

“I want to be an undefeated state champion,” he said.

To get there, Brady said he has been focusing on a number of things.

“I’ve worked a lot on power and strength,” he said. “And also perfecting my technique and the moves that I do well instead of trying to add many more moves.”

He believes those improvements plus the experience he gained at the Times Union Center in February of 2012 will assist him his senior campaign in Section 3 and beyond.

“I was pretty happy with my performance last year at the state tournament,” he said. “But I was really nervous being in the state finals and it took a little bit of time to get over that.  I think that made the difference in that finals match.  I’ll be ready this year.”