COLUMBUS — Novelist and poet Langston Hughes once wrote, ‘A dream deferred is a dream denied.’

Pastor R.L. White of Atlanta turned that around and said, ‘A dream delayed is not a dream denied.’

Hopefully, the two young men competing at State this past weekend will realize the latter sentiment and not the former.

Two high school wrestlers from Fayette County advanced from the first day to the second day of the 87th annual State wrestling tournament Saturday, March 9 in Columbus.

They both suffered a loss in their matches on Saturday that brought their respective seasons to an end.

It is not the end of a dream, however, for either student-athlete.

At 120 pounds, Miami Trace junior Lyric Dickerson lost a 7-3 decision to senior Alex Gonzales of Napoleon.

Gonzalez went on to place fifth at State, ending the season with a record of 46-13.

At 150 pounds, Washington sophomore Malachi McCullough lost a 5-1 decision to junior Luke Kaiser of Athens.

Kaiser ended up on the podium in eighth place, finishing his season at 48-6.

Dickerson went 1-2 at this year’s State tournament and ended the season with a record of 44-8.

McCullough went 1-2 at State and finished the year with a mark of 25-13.

Miami Trace assistant coach Jacob Garringer spoke after Dickerson’s final match Saturday afternoon.

“Lyric came out looking really good, pressuring (Gonzalez),” Garringer said. “Doing what Lyric does best. He looked to have a little more confidence going.

“He came out, really aggressive,” Garringer said. “It was zero-zero at the end of the first period.

“We go to the second period, it was our choice and we chose down,” Garringer said. “We knew the kid was decent on top. We were moving pretty well down there, but, he just caught us with two cradles, put us to our back twice. When you go down 6-0 at this level, it’s tough to come back.

“In the third period, (Gonzalez) chose top on us,” Garringer said. “We got an escape and a takedown to make it 6-3. We got a (one-point) penalty. Lyric got a little too aggressive on top. We just couldn’t quite turn him and do what we needed to do there at the end.”

The turning point was the second period, Garringer said.

“It’s hard for Lyric, this is his third time here,” Garringer said. “I know he has goals. He’s come up a little bit short for the third time. It hurts a little more.

“Hopefully this motivates him a little more and he’s ready to roll this off-season,” Garringer said. “We’ve got to get better. If you’re not accomplishing your goals, you’ve got to get better.

“It just comes down to one or two situations in these matches,” Garringer said. “Tight matches like this. Lyric’s match there — (in) two situations we give up six points. The rest of the match, we controlled.

“It’s just the way it goes,” Garringer said. “Maximize and minimize, we talk about that in the room a little bit. If bad things start happening, you minimize. Then you start getting on your offense and maximize and get back in the match.”

“I didn’t really wrestle my best, but I’m still not totally disappointed because I had a good season and made it to state,” Dickerson said. “I am going to put the state tournament behind me and keep moving forward and get back to work.”

As for the match against Gonzalez, Dickerson said, “Even though the score did not show it, it was probably the best match I wrestled during the state tournament.”

Goals for next season

“Next year I definitely want to be on the podium at state,” Dickerson said. “To make the podium, I feel that I need to break through the mental barrier because I know I have the skills to succeed at that level. I need to get past the mental block and believe in myself.”

“Mojo (McCullough’s nickname) had a big goal of getting here and getting on the podium,” Washington head coach Louis Reid said. “Obviously, he achieved that, making it here to State as a sophomore.

“Sometimes when kids get up here for the first time, they get nervous,” Reid said. “That’s not the case with Mojo. He was ready. He had a goal and you could see it the first time he stepped on the mat to wrestle the two-time State champ from Columbus Watterson.

“He wrestled him tough,” Reid said. “We didn’t get pinned, we didn’t get tech-falled (a 15-point differential). He said that was one of his goals. In each match he definitely had a goal.

“In his (second) match, he wanted to get the win to get to today (Saturday),” Reid said. “He won in overtime, he looked really good. He was pushing the pace.

“Then we came up just short against the kid from Athens,” Reid said. “Luke Kaiser from Athens is a very tough kid. It’s our fourth time wrestling him; we’ve always been close. So, we knew it was going to be a close match; we knew it was a winnable match.

“We were right there in it, right until the end,” Reid said. “Couldn’t get that take-down. If you look at what Mojo’s accomplished, he has accomplished some great things this year as a sophomore. He’s a league champion. He made it to the Districts for the second year in a row. He went a lot deeper, placing fourth at the Districts to become a State-qualifier. He won a match up here in his first time at State.

“He has high expectations for himself,” Reid said. “Last summer he did a lot of off-season training. I’m sure this (summer) will be no different. I know he’s already thinking ahead to the future. I know he’s upset with how he did because he didn’t get on the podium.

“We are very proud of how he finished,” Reid said. “Obviously, we’re disappointed he didn’t get on the podium, but we’re proud of how he did.

“He’s been focused all year,” Reid said. “When he said he was going to State, we believed that, and, he wrestled like that all year. It’s something, when he has a chance to reflect on it, he can sit back and say, ‘man, I really did have a good year.’ It’s okay to be upset, but, he’s got two more years to get back and get on that podium and place really high.

“I can see him being a high-level placer,” Reid said of McCullough, who has been wrestling since he was in kindergarten.

“He’s going to continue to get better, we definitely know,” Reid said.

“There was a lot going into that match (against Kaiser),” McCullough said. “I knew I had to (defeat Kaiser) to place. I knew he was a tough opponent.”

Looking to the future

“I just have to do a lot more off-season work,” McCullough said. “I think I’ll be fine for this tournament next year. I just have to practice in the off-season more.

“I thank all my coaches and my school for supporting me through this,” McCullough said. “My coaches really helped me out.

“My goals for next year? I definitely want to place,” McCullough said. “I’ll definitely be back and I think I can place for sure next year.”