Apollo-Ridge’s Michael Coleman, the school’s only wrestler, snagged a WPIAL bronze medal in a come-from-behind finish a few weeks ago. The junior said, down with 11 seconds left, "I was running out of time and had to go as fast and hard as I could.” Mike got a reverse to win the match and earned his first trip to States.

Coleman got interested in wrestling when he was seven years old. His neighbor's sons were in wrestling. If you have children, you know that at that age when one kid gets infected with something, soon all the kids his age get it. It was different with Mike. He caught the wrestling bug, and wound up wrestling with the Saltsburg Young Olympians. Mike is the son of Mike and Robin Coleman. Mike Sr. became his son's wrestling coach, and though Robin didn't tell me this, she probably serves as Mike's biggest cheerleader. She serves as the Cheerleading Coach at Apollo-Ridge.

Coleman, a junior, also plays football and runs track at Apollo-Ridge (he made it to WPIAL finals last year in the javelin), and plays baseball for the Young Twp. Senior Legion. He played Saltsburg Midget football until junior high. A B-student, Mike is looking into going into athletic training.

His own regimen of training has helped prepare him for the various championship level competitions he has been in. The schedule has included running twice a day, one mile before school and one and a half miles after practice in the evening. To be a champion, Mike says, "It's about desire. You have to want it, and practice hard."