A pair of Lexington County youth wrestlers recently had the opportunity to compete on one of the country's biggest stages. 

This past weekend, Eli “Baby Atlas” Franklin and Prince “The Fresh Prince” Collins represented Lexington’s Mighty Warriors Wrestling Academy at the Tulsa Nationals in Oklahoma. The pair excelled on the mat, with both boys winning the national championship in their 6u weight class. 

The Tulsa Nationals is a major event for young wrestlers across the United States. The tournament is hosted by the World of Wrestling, an organization dedicated to the promotion of America’s youth and the great sport of wrestling.

Tulsa’s tournament has divisions for both boys and girls, with five different age groups starting at 6u all the way up to 15u.

Franklin and Collins put on a dominant display en route to their championship matches. 

In his first match of the tournament, Franklin pinned his opponent in just 11 seconds. Matches two and three also ended in pins less than two minutes in. 

During the semifinal round, Franklin was unable to pin his opponent, but he built a big enough advantage to earn a 22-4 win by technical fall.

Franklin finished the tournament in the championship match. There, he did not hesitate to take care of business, pinning his foe in 36 seconds. 

He was so dominant throughout the entire tournament that he was named the 6u Most Outstanding Wrestler. 

Collins’ competition also stood no chance. 

He had a long first match, but was ultimately able to gut out a 24-15 win by major decision. From there, it was no contest. 

Collins won his second match after pinning his opponent 34 seconds into the match. In the semifinal, he won by technical fall after going up 15-0.

His championship match lasted a little over two minutes before he won by a pin. 

Collins conceded no points to his competition during his final three matches. 

When the final scores were all tallied, Franklin and Collins’ combined efforts were enough to win the 6u team championship.

The Mighty Warriors wrestlers finished first out of 123 teams.