By Carlton D. White

cwhite@mdjonline.com

Kennesaw Mountain's Ryan Maus improved as a wrestler every year he stepped on the mat.

Starting out as a 5-foot-4, 95-pound freshman, he wrestled in the 103-pound weight class and qualified for the state tournament. He then lifted weights that summer to get bigger and wrestled at 112 as a sophomore, where he placed fourth in the state.

A growth spurt between his sophomore and junior years saw Maus mature into a 5-foot-11, 130-pound wrestler, but his skills never diminished. An Area 5AAAAA champion, he finished as a runner-up in his weight class at the state championships, and went into his senior season not realizing that the best was yet to come.

Everything came together for Maus, who earned a 55-1 record this season. He won the county title at 140 pounds and won at the McCallie (Tenn.) Invitational, one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the Southeast.

Maus added an Area 5AAAAA title for the second consecutive season and wrapped his career as Cobb County's only state champion after he won the Class AAAAA title at 135 pounds.

In four seasons, Maus did it all as a four-time state qualifier, a three-time state placer, a two-time state finalist and a state champion. For his outstanding season, Maus is the 2009-10 Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Wrestler of the Year.

"I never thought I'd even be in this position - ever," Maus said of the honor. "I never thought I'd be the only state champion from Cobb County, for that matter, either. There are so many good wrestlers here - we usually have about two or three champions a year.

"I've had a bunch of people congratulate me on it. I still can't believe it."

After playing baseball as a child, Maus began wrestling after learning that his father, Jim, was involved in the sport in high school.

"My dad got me into it," he said."I stayed with it because I liked competition. I strive to be the best, and wrestling was a good sport to do that in. I've just been focusing on getting better and better every year since I started."

Maus' dedication to wrestling, and to the Kennesaw Mountain program, helped him finish with a 215-35 record for his career, which is expected to continue collegiately at Truman State University in Missouri.

"Ryan's been a huge part of our program the last four years at Kennesaw Mountain," Mustangs coach Roberto Rivera said. "He's been one of the ones that, when he steps on the mat, you can almost guarantee a win for our team. Every year he's gotten better, and has been one of the toughest competitors I've every coached. Without him, it would have been very difficult for us to do the things we've done here at Kennesaw Mountain the last four years.

"You can't replace Ryan, but hope that, through his hard work, he has motivated someone else to achieve the success that he has had."

Maus' feelings toward his coach we mutual.

"I don't know where I'd be without (coach Rivera)," he said. "He's a great coach, and he's the reason I've gotten this far. I've tried to be dedicated to the sport the best I could, but he pushed me to achieve my full potential. He's the biggest reason I'm a state champion."