GREENSBORO — Jaden McClary spent a full year fueled by the disappointment of finishing third in the 285-pound weight class in the 2024 North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2-A state wrestling championships. 

Twelve months later, on Monday evening, McClary transformed disappointment into triumph as he walked out of First Horizon Coliseum as Goldsboro High School’s first wrestling state champion since Prentice Smith finished first in the 103-pound weight class in 1988. 

In the 1960s and 70s, Goldsboro was a once proud and at times, dominant high school wrestling program. 

McClary’s state championship remarkably comes in just the third season since the Cougars reinstated their wrestling program. 

Finishing third in the state championships as a sophomore in 2024 was a bitter pill for McClary to swallow. 

Rather than resting in his disappointment, McClary intensified his workout regimen, became more aggressive on the mat, and no longer waited for opponents to make a mistake, but instead, took the fight to them. 

“His work ethic changed,” said Cougars’ head coach James Sherrill. “He would come to the practices and he did everything I asked him to do. But over the summer, he was doing two-a-day’s on top of football practice, he was hitting the weight room, and he was doing things we weren’t asking him to do. He was asking what else he could do. Jaden became a very autonomous athlete as far as taking responsibility for what he needed to do, and not just being told.”

The result was a final record of 31-2 and a trip back to Greensboro and a shot at redemption and that elusive state championship. 

“When I placed third last year it hurt,” McClary said. “My mentality just switched knowing I didn’t have a choice but to come in first this year. It was just a flip of a switch knowing I had to do more. I learned from my mistakes and knowing if I wait for my opponent to make a mistake and react to what they’re doing, it’s not going to work anymore.”

McClary won his first two matches in Greensboro in a combined time of 75 seconds.

He defeated a returning state champion in the semifinals, before facing a familiar foe in the state finals. 

McClary and McMichael’s Michael Vazquez met in the third place match in 2024. 

McClary defeated Vazquez by pin fall at the 2:50 mark to realize his dream of becoming a state champion, making the 12-month journey fueled by disappointment more than worth the wait. 

“To be truly honest, I was nervous,” McClary said. “I knew what had to be done. I knew who I was doing it for, but knowing I had my family behind me, coaches, friends and people watching from home, and watching from different parts of North Carolina, I knew what had to be done. My body was shaking a little bit, but I knew what had to be done.”

Sherrill received an enthusiastic embrace from his triumphant wrestler, along with a toss to the mat that he welcomed given McClary’s long-awaited accomplishment. 

“It’s one of the most beautiful feelings you can have,” Sherrill said. “When you can see the fruits of his labor come to fruition. You can see the work, you can see the heartbreak, you can see the highs and lows all come into one. He came over and he gave me the biggest hug. Then he came back over and he lap dropped me on to the mat, which is kind of something they do. He won the state championship, so he got to throw the old coach.”

For McClary and Sherrill, the opportunity to bask in the glory of a state championship a year in the making will admittedly be short lived. 

The desire to return to Greensboro and have McClary repeat as a state champion next year as a senior has already started to serve as fuel to move beyond any lingering celebrations. 

At the same time, McClary realizes his legacy won’t ultimately be defined merely by state championships, but by the equally important impact he leaves on future generations to pass through a program still in the infancy stages of returning to a once storied past. 

“I don’t want wrestling at Goldsboro High School to just go up in dust,” McClary said. “I was well aware that we haven’t had a state champion in a very long time. We have a banner in the gym, and I had to make something happen to bring a state championship back to our school. I think this will open a lot of people’s eyes. I was walking through the school today, and people were telling me they wanted to wrestle now that they see what can be done. It does take time to get good at what you do, and improve on what you’re doing. This has opened people’s eyes to what wrestling is.”