For Fairfield junior Demarco Davis, all the extra work has paid off so far.

The summer spent on the mat instead of being out with friends, even that 11-hour ride to Fargo, N.D., for nationals trapped in a van with eight other wrestlers … it’s all paying dividends.

Davis had moved within one match of advancing to the state tournament last season only to run into a 14-1 buzzsaw loss to Butler’s Josh Heidkamp. Unable to regroup in time, Davis fell in the fifth-place match to finish sixth.

It was a loss that drove him all summer and it didn’t help matters that Davis was on the same summer wrestling team as Heidkamp.

“It’s been killing me,” Davis said of the loss after beating Heidkamp in the 113 finals at the Fairfield Invitational to improve to 17-6. “I wrestled with him all summer. It helped me get a better experience.”

Shoes remain the same: Ross 195-pounder Tyler Bridwell is easy to pick out.

Look for the hot pink wrestling shoes.

“My girlfriend bought them for me,” Bridwell said. “I decided I would wear them.”

The girlfriend is now an ex, but the hot pink shoes live on.

“We broke up, but the shoes are good luck,” said Bridwell, who improved to 22-1 after winning the Fairfield Invitational.

On hold for now: The Division I showdown between Greater Miami Valley Conference heavyweights Centerville and Fairmont was slated to take place Thursday night, but was postponed due to what officials said were “skin issues.”

“Stuff happens and out of concern for our kids, we’ve decided to postpone the match,” Fairmont coach Frank Baxter said. “Hopefully we can reschedule it.”

The two may meet along the way in the state team tournament as both are in Region 7.

Welcome to the club: Fairfield’s Adam Sams and Dayton Christian’s Jacob Danishek recently joined the 100-win club.

Danishek, the Crusaders’ two-time state champ, reached 100 wins in his junior year with a first-round win at Brecksville. Sams reached the club with a 2-1 win in the semis at the Fairfield Invitational.

Danishek’s teammate and classmate Christian Clary is on the cusp of joining the club, sitting at 99 wins heading into the weekend.

Back in form: Middletown’s Latrell Davis is feeling – and looking – more like he did as a sophomore after a disappointing junior season.

Davis, who missed the Holiday due to the flu, is 10-2, falling in the finals of the Coaches Classic and Fairfield Invitationals in overtime.

“I ended my sophomore year the right way, and it is like my senior year is picking up where my sophomore year ended up,” Davis said. “Every day I feel like I have something to prove. I didn’t like the way I looked at the end of last season, and that is how some people remember me. I have to prove it to everybody this year and go out with a bang.

Blair tops Graham: Graham got an early lead on Blair, but couldn’t hold on, dropping the last five weight classes to fall 37-25 on Jan. 5.

Graham got wins from Eli Stickley (106), Eli Seipel (113), Micah Jordan (126), Alex Marinelli (152) and Bo Jordan (160) for a 25-16 lead, but Blair out-scored the Falcons 21-0 from 170-285 to take the win.