CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- The end of his prep wrestling career had yet to really sink in Monday afternoon when Zach Watson entered the Baylor wrestling room.
Luckily, the Red Raiders' senior already had plans for the day, as well as the future beyond.
"It's weird to think that I'll never go through another real, in-season practice here," Watson said before heading to a workout at DI Sports Training on Gunbarrell Road. "I'm so thankful I'll be wrestling in college. If I wasn't, I don't know what I'd do with my time."
The University of Virginia signee has certainly made the most of his time at Baylor.
Watson capped his career in historic fashion on Saturday, earning a 4-0 decision over Christian Brothers' Tate Robinson in the Division II 126-pound final to secure his fifth career TSSAA individual championship.
The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on Watson, who won his first state title at 106 pounds in eighth grade. Not one to have trouble controlling his nerves before big matches, Watson admitted he did a lot of throwing up and stressing in the hours leading up to the match.
"I was trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal and there wasn't any pressure on me, but I definitely felt it," he said, noting many blamed his nausea on a bigger-than-usual breakfast Saturday morning. ""It was definitely one of the toughest title matches I've had at state. Tate was a great opponent. I was exhausted and just relieved at the same time when it was over.
"I guess it still hadn't really hit me yet that it's over until about right now."
Watson joins McCallie's T.J. Duncan as the only five-time state champions in Tennessee high school history. Duncan became the first grappler to achieve the feat in the Volunteer State last year.
Watson isn't disappointed his Blue Tornado rival got there first. In fact, he is thankful Duncan paved the way.
"It kind of took the pressure off me a little bit," Watson said with a smile. "It was nice there wasn't everyone talking about how I would be the first one to ever do it and all that extra build-up of pressure.
"So it helped that somebody had done it before, but it is still really cool that there aren't that many."
Now it's on to the next big thing.
Watson already has his sights set on college goals to achieve at Virginia.
He expects to redshirt his first season with the Cavaliers, but that only gives him higher expectations for the future. He paid his dues and grew up fast at one of the top prep wrestling programs in the country, now he aims to do the same on the college level.
"High school to college is such a huge jump, but I'll be with guys in that wrestling room that are so accomplished that I'll be able to learn a lot from letting them beat up on me," he said. "Just practicing with guys that are that much better than me will raise my skill level and make me tighter technically.
"Hopefully it will help me win an NCAA Championship, or if not be an All-American, at least. That's the next step."
Baylor's Zach Watson is just the second wrestler in Tennessee state history to win five state titles. (Photo courtesy of our media partners at the Times Free Press).
