North Rowan wrestling coach Tim Burns remembers standing up at the school’s athletic banquet talking about 145-pound Aaron Rimer, who was accepting the Coaches Award.

“I told them, ‘Aaron was second in the county, second in the conference, second in the regional and second in the state,’” Burns said. “All because of one person.

Thanks a lot, Willie Hosch.

Rimer, one of the standout Cavaliers this year, was second because he lost every one of those titles to Salisbury’s phenom.

But don’t think for a minute that Rimer was overlooked.

Mat News named him this week as an All-State wrestler, something that was definitely deserved.

Rimer finished with a sparkling 37-6 record. Of course, 37-2 looks great when you take away Willie.

The final score of their state 2A title match was 6-2.

Burns said before the season, Rimer looked at his competition, mainly at Central Carolina Conference rival Salisbury. He figured Dwayne Coward could go undefeated at 152 and Hosch could go undefeated at 140. So he went down a weight class to 145 and figured Rowan County had the chance to have three state champions.

Hosch tried to remain 140 but went up to 145, producing one of the state’s top rivalries.

Burns said Rimer should be proud.

“He’s a great kid who works real hard,” Burns said. “He’s a good leader. He was one of the oldest kids on the team so he set the tempo.

“Aaron’s just a good athlete. And he is a smart kid.”

Hopefully smart enough to know his season was one to remember, along with Hosch.