Sliga, a 12-year-old from Fishers, was the only Indiana wrestler to win the triple crown, with championships in his USA Wrestling age group in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco Roman events. He won the folkstyle title in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in April and the Greco Roman and freestyle championships July 5-7 in Green Bay, Wis.

"The first thing that stood out about Mitch is, practice would be over and we'd say, 'Have a good day,' and he'd still be here," said Ed Pendoski, who runs CIA Wrestling on the Eastside of Indianapolis. "Fifteen minutes later, we'd have to kick him out. He's the best guy in the country in his weight class and he comes back with stuff he has to work on."

Chris Sliga, Mitch's father, signed up his older son, Brad, for wrestling six years ago and included the 6-year-old Mitch almost as an afterthought. It took Sliga a couple of tournaments to figure out his techniques but he won state titles in folkstyle and freestyle his first year in the sport. Brad is no longer competing and Mitch, who now wrestles at 130 pounds, has won his second triple crown. He won all three titles when he was 10, also.
He didn't complete the triple crown without some suspense. Sliga had already won the Greco Roman and folkstyle titles when he lost 8-0 in the first match of the best two-out-of-three freestyle event. But he rebounded to win the final two matches 8-0 and 7-0.

"I had a really tough match," said Sliga, who hopes to wrestle in college. "(Losing the first match) was a wake-up (call) to let me know I had to go harder to win. Mainly (I enjoy wrestling) because of the competition and the hard work you have to put in. I enjoy it and I know I have to work hard to win."
Sliga, who will enter the seventh grade at Fishers Intermediate School this fall, has turned his immediate attention to football. Wrestling has primarily been a winter and spring activity but Chris Sliga, who wrestled in high school, said his son will begin wrestling year-round as he gets older.

"Mitch has got a lot of God-given talent and it's be real easy for him to say, 'I'm one of the best in the country, why push myself?' " Pendoski said. "He could win just on talent. But he stays after and works, doing push-ups and sit-ups every day to get stronger. He attacks his training."

Congratulations Mitch!