The Fighting Knights are sending a state champ to the Big 12.

David Bell/News-Herald Photo. Fighting Knights wrestler Brandon Horton, seated, is joined Thursday at Lake Havasu High School by Athletic Director Roger Burger, left, and Knights wrestling Coach Alex Ruiz in committing to join the Iowa State wrestling team next year. Horton, an All-American wrestler, holds or shares nine school records and is a two-time state champion.

All-American wrestler Brandon Horton has signed a letter of intent to wrestle for Division I Iowa State, one of the biggest wrestling schools in the nation.

“When I visited there, I fell in love with the school,” Horton said. “They have a great coach and a great engineering program, which is the thing I was most interested in.”

Horton is not getting an athletic scholarship — college wrestling programs get very few of the schools’ scholarships, and those few are usually reserved for upper classmen — but he is getting half his tuition paid by the school, thanks to an academic scholarship.

He said he will red shirt his freshman year.

“Practice is going to be at a higher level,” he said. “Everybody is a state champion.”

Horton is a two-time state champion, winning the 103-pound title his freshman year and going 53-0 in winning the 130-pound championship his senior year. He was named an All-State Wrestler every year of his high school career, won a regional title three times and holds or shares nine school records including winningest wrestler in school history (160-11), most pins in a season (38) and most pins in a career (117).

“The thing that stands out for me was being named an All-American. I didn’t think I’d get that,” Horton said. “But if you put in enough work, it works out.”

Horton’s high school coach Alex Ruiz said the chance to wrestle at such a high collegiate level is not only good for Brandon, but for the Fighting Knights as well.

“It’s huge. It shows the kids that if they work hard they can achieve that level,” Ruiz said. “That it’s not just a dream anymore to get to a Division I school, it’s a reality. It’s opened some eyes.”

Horton is the eighth 2009 LHHS graduate to commit to playing collegiate sports. Football players Brent Michaels, Cody Smith, Marc Piacitelli and Donald Mull and softball players Meg Smith and Lindsay Drayer have all signed letters of intent to play Division I or Division II ball. And DeAndre Kocsis has committed to playing baseball for an Illinois community college.

You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com.