The junior wrestler always wants to win, but when it comes to the Joshua Hephner Memorial Tournament, which is in honor of the former Fitch wrestler and hosted by the Falcons, and — of course — the state tournament, Roberts wants to be at his best.

One down. One to go.

Roberts was the 126-pound champion at the Hephner on Saturday, a two-day event that brings some of the state’s stronger teams to Fitch High School. Roberts went 8-0 and improved to 33-3 on the season.

“It’s everything,” he said of the Hephner. “Just the whole atmosphere — bringing everybody in, bringing the community together.”

Staff photo / Joe Simon Fitch’s Colin Roberts, above, controls Copley’s Canyon Wells during Saturday’s championship match.

The two-time state qualifier, along with the rest of the Falcons, gave the crowd a thrill.

Roberts beat Canyon Wells of Copley (ranked No. 6 in the state in Division II) in the championship match, 6-4, to lead Fitch to a team championship. The Falcons scored 276 points to edge second-place Mayfield (264) and North Royalton (262), which took third.

Roberts secured three first-period takedowns to take a commanding lead and held on for the victory. He was named MVP of the tournament as well.

After coming up short of placing at the state tournament last year, Roberts has focused on building a better mental focus. He admitted he used to look at online rankings and was intimidated if he wrestled some of the top-rated wrestlers.

“Over the years, I’ve pushed that aside,” said Roberts, who is ranked No. 13 in Division I, according to Borofan.net, “but it’s definitely something that still gets in my head.”

While he’s still working on that aspect, he has improved another.

Part of the reason he locked up three takedowns in the first period against Wells was to instill doubt into the mind of his opponent. After securing a takedown, he would let Wells escape, so he could again take him down. The tactic can often defeat the confidence of an opponent, he said, and give him more of an edge.

“When somebody lets you up, it’s breaking them (mentally),” he said. “It’s really emotional. I feel like that’s something I take pride in is wearing a guy down and knowing that I’m more mentally tough.”

Roberts has been on the other side of those situations as well, and that’s another part of his mentality he is intent on improving.

Roberts was pinned earlier in the season by Louisville’s Garrett Lautzenheiser, a returning Division II state champion. Roberts hasn’t been pinned many times in his career, so it was a tough blow to endure for one of the state’s best 126-pound competitors.

Fitch coach John Burd said it was after that match he found out what type of wrestler Roberts wants to become.

“That moment was a moment for him to reflect on where he’s been making mistakes and what he needed to do better,” Burd said. “Instantly, in the next week of practice, we made a few adjustments in how we were drilling, things we were doing, and in the last few weeks, you’ve seen those changes occur. His pace, his toughness, his forward motion just gets better and better each time.”

Those are the types of scenarios that may have weakened his confidence in the past. Now he’s using them to find his flaws, Burd said.

It’s next step in the maturation process for Roberts, who is determined to become a state placer as a junior.

“The mental part of the sport, it’s the hardest one to get, and once you get it, you start slowing the match down in your head, and then it becomes just you wrestling,” Burd said. “That’s when you’re able to get to the next level. Colin’s been able to slow the match down, learning how to win positions and feel comfortable in tough situations.

“The key, though, is for him not to get too comfortable in tough situations,” he added, “because down the stretch he has to be able to fight a little harder. Right now he feels comfortable wherever he’s at. We’ve just got to keep working and keep getting better in those situations.”

He took a step in the right direction Saturday.