The Fairfield High School wrestling team finished runner-up to Mason at the Greater Miami Conference wrestling championships for the second year in a row Saturday night at Lakota East, but the Indians did manage to bring home a pair of individual titles.

One was a surprise. The other was anything but.

Senior Adam Sams beat Mason’s Jordan Collins 13-6 to win the 138-pound title for his third conference championship in four tries.

“This means a lot because there are very few guys from Fairfield who have won four, so getting three is a big deal,” said Sams, who ran his career win total to 110, leaving him seven behind his brother Austin for fifth place on the school’s all-time list.

“It definitely would be a big deal to pass him and have bragging rights for the rest of our lives at all the Thanksgiving dinners and what not,” he added.

Next week Sams will have a chance to join current Indians assistant coach Jason Laflin as the only Fairfield wrestlers to win four sectional championships.

But whereas Sams’ career is winding down, Austin Sper’s is just getting started. The Tribe freshman had not even placed in a tournament this year, but he pinned Oak Hills’ Dylan Roth in 1:07 to capture the 113-pound championship.

“I won GMCs in seventh and eighth grade, so I really wanted to do it as a freshman, too,” said Sper, who was one of 14 first-time conference champions crowned.

Other locals taking home their first GMC titles were junior Kevin Leonhardt (145) and freshman Drew Fenton (170) from Lakota West, and Lakota East seniors Austin Daly (113) and Jacob Burton (285).

“It feels great to finally get one,” Daly said after finishing third as a junior and second as a sophomore.

“We have GMC, sectional, district and state champ boards in our room, and I want to be on every board. This is the first step. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Daly edged Fairfield’s Greysun Barden, another senior and two-time state qualifier who was looking for his first league championship, 3-2.

Burton also scored a 3-2 victory in the championship, beating Mason’s Adam Quick to help the Thunderhawks secure a fourth-place finish.

“I’m never going to be satisfied with fourth place, but I thought today we really closed the gap,” East coach Jim Lehman said. “A lot of our guys closed the gap on guys who had previously dominated them. They went from being pinned or majored to one- or two-point matches.”

Lakota West edged Colerain by one point for fifth place, and Fenton was a big reason as defeated Sycamore’s Ryan Gaffney 5-1 in the finals.

“He’s a freshman at an upper weight who was barely above .500 (16-12) coming into this,” Firebirds coach Brennan Ryan said. “At the varsity level at upper weights, you’re wrestling men, body wise and attitude wise. That was impressive, especially because he’s been out the last two weeks with a sprained AC joint. This was his first week back, and he barely made weight.”

Lakota East’s Justin Brown finished second at 132, and Michael Plunkett (182) and Stephen Ludwig (195) joined Barden as runners-up for Fairfield.

“I thought the kids did a good job,” Indians coach Ron Masanek said. “We had eight placers, two champions and three seconds. The kids fought hard.”