Success is something to which James Bennett has become accustomed, from his efforts in Tae Kwon Do up until seventh grade to wrestling to the classroom.

The 152-pound Class AAA state runner-up who graduated from Carrollton High School in May can trace some of his most important character traits to the sport he first started taking part in during seventh grade, and in which continued to excel through his final days as a Trojan.

“Wrestling (has) definitely shaped my life more than any other thing as far as willpower and perseverance,” Bennett said. “It’s a great sport.”

And for Bennett, who completed his high school career with a 3.86 GPA, the sport taught him some things that enabled him to do well in school, in fact well enough to be the only wrestler from Georgia on this year’s National High School Coaches Association’s Academic All-American Team.

He knows the basic premise of the award but little else about what it means. Still, it is an honor he is proud to have achieved.

“I just know I’m the only guy from Georgia to get it this year,” Bennett said. “So I’m pretty stoked about it.”

Interestingly enough, Bennett suggested that despite how much he loves wrestling, he might have never quit Tae Kwon Do, in which he won two state titles and a national championship, if he had just realized how good he was at it.

“Honestly, when I was doing Tae Kwon Do, I didn’t even know that I was as good as I was,” Bennett said. “I don’t know if I would have done the same thing if I’d have realized how good I was.”

Carrollton wrestling coach Mike Mason said his captain’s success in the classroom came as no surprise to him.

“He always has strived to work hard and be the best wherever he’s at,” Mason said.

In fact, Bennett seems to thrive on the toughest tasks, like cutting weight for wrestling and still maintaining solid grades while doing so.

“It definitely gets hard when you’re cutting weight to stay focused in the classroom. But that’s the thing about wrestling and wrestlers is you have to be able to do that,” Bennett said. “And that’s what’s so hard about wrestling, and that’s why I like it. You do have to stay focused, and it is hard.”

Bennett said his strong grades came out of a desire to show he could get the job done in the classroom.

“It was something that I wanted to do,” Bennett said. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could make all A’s.”

As he heads to Darton College, a two-year school in Albany, Ga., in the fall, he plans to wrestle and major in chemistry with the hopes of then going to a school where he can one day wrestle in the NCAA Tournament. Mason said Bennett’s choosing to major in one of his toughest subjects says a lot about him.

“He just meets it as a challenge,” Mason said.

Bennett’s enjoyment of chemistry started with Kristie Bradford-Hunt, who taught him chemistry, and Teresa Woods, who taught him physical science, and their passion for what they were teaching him.

“I guess I kind of understood where they were coming from and how they loved something like science, and I loved wrestling,” Bennett said. “And eventually it turned out (with) me loving science also.”

Mason has no doubt Bennett will continue to excel in his studies as he pursues his chemistry degree.

“When he puts his mind to it, he’s unstoppable,” Mason said.

And as a coach, Mason will miss having the guy who he could always point to when he wanted to show some of his younger guys how to do things the right way.

“I’m going to miss him,” Mason said. “He’s a great individual, great kid and great role model.”