Competing against some of the best wrestlers in the country, Boonsboro's Tanner Halling showed just how elite he is.

Halling went 5-1 to place second in the 126-pound weight class in the senior division at NHSCA High School Nationals at Virginia Beach over the weekend, becoming a three-time All-American.

He placed sixth at 113 pounds as a sophomore and eighth at 120 as a junior.

"Three years in a row, I'm pretty happy with that," he said. "This year, I just wrestled better. My confidence was there. I was scoring points and just really happy with my performance.

"This definitely elevated me, showed me that I can be with these kids, that I'm one of the best in the country."

In Washington County, Halling is among the all-time greats.

This year at Boonsboro, he capped his second straight undefeated season with the 2A-1A state title at 132 pounds, finishing 179-2 for his career. He became a four-time county champ, a four-time region champ, a four-time state placer, a two-time state champ and the county record holder for career wins and winning percentage.

Halling's domination continued at nationals, where he was seeded 10th in a 64-man bracket.

On Friday, in his first bout, he built a 14-0 lead on North Carolina's Elijah Dorsey before pinning him in the second period.

"The first kid I wrestled was a three-time North Carolina state champ, right off the jump," Halling said. "But I didn't even know that until later. I was just wrestling. I didn't even care."

He rolled through his next two opponents that day with a pair of technical falls, winning 16-1 against Sawyer Smith, of Ohio, and 18-2 against Matthew Long, of Kansas.

On Saturday, Halling defeated California's Paulo Valdez 11-0 in the quarterfinals and then edged three-time Georgia state champion Olli Webb 3-2 in an overtime thriller in the semifinals.

In Sunday's final, Halling fell 9-3 to Musa Tamaradze, of Massachusetts, who became a two-time NHSCA national champion.

"I had a lot of fun," Halling said. "I would have much rather won it, but to get second in a bracket where you have a bunch of D1 commits, I just went in there and did my thing and showed them all what's up."

Halling, who has signed to wrestle at Division II Frostburg State University, caught the attention of some Division I programs over the weekend.

"After I made the finals, I had coaches texting me," he said. "I was like, 'Sorry, you guys missed your chance.' It's like, 'OK, I was All-American twice already, but you didn't want to contact me then.' I told them I was committed to Frostburg State, and I texted the Frostburg State coach, and I was like, 'I can't wait to get there. I'm going to prove to all of these D1 guys that I'm better than them.'"