An unseeded, unknown underdog named Tyler Manion took a trip to gym-floor flat Tulsa, Okla. two weeks ago to test his worth at the holy grail of junior wrestling, the 53rd Annual Cliff Keen Tulsa National Wrestling Tournament.

Some 2,000 kids from Connecticut to California, ages 4 to 16, showed up on Jan. 18 for the two-day tournament. And not one of them expected Manion, the South Fayette eighth-grader, to do much. Not even he did.

But that is the thing about expectations: they work just fine until the whistle blows and an unseeded underdog named Tyler Manion has finished fourth out of 33 in his bracket.

"I am proud of myself, because when I went down there, I did not think I was going to do that good," he said.

Wrestling in the 100-pound division of the open tournament, he first faced the third-seeded wrestler. It started a rough weekend against mostly high-seeded opponents.

Not so rough, though. Manion fought more like a mad dog than an underdog, pinning the three seed into submission in a minute flat.

That started something. Suddenly, seeds and expectations meant nothing. Manion found his teeth.

"I was really nervous, but once I pinned him, I thought I could actually do something in the tournament," he said.

His dad, J.M. Manion, noticed the change.

"When he beat the third seed in his first match, it changed the whole tone of things."

From there Tyler took on the only unseeded wrestler he would see, and pinned him in a shade more than three minutes. All of a sudden, the unknown was becoming known, moving into the quarterfinals.

No surprise there, as the underdog story continued and he took down the sixth seed 7 -1, moving to the semifinals.

But wait. Tyler injured his eye, a glorious wound, in that quarterfinal match. He had to wait with combat-style eye patch, boiling, for his next challenger.

In a testament to his tenacity, he said the injury was nothing. There was a Union general in the Civil War named Daniel Sickles whose leg was lopped off at Gettysburg. He said it was nothing.

Impaired or not, this was not Rudy or the Mighty Ducks. There was no Hollywood to be found in Tulsa, Okla. Only cold. hard facts and sweat-wet mats. The underdog, in real life, does not always come out on top.

So it was, Tyler lost 10-0 to the seventh seed in the semifinals--and it is worth noting Tyler was the only wrestler not pinned by him up until then.

But true underdog stories offer richer things, at times, than outright victory. Like growth and confidence and character.

Tyler showed this in the consolation bracket, which determined third through sixth place. He beat the five seed in the quarterfinal round which decided who fights for fifth and who fights for third.

Then things came full circle for the consolation semifinal match. Tyler faced the sixth seed, yet again. But this time, he was no unknown underdog. And perhaps that was the most important thing to come out of the tournament weekend for Tyler.

"He came out gunning because he lost (to me) early," Tyler said.

Tyler lost, finishing fourth in the tourney.

But perhaps it does not matter where he placed, but what he learned and what he earned. Confidence and recognition.

Looking back on the weekend, he thinks he could beat that seventh seed, Nick Grazina from New Jersey, if he got the chance.

And, in a plot richer with self-discovery and achievement than Hollywood hacks could even dream, Tyler may get that rematch. Next weekend, no less, when Tyler heads to Baltimore for a dual match. All the main characters will be there: Tyler, his father and, of course, Grazina.

But this time Tyler will be no unknown. That underdog story ended in Tulsa.