The Columbian made a point to interview every Clark County wrestling champion Saturday.
Click here to read reaction from each winner
With blood in his mouth, ice on his shoulder and tears in his eyes, Derick Tollen was battered.
But the La Center wrestler was also unbeaten.
Tollen endured through an early shoulder injury to win his weight class Saturday at the Clark County Wrestling Championships at Prairie High School.
His defiance of pain was just one story of triumph at the county’s premier wrestling tournament.
There was Dallas Goodpaster of Evergreen winning his third county title in as many tries.
There was Trevor Newburn of Ridgefield scoring one for the little guys. He and Tollen were small-school champions in a tournament that matches wrestlers of all classifications.
There was Heritage heavyweight Tristan Bridges pinning his championship-match opponent in 20 seconds and wondering why it took so long. He had pinned his previous two opponents in 11 seconds each.
And there was Union winning its sixth consecutive team title behind seven individual champions.
But for pure grit and drama, Tollen’s 126-pound match stood out. For one, the wrestler from a Class 1A school was facing a defending champion in Evergreen’s Isaiah Av.
Tollen had been bothered by a shoulder injury for the past two weeks. But the pain was nothing like he began suffering midway through the first round.
“My shoulder was locked up and he pulled on it,” Tollen said. “I had to fight past it.”
The match was a battle of attrition. In the second round, the match was paused after Av suffered an elbow injury. During the break, Tollen was nearly in tears despite having a substantial lead.
The match went the full six minutes, with Tollen winning 16-6.
Less dramatic but nearly as impressive was Goodpaster cruising to his third county title. The former Prairie wrestler who transferred to Evergreen defeated teammate Austin Wright, 5-1.
“It’s just another tournament,” Goodpaster said. “But I’m wrestling really well, so I feel great about it. It’s tough because you know each other’s style.”
If you blinked, you might have missed the 285-pound title match, where Bridges pinned Hockinson’s Aaron Burns.
“I was able to get into my underhooks,” Bridges said. “I knew he couldn’t defend the bear hook.”
In winning four matches at the tournament, Bridges spent a total of 1:41 on the mat. His longest match was his first, which lasted all of 59 seconds.
“When I squeeze them on their back and hear that little squeal, that’s when you know you’ve broken them,” he said.
There were three champs who defended their county titles. In addition to Goodpaster, Union’s Carlos Simon at 138 and teammate Alex Berfanger at 182 each repeated as champs.
But two defending champs were also knocked off. At 145 pounds, Union’s Tommy Strassenberg beat Bryant Elliott of Camas, 5-3.
At 160 pounds, Skyview’s Cameron Hutchison had the tournament’s most gym-shaking takedown. He slammed defending champ Michael Snediker of Union so hard on his back that the match ended due to injury. Snediker appeared OK after lying on the mat for several minutes.
“I was really nervous going against him,” Hutchison said. “I felt he was getting tired, so I said ‘oh man, this is my moment.’ I just kept driving and saw the chance for a hip toss.”
Fourteen champions and many more stories of triumph inside a packed high school gym. Saturday showed by Clark County’s wrestling community loves this tournament.
Clark County Championships results
At Prairie High School
Team champion: Union
Team points: Union 255, Mountain View 198.5, Battle Ground 183, Washougal 125, Camas 120.5, Columbia River 104.5, Evergreen 103.5, Prairie 103, Woodland 98, Heritage 76, Skyview 75, La Center 65, Ridgefield 59, Hockinson 52, Fort Vancouver 14, Hudson’s Bay 14.
Individual placers
106 championship: Ethan Rotondo (U) d. Doug Chin (Sky) 17-2
3rd place: Ryan Logan (Eve) d. Michael Strickland (Cam) 4-3; 5th place: Malakai Cherernsouk (Her) p. Troy Ewers (MV) in 1:20.
113 championship: Trevor Newburn (Rid) d. Joseph Harnett (BG) 7-1.
3rd place: Tommy Greensky (Pra) d. Will Taiscan (MV) 9-8; 5th place: Max Grimes (Cam) p. Logan Knidson (CR) in 2:28.
120 championship: Chris Joner (BG) p. Brandon Huft (MV) in 1:36
3rd place: Zach Oster (Was) p. Ryan Kay (Cam) in 3:57; 5th place: Leo Rojas-Lozano (Pra) d. Wyatt Gasper (Rid) 11-4.
126 championship: Derick Tollen (LC) d. Isaiah Av (Eve) 16-6.
3rd place: Jason Cole (BG) p. Rylan Thompson (Cam) in 1:34; 5th place: Taggart Hartwig (U) by injury default over Josh Pratt (Wood).
132 championship: J.J. Talavera (U) d. Robert Gomulkiewicz (BG) 8-2.
3rd place: Kodi Walls (Pra) d. Taylor Leifsen (Wash) 6-3; 5th place: Tyler Hawkins (MV) p. Adam Smalley (BG) in 4:41.
138 championship: Carlos Simon (U) d. Conner Thun (CR) 6-4.
3rd place: Damon Thomas (MV) d. Colton Blake (BG) 5-1; Jeffrey Mayolo (LC) d. Peter Mattson (Pra) 8-2.
145 championship: Tommy Strassenberg (U) d. Bryant Elliott (Cam) 5-3.
3rd place: Nathan Patterson (Wood) d. Emanual Mendez (MV) 11-2; 5th place: Jacob Kokinakis (BG) d. AJ Christianson (Wash) 5-2.
152 championship: Larry Anderson (CR) d. Marcus Hendrickson (Her) 10-8 in OT.
3rd place: Judah Reynolds (U) d. Garrett Duey (Wash) 11-3; Kyle Nguyen (U) d. Nathan Pyles (CR) 12-6.
160 championship: Cameron Hutchison (Sky) by injury default over Michael Snediker (U).
3rd place: Skylar Scott (MV) d. Taylor Stewart (BG) 7-4; Samuel Malychewsky (Cam) by injury default over Kurtis Patterson (Wood).
170 championship: Luke Christensen (U) p. Brandon Profitt (MV) in 1:01.
3rd place: Ryder Waite (CR) d. Stephan Evans (BG) 13-7; 5th place: Dylan Ingram (Cam) d. Vanea McDaniel (Rid) 5-4.
182 championship: Alex Berganter (U) d. Nathan Cloud (Wood) 15-4.
3rd place: Shan Singh (U) d. Grayson Funk (MV) 3-1; 5th place: Travis Hullinger (Eve) p. Tanner Howington (Cam) in 3:46.
195 championship: Zach Berfanger (U) d. Jose Avila-Leal (Pra) 2-1 in 2OT.
3rd place: Clayton Dietz (MV) p. Shawn Cook (CR) in 2:44; 5th place: Ruben Aguilar (Wash) p. Austin Stewart (BG) in 1:39.
220 championship: Dallas Goodpaster (Eve) d. Austin Wright (Eve) 5-1.
3rd place: Cameron Loos (Hoc) by injury default over Justin Sherwood (MV); 5th place: Jacob Brown (Wash) p. Chase Wilson (U) in :48.
285 championship: Tristan Bridges (Her) p. Aaron Burns (Hoc) in :20.
3rd place: Isaac Andersen (Wood) p. Bryan Person (Pra) in 2:03; 5th place: Brandon McKee (Wash) p. Hazen Kapp (LC) in 1:49.
