Bryant Elliott took Daniel Rice to the wood chipper Saturday, at Mountain View High School.
The Camas Papermaker defeated the Union Titan 15-11 to become the 132-pound Clark County wrestling champion.
“This was my first time out there in the finals at Clark County,” Elliott said. “It was a little nerve wracking, but it’s a good feeling to be able to come out with a win. And it’s always good to beat a Union kid.”
Elliott built a 6-2 advantage in the first round, before locking in a near fall and going up 11-4. Rice fought back with a few reversals, but he had to let Elliott go in order to shoot for more points. This kept the Papermaker out in front.
Rice cut Elliott’s lead to four points with 40 seconds left in the final round. He went for one more throw, but Elliott rode him down to the mat like a cowboy and held on for the victory.
“I just did the best that I could. I knew I had to lay it all on the mat,” Elliott said. “I looked up to all these guys in the finals last year. Now I’m one of them. It’s cool.”
Camas finished in seventh place at Clark County with 98.5 points. Union won the 17-team showdown with 258 points. Mountain View was second with 221 points.
Talon Edmiston earned a 3-1 overtime victory against Tyler Duncan, of Prairie, for third place at 195 pounds. Duncan took a shot, but Edmiston used his momentum against him and scored the winning takedown.
“Camas is here to compete. We’re not going to get pushed around like we used to,” Edmiston said, proving that point in his medal match.
Tye Lommasson pinned Columbia River’s Conner Thun for third place at 138 pounds.
“I got stuck on my back, so I had to make up for it,” Lommasson said. “I wish we had a few more guys in the finals, but districts is where it’s at. We’ll beat the people there who we lost to today.”
Marcus Hartman lost to Battle Ground’s Jason Cole by one point and settled for fourth place at 126. The CHS senior was unable to wrestle last year because he suffered from dermatomyositis, an auto immune disease that sapped the energy from his muscles.
“I knew there was a chance to could be back out there doing what I love. That’s what kept me going,” Hartman said. “I’ve been with most of these guys on the team since middle school. It’s feels good to be back on the mat with them for my senior year and finishing strong.”
