Unalaska, AK – Three Raiders wrestlers recently competed at the state wide wrestling championship. Senior Cameron Lynch took third place overall in the 215 pound weight class.

The journey to state began when the three seniors traveled to the regionals competition in New Stuyahawk the first weekend in December. All three made it to state. Lynch said he faced a tough battle against Quentin Backford of Dillingham, but he defeated him.

"Well right off the bat he was just over confident because we wrestled three times earlier this year and he beat me all three times, so I'm sure he just didn't think he had to worry about me. And I just, being a two time regions champ before the tournament, I just wanted the third one really bad. So as soon as I took him down, he didn't give up but you could see it in his eyes that he wasn't ready for it."

Lynch won his third regional title and advanced to state alongside classmates Roy Garay, who wrestles at 130 pounds, and 285-pound Ryan Fowler. All three students stayed in Anchorage awaiting the tournament, to make sure they were not weathered in to Unalaska. At state, Lynch beat his first two opponents then faced Backford again. This time Backford was ready.

"He'd do a move or I'd make a mistake and he'd capitalize and I'd be on my back inches away from being pinned," Lynch recalled. "But unless he gets my back down, [it's not a pin] and I wouldn't let him get my back down. I was on my back about 40 seconds of the two minute period and finally I got to my stomach and tried to get away from him."

Lynch took third for his weight class. Garay and Fowler were each one win away from placing.

Lynch started wrestling in junior high and was frequently bested by his larger older brothers. He said he enjoys the competition but not other aspects of the sport, like dropping weight quickly.

"Just seeing my teammates having to eat a piece of celery at lunch and having to go on that til dinner. That was just a bummer. A lot of moody kids, like temper."

Despite that, he encourages others to join the team. "You might want to think that you want to quit but with all the support in this town and all the supporters and the school shelling out money for you to be competitive. It's just good to know that you have a big fan base behind you and they're all wanting you to win as much as you wanna win."

The three returned to Unalaska on December 13. Dillingham took the state title for division 1,2, and 3 A schools. Unalaska tied for 19th place.