PAC Coast Tournament: Papermaker Tanner Craig Earns 1st Place; Team 5th

Vancouver, WA — Camas wrestler Tanner Craig was down 3-0 against two-time Oregon state champion Joey Coste in the Finals match on Saturday at the Pacific Coast Wrestling Championship, but he was undaunted.

After the beginning of the second period, the mild-mannered Craig went into battle mode, turning the accomplished Coste into a pretzel, and winning the finals match 9-4.

“I just kept pushing, I knew I had a bigger gas tank than a lot of people I wrestle,” said Craig. “So I kept pushing, I ended up taking him down, and got some back points, which put me ahead by two, I kept pushing and got a take down. I knew I could outlast him.”

But, going into the match, Craig wasn’t so sure.

“It was a big deal for me to beat him,” said Craig. “He’s a two-time state champion, and I saw him wrestle last season. Going in, I thought I was going to lose to Coste, but then when I saw my name in the hole, I felt I could beat him.”

The win gives Craig a 30-1 record for this wrestling season.

Samuel Malychewski battled it out with Skyview’s Jackson McKinney and barely lost the highly anticipated finals match. Rylan Thompson placed second in his finals match, and Gideon Malychewski placed third at the tournament.

“I don’t know what drives Tanner,” said coach Cory Vom Baur. “But he goes 100 percent throughout every wrestling tournament. His dad was the same way, and he’s one of our coaches. He has good lungs, and he has a mindset about him where he knows he’s going to get his opponent tired, and that pays dividends. He’s a hard, hard worker.”

Vom Baur said the boys did well at PAC Coast, and that Samuel and Rylan’s matches were really close. The boys head to Bremerton for Gut Check, which is one the largest tournaments of the season.

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