Grace Davis High School wrestler Carson Prim, from Escalon, had an outstanding performance on the national stage in recent days. On Thursday morning, July 19, Prim, who is soon to be a sophomore for the Spartans, defeated Kyle Boeke of Minnesota via a fall in 1:36 of their match to place at the U.S. Marine Corps 126 pound Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota.

The round to place, forever known in the sport as the “blood round,” is one of the most intense rounds of the tournament. Win and a wrestler finishes in the top eight. Lose, and he goes home with a ton of what ifs.

After his victory over Boeke, Prim needed three additional wins to obtain the bronze medal. However, he ran into a brick wall in Matthew Singleton of Georgia in the following round as he lost a (10-0) match, which sent Prim in the 7th/8th place match.

In that match, Prim took on Dylan Kohn, a two-time state medalist, and one of the better wrestlers in the Cadet Division from Florida.

Prim started strong against Kohn as he hit his bread-and-butter move, the headlock, to put Kohn on his back and obtain four points. Many fans in the building thought that the match was going to end in a fall, but Kohn reacted quickly and eventually escaped.

A quick go behind takedown and a gut wrench move put Prim up by eight points before the break. The smell of a tech-fall win by Prim was in the air. However, as soon as the second period began, Kohn surprisingly took down Prim to his back and pinned the young Spartan.

His eighth place finish at Fargo is expected to help Prim be more focused when the 2018-19 season begins to fight for a spot on the CIF, California Interscholastic Federation, state podium.

Prim has lived in Escalon for 12 years and competes for the wrestling club Nor Cal Take Down in Modesto. He earned his All American status at Fargo in the 126-pound division, the 128 man Cadet bracket. A total of 989 wrestlers from 46 states entered the tournament and 136 – including Prim – placed on the podium.