PHOTO
Dunedin's Ricky Welsford (Taieri) showed why he is a candidate for next year's Commonwealth Games by dominating the New Zealand club wrestling championships in Mosgiel on Saturday.
Welsford (17) put on an outstanding display to win four titles at Taieri College.
It was the best performance by an Otago wrestler at a national championships since Commonwealth Games representative Robert Hoffman competed for the province 30 years ago.
Welsford was one of three wrestlers at the championships on the shortlist to compete at the Commonwealth Cup in India in November, which is a qualifying tournament for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The others are Jessica Todd (Combat Sport Otago) and Jason Harvey (Katikati).
Welsford showed the benefits of his recent training trip to the United States with the New Zealand Youth Development team.
His technique was precise and he beat his opponents by using his speed on the mat.
Strength was to the fore when he won the junior 66kg freestyle class by beating Jarrod Marsh (Taieri) 2-0 with a points decision in the second bout, while speed enabled him to beat Nico Bloemsaat (Combat Sport Otago) by a pin in his other fight.
Welsford was unchallenged when he won the senior 66kg class, then fought above his weight to beat Hayden Bell (Combat Sports Otago) in the 74kg class by a pin on the second round of the first bout and a pin on the first round of the second bout.
He then won the open lightweight title in the Greco-Roman style by beating Flo Rades (Combat Sports Otago), Jacob Smith (Rangiora) and Bell again. Another notable senior men's performance came from Harvey (18), who beat Kesta McLaughlin (Rangiora) to win the 84kg class on points in the decider of the best of three bouts.
Harvey, who also went to the US with the New Zealand Youth Development team, won the junior 84kg class 2-0 when he pinned Rades in the second bout.
Canterbury's Sam Belkin won the senior 96kg class when he beat Mark Hogarth (Rangiora) 2-0 by a pin in the second bout.
Craig Miller (Combat Sports Otago) finished second when he beat Hogarth.
Miller won the Greco-Roman heavyweight title when he beat clubmate Jeremy Hall by a pin.
The top woman was Todd, who beat Lucy Nicholson (Canterbury) to win the junior women's 67kg class by a pin in the two bouts.
Smith beat Glen Lambert (Katikati) by a pin in the junior 74kg class.
In the boys 14-16 54kg class, Gabor Asztalos (Creighton Cobblers, Canterbury) beat Aaron Dee (Taieri) by a pin in the first round.
But the roles were reversed when they met in the junior men's 55kg class when Dee won by a pin in the first round.
In the boys under-10 24kg class Corey Campbell (Taieri) beat Jesse Rogers (Combat Sports Otago).
Combat Sports Otago was the top club with 176 points and was followed by Taieri, 168, Rangiora, 104, Creighton Cobblers, 52 and Katikati 40.