Carter's dream of state title ends
By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

Friday, February 29, 2008

COLUMBUS — Dustin Carter's dream of winning a state championship came to an end Friday morning, Feb. 29, at the Schottenstein Center.

Carter, a senior from Hillsboro whose arms and legs were amputated at age 5, appeared to be heading to overtime against Parma Padua Franciscan freshman Andrew Romanchik. But Romanchik put Carter on his back with two seconds left in the quarterfinal match to score a 5-1 decision.

"The kid caught him off guard and that's all it took," said Brian Williamson, Carter's junior high coach and mentor.

Carter, who has been a fan favorite this season, was crestfallen, laying face down on a mat in the warm-up room. He was scheduled to wrestle again today. If he wins, he's guaranteed a spot on the podium as a state placer.

The loss dropped his season record to 40-3.

"He wants the podium," Williamson said. "He wants everybody to remember him as a great wrestler. What he doesn't understand is everybody already thinks he's a good wrestler. There are kids who have wrestled since kindergarten who never even get to go to state. He's only been wrestling since eighth grade."

The best Carter can finish is third. If he wins his next match, the worst he can finish is eighth.

"I just told him, 'Hey, no matter what I'm proud of you, you've come a long way and you've met your goal,' " Williamson said.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content...erweb.html

I'm not trying to make light of this. And I have never wrestled competitively, but I've watched a lot of wrestling and UFC. I don't see how it's possible to wrestle without arms and legs. So it's pretty impressive if he has a record of 40-3.

Kid is a beast! This is absolutely amazing.

S.I. has a picture gallery and write-up about his trip to State:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multime...ent.1.html