NAMPA — Elijah Dilworth knew exactly what was at stake when he stepped on the mat Saturday afternoon at the Ford Idaho Center. He’d been here before — twice — and walked away empty-handed both times.

Not this time.

The Soda Springs senior dominated Tri-Valley’s Eli Noah from the opening whistle, piling up takedowns in all three periods to win the Class 3A 190-pound state championship in his third and final go-around via a 18-5 major decision at the Idaho High School State Wrestling Championships. For Dilworth, it was the title that had eluded him for two years.

“It was kind of bittersweet, you know, ‘cause finally got it done, but then at the same time, now that you’ve reached the top, part of you is saying I don’t got nothing else to prove,” Dilworth said. “But there’s still more out there.”

It wasn’t always that way.

Two years ago in his first 190-pound final, Dilworth fell into a hole he couldn’t come back from. Clearwater Valley’s Bass Meyers had him down 4-0 after a pair of takedowns. While Dilworth clawed back to within one at 4-3, Meyers slipped out before the end of the period to lead 5-3 heading into the third. Meyers then pushed the lead to 8-3 with an escape and a takedown in a 20-second span. Dilworth did get an escape and a takedown of his own, but it was too little, too late in the 8-6 loss.

“I poured my heart out into that match and I still ended up losing,” Dilworth said. “That’s why I feel like that one hurt more than last year.”

His next 190-pound final ended with an entirely different feeling: “embarrassment.”

Dilworth was pinned by New Plymouth’s Gabriel Cox just 24 seconds in the match. An abrupt ending made all the more painful by the fact that it came in Pocatello, less than an hour from home, in front of friends and family.

“It was pretty embarrassing,” Dilworth said. “I had a lot of friends and family there, and to have it all end like that — it was kind of embarrassing. I hadn’t really stopped wrestling since the last time I lost in the state finals, and for it to end in 30 seconds, it was tough.”

But Dilworth refused to let it break him.

Soda Springs head coach Cliff Garbett saw a different wrestler walk into the gym this past offseason. The maturity Dilworth showed this season, Garbett said, meant more to him than any of the wins.

“He had some stuff where if he had a loss, he would just throw a fit and lose composure,” Garbett said. “I didn’t see any of that this year. The growth he had as a person is bigger to me than anything else.”

Garbett said Dilworth spent the offseason doing freestyle tournaments and competing at nationals, logging more mat time than ever before. By the time the season hit its second half, Garbett said he stopped worrying about his senior.

“Most of his matches, I wasn’t even nervous to see him go,” Garbett said. “Going into the state finals, I was just like, this is his.”

Saturday was no exception.

Dilworth scored a takedown just 21 seconds into the match on his way to a 6-1 first-period lead. Noah cut it to 6-2 on an escape 14 seconds into the second, but that was as close as he got.

Dilworth answered with another takedown 37 seconds later to push the lead to 9-2. Noah’s only remaining points came on escapes and on a late stalling call on Dilworth. Dilworth, meanwhile, scored all 18 of his points on six takedowns — fitting for a wrestler who finished the season ranked first in takedowns across all classifications in the state.

Those six takedowns helped Dilworth finish the year with 214 total, breaking the program record previously held by Tucker Bowen, a three-time state champion who now wrestles Division I for the University of Wyoming.

“That’s why I was able to really leave no doubt,” Dilworth said. “At almost every tournament I wrestled, I left pretty much no doubt that I was the best one there.”

It capped a nearly flawless senior season. Dilworth entered state as the No. 1 seed with a 47-1 record, his only loss coming to Coeur d’Alene’s Brock Armstrong in the semifinals of the Rollie Lane Invitational in January. Armstrong went 44-0 and won the 6A title.

Dilworth ends his high school career as a four-time state placer − taking fifth as a freshman at 195 pounds. He went 166-26.

His next stop is Folkstyle Nationals in Iowa, beginning March 12, before he looks to wrestle at the next level somewhere.

“If you are willing to put the work in and dedicate yourself, you can do great in this sport,” Garbett said. “But you’ve got to have a love for it. I think his future is bright.”

WEST SIDE’S BARZEE GOES BACK-TO-BACK

West Side’s Jake Barzee made it two in a row Saturday, defeating Ririe’s Jack Jones 11-5 in the Class 2A 106-pound finals — nearly an identical margin to his 12-6 win over Jones in last year’s 98-pound final.

Unlike last year, Jones scored the first points with a takedown 35 seconds in, but Barzee countered with an escape before the end of the first period to trail 3-1. Barzee took his first lead at 4-3 on a near fall midway through the second before Jones reclaimed it seconds later on a reversal at 5-4.

Those ended up being Jones’ final points. Barzee hit a reversal of his own and added another near fall to lead 8-3 heading into the third, then sealed it with a takedown just 16 seconds in.

“I knew if I got choice in the second round, I could take control of the match,” Barzee said.

He was right.

Barzee now has his sights set on something no West Side wrestler has ever done − three-peat.

“That’s the goal,” Barzee said. “Hopefully to be the first three-timer. That’d be super, super cool.”

Aberdeen’s Tannon Nelson claimed the 215-pound title with a third-round pin of Firth’s Beau Ringel.