Eight years of rust did nothing to stop Ben Dyck from grappling for gold.

After eight years away from the wrestling mats, the 27-year-old casino security guard from Prince George made a triumphant return to the sport when he won the 120-kilogram heavyweight class at the Golden Bear Open tournament last weekend in Edmonton.

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In the gold-medal match against Omar Dhother of Edmonton, Dyck made a double leg takedown and got his opponent on his back, but they ended up going out of bounds. Then, from a standup position, Dyck shot in and hooked Dhother's elbow, threw him to the mat and pinned him to end it, about 90 seconds into the first round.

"I felt pretty good, I didn't have any expectations going there, I just wanted to have fun," said Dyck. "Winning was a good bonus and it was good that I recorded my matches (with video) so I can see what I have to work on. I just wanted to give it a shot and see how it went and it went good."

Dyck beat Brad Hildenbrandt of Fraser Valley University in the semifinals. In the preliminary round Dyck defeated the reigning CIS (now U Sports) university national champion Emory Wilson of the University of Alberta.

As a high school wrestler at Kelly Road, Dyck was a second-place finisher at provincials. He won at the national championships as a Grade 10 student and placed third nationally in Grade 12. While studying at Douglas College he competed in the CIS as part of the Simon Fraser University team. He also wrestled in Port Alberni for a six-month stint but suffered injuries to both knees which required surgery. That forced him to give it up in 2010.

"I blew them out in the gym, doing squats," he said.

Dyck started coaching at Heritage elementary school two years ago and is now helping out as an assistant coach at D.P. Todd secondary. His comeback as a wrestler started about a year ago when his 25-year-old brother Daniel asked him to help him train. Both wrestled at a high level at Kelly Road, coached by their father, Clayton.

As it turned out, a new baby in Daniel's life left him little time for wrestling and he had to drop it. Dyck, who stays fit as a bodybuilder and personal trainer, kept up his wresting training and decided he was ready for a tournament test.

"I felt OK - my wife was there and she helped me stay calm and relaxed. I didn't really think about (the long gap between tournaments) and just went out there and wrestled," said Dyck.

"I don't think I'm going to compete again this year. I'll just work on things I saw in the videos and keep getting stronger because I'm actually pretty small (104 kg) for a heavyweight. I can put on a bit more muscle and get a bit stronger."

Clayton, a referee at the Golden Bear Open, was back in his son's corner for the championship match.

"In the final he managed to sneak away and coach me, so that was kind of nice," said Dyck.

"He coached me all through high school. I enjoyed it. I'll do it again, I just don't know when."