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As 9-year-olds, Cody Fredrickson and Travis Linsacum would spar together, creating scenarios where a last-second pin would win a match.

As high school athletes, Fredrickson and Linsacum took their sparring to the mat inside the Moffat County High School wrestling room on their way to each competing for a gold medal during the state wrestling championships.

Now, the current day Mixed Martial Arts fighters and training partners share another common bond: mixed martial arts amateur champions.

Fredrickson (3-0, 2 KO) and Linsacum (4-0, 4 KO) kept their perfect amateur fighting records intact Saturday during Kick Down 52 - a mixed martial arts event at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver.

Craig resident Richard Large (2-2 overall, 1-1 sanctioned events) joined the duo in the win column, as well as earning the "knockout of the night" award.

Fighting in front of a crowd that was overwhelmingly pro-Craig - more than 100 residents traveled to attend - Fredrickson earned his second championship belt in his third amateur fight.

"The cheering section of the night award was given to the fans from Craig, Colorado, for their support of fighters Travis Linsacum and Cody Fredrickson," Kick Down Promoter J. R. Gordon said in a news release. "Likely these fans were the loudest in Kick Down history."

Fredrickson earned a first round victory by submission over Forrest Clouse to earn the Kick Down Middleweight MMA title.

He is also the current Rampage Promotions light heavyweight champion.

"It went really good," Fredrickson said. "We came out and exchanged a little bit, he clenched up and I took him down. I mounted him, ground-and-pounded him for about a minute, he turned over and I submitted him with a rear naked choke."

The title fight lasted one minute, 40 seconds.

Linsacum's bout went a little longer.

Linsacum defeated Nathan Gates by TKO at 1:44 of the second round in his first Kick Down event.

"The cage is a little bit bigger," Linsacum said. "Other than that, a fight's a fight."

And, Linsacum did what he's done in his previous three fights: the ground-and-pound.

"I got the guy down, which I'm pretty much known for doing," Linsacum said. "I'm a wrestler and that's what I do. I ended it with the ground-and-pound which I've done now with all four of my fights. That's basically about it."

If Linsacum and Fredrickson were examples of wrestlers gone the way of MMA, Large showed what a boxer could do.

Large knocked out Paul Wyand at 1:17 of the first round, while Wyand was still standing.

"I threw a front heel kick and I saw him drop his hands down," Large said. "I did it again and when he dropped his hands, I jumped in the air and hit him with a superman punch. I got him with a left body hook and an overhand right that split his eye open. After that, I got him with a flurry of seven to 10 punches and they called it."

Fredrickson, Linsacum and Large each said they want to turn professional and it's just a matter of time until they do.

Linsacum - the current Rampage Promotions welterweight champion - is scheduled to fight for the Kick Down lightweight title Aug. 16 at the Fairgrounds Industrial Building in Casper, Wyo.

Rampage Promotions is hosting its third "Rampage in the Cage" event Sept. 27 at the Moffat County Ice Arena, an event during which Rampage promoter Karrie Booth said she hopes Linsacum and Fredrickson will defend their titles.