1 / 10

Westlake junior Celeste Detoles (top) competes in the quarterfinals of the 135-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

2 / 10

Westlake freshman Kaizen Detoles (right) wins the quarterfinals of the 150-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

3 / 10

Westlake senior Emmy Finlinson (top) competes in the quarterfinals of the 145-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

4 / 10

Westlake senior Lizzie Raleigh (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 155-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

5 / 10

Westlake junior Trey Thompson (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 120-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

6 / 10

Pleasant Grove senior Jacob Carson (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 126-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

7 / 10

Pleasant Grove junior Christian Carter (right) battles Westlake junior Brayden Robison in the quarterfinals of the 150-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

8 / 10

American Fork sophomore Micah Murdoch (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 126-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

9 / 10

Skyridge junior Nadia Thomas (top) competes in the quarterfinals of the 120-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

10 / 10

American Fork freshman Hanks Jacobson (right) competes in the quarterfinals of the 106-pound division on the first day of the 6A state wrestling tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Wrestling has always been a family affair and all throughout the sport are legacy families where today’s current wrestlers are third- and even fourth-generation wrestlers.

But the onset of girls wrestling has brought a new wrinkle to the sport and you are now having brothers and sisters out there competing at the same time.

That is the case with Detoles siblings of Westlake as Celeste, a junior, is going for her third state title for the Thunder, while younger brother Kaizen is a freshman and making his mark for the Westlake boys program.

Both started at the same time in the Westlake youth program at ages seven and five respectively. However, while Celeste was picking up her first high school state titles, Kaizen was entertaining the idea of going out for the Westlake hoops team his freshman year.

“At one point I was thinking about going out for the basketball team, but no more,” said Kaizen after he won his second match with a second round pin over Herriman’s Josh Lounsbury.

The Herriman grappler had built up a 4-1 lead going into the second round and was working on a cradle pinning combination before Detoles caught him out of position, reversed him and put his shoulders to the mat to earn the fall. Thunder boys head coach Jeff Newby said that was actually pretty typical of Detoles.

“Kaizen is very unorthodox and athletic so he’s never out of any match,” Newby said.

Meanwhile Kaizen’s sister Celeste was having a bit easier time with her bouts. She made quick work of her first round opponent from Hunter with a 15-second pin and then pinned Copper Hill’s Kara Noyce in the second round. But Detoles was very complimentary of her opponent.

“That was a very good match,” related Detoles. “She’s really strong and did a good single leg on my ankle. But it’s all good.”

Both openly admitted that they get more nervous for each other than they do for their own matches.

“She’s my sister so I want her to do well,” said Kaizen.”

Then there’s also the new development in the wrestlng culture and of Moms becoming coaches themselves. Celeste and Kaizen’s Mom Amber is actually an assistant in the girls program, though she typically lets other coaches in the corner when Celeste is wrestling. And in regards to her son Kaizen, her advice is even more limited.

“I stay out of the technique and just focus on making sure he gets a good stretch and warm-up,” Amber Detoles said.

Westlake head girls coach Cody Burdett said Celeste has been pivotal to the success of the program.

“She’s a hard worker. She came into our program with a lot of knowledge already,” said Burdett. “She really set the example of how to be a hard worker and helped set the standard of what we’re trying to be (as a program).”

With her quarterfinal victory, Celeste moved her record to 26-2 on the season while Kaizen is now 32-10.

If Kaizen Detoles does take state he’ll have to go through two very tough competitors in Pleasant Grove’s Bradlee Farrer in the semifinals and then possibly his own teammate Brayden Robison, who is junior going for his third state title.

“I would love to see Brayden in the finals,” said Kaizen, who is aware that Farrer himself is extremely accomplished and actually beat Robison in the Divisional B finals where Detoles finished third in that tourney.

While Celeste Detoles is a favorite to win that third state title, her road won’t be without some challenges. Her semifinal opponent will be Angelica Magana of Cyprus who placed third in the Divisional A tournament and then on the other side of the bracket is Corner Canyon’s Meleana Fager and Davis High’s Alejandar Martinez. Much like Detoles, Fager brings in some previous experience and her father John is an assistant coach for Corner Canyon and the previous head coach for the Layton boys program.

6A Girls Wrestling: Westlake has nearly mathematically clinched its third state title. With 132 points, the Thunder are comfortably ahead of Syracuse (90) and Copper Hills (86.5).

Westlake has put 10 wrestlers in the semifinals with Ella Arnod (115), Ashley Cannon (125), Ameris Jensen (130), Detoles (135), Hailey Piig (140), Chloe Shumway (140), Emmy Finlinson (145), Lizzie Raleigh (155), O’dessa Laititi (190), Likki Rarick (235).

Detoles, Finlinson and Raleigh are seeking their third state titles while Cannon and Rarick hope to earn their second trip to the top of the podium. Finlinson knows that as girls wrestling improves, the journey to take state is getting harder as the Thunder senior will take on Leticia Garcia of Kearns, who Finlinson defeated in last year’s tournament.

“I beat her last year at state, so this is a bit of a revenge match for her,” said Finlinson.”She’s really improved a lot and beat (Copper Hills) Kimberly Fowers (who placed second in state last year), which was kind of an upset.”

Finlinson is also excited to see the growth and improvement in girls wrestling in its third year as a UHSAA sanctioned sport.

“It’s so fun to come to state knowing that you’re going to have to work your butt off harder than ever before. Girls wrestling is setting a new standard,” Finlinson added.

Skyridge’s Madison Sherman (130) also won her first bouts and the Falcon grappler will take on Weber’s Amyrilyn McDonald in the semifinals.

6A Boys Wrestling: Layton (140.5) has a comfortable lead after day one, but a good battle is shaping up for second-place between Region 4 and Utah County rivals Westlake (88) and Pleasant Grove (87) with Corner Canyon (82) still strongly in the mix. Mountain Ridge (59.5), Syracuse (55.5) and Fremont (54.5) have outside shots while Lone Peak (54) could surge with its star power in the semifinals today. If Layton goes on to win the tournament, this will break a streak of five straight state titles for Pleasant Grove and 11 out of the last 12 seasons.

Westlake put four wrestlers in the semifinals with Korbin Chucran (120), Josh Fish (138), Robison (150) and Detoles (157). The Vikings will counter with six semifinalists of their own with Jacob Carson (126), Devyn Greenland (132), Farrer (150), Jake Closson (175), Trevyn Gates (215) and Ray Griffin (285).

Lone Peak’s Corbin Baumgartner had the biggest upset of the tournament when he pinned Layton’s Andrew Crother at 165 pounds. Crowther won the Divisional A tournament while Baumgartner placed fifth. Baumgartner will now wrestle Crowther’s teammate Kaden Bennie in the semifinals. Bennie placed third in the divisional tourney but the two grapplers didn’t meet.

The Knights had a good first day with four wrestlers reaching the semifinals. Joining Baumgartner are brothers Cayaen (190) and Mahkyi (215) Smith along with Cooper Mumford (285).

American Fork has two grapplers still with gold medal dreams with Hanks Jacobsen (106) and Tege Kelley (138) while Skyridge’s Billy Ferguson (157) also went 2-0 in Wednesday’s action.

Newsletter