Last week in prep wrestling, divisional tournaments took center stage for the 3A through 6A classifications. There were some thrilling finishes and some upsets at both the team and individual level, especially at the girls’ tourneys.

Girls wrestling

At the 6A Divisional hosted by Westlake, it literally came down to the very last match to determine the winner of the tournament.

Mountain Ridge (251.5) led the host team by a mere half point going into the 235-pound championship match. Keilikki Rarick of Westlake squared off with Mountain Ridge’s Hannah Whitlock and the 2-time 6A state champion and undefeated Westlake wrestling star pinned Whitlock in the first round to deliver the title for the Thunder with 257 points.

Though Westlake has won the last three 6A state titles, the Thunder haven’t been as dominant this season. In the previous week Mountain Ridge defeated Westlake in a dual meet. So winning this tournament was extra gratifying for Westlake head coach Cody Burdett because he knows his team won’t give up their title without a fight.

“Like every wise coach says, ‘every point matters, every match matters,’ ” Burdett said. “To lose 15 seniors last year and only have three seniors this year, we’ve relied on a lot of first-year talent to carry us.”

But while Rarick’s heroics pushed Westlake to the top, climbing the mountain took the efforts of the entire Thunder team.

Kennedy Jeppson (120 pounds) won the tournament from her fourth seed, knocking off second seed Gloria Jessop of Mountain Ridge with a pin in the first round to win gold.

As expected, returning 3-time champ Celeste Detoles won the 135-pound division with a pin, again over a grappler from Mountain Ridge, then O’dessa Laititi (190) pulled Westlake within striking range with a first period pin of her own to earn first place honors.

“Yes, it did come down to Likki,” Burdett said. “When Kennedy (Jeppson) won, I knew we had a chance. When O’dessa won, I knew we could do it. The team was down but .5 points when Likki (Rarick) wrestled her finals match.”

Ashlyn Ballantyne (100), Aubriana Wadley (115) and Ameris Jensen (130) placed second, and all total, the Thunder qualified 23 wrestlers for the state tournament.

Pleasant Grove’s Hallie Hansen won the 115-pound title for the Vikings.

At the 5A Divisional tourney, Wasatch’s depth came through as the Wasps defeated tournament favorites Northridge and Cedar Valley to win the tournament. Wasatch scored 329 points while Northridge pointed 300 and the Aviators finished third with 283.5.

Wasatch had a pair of individual champions with Marabelle Brown (115) and Pallas Anderson (120) while Maisey Blaser (105), Corinne Letchford (145), and Tyler Richter (155) were runner-ups. Brown had the biggest upset of the tournament when she pinned Hillcrest returning state champion Eliza Zimmerman in the second period.

The Wasp depth was the difference in this meet as Wasatch qualified 21 wrestlers for state with two more at ninth place, or the alternate position.

Cedar Valley’s Arisna Stott (110), Rhya Balmforth (140) and Brinlee McArthur (145) claimed gold for the Aviators.

At the 5A Divisional B tournament, host Salem Hills stormed through the field scoring 333 points while second place Box Elder pointed 179. Local teams Springville (170) and Maple Mountain (135) finished third and fourth respectively in the 14-team divisional.

Addie Brindley (100), Kelseigh Banks (120), Paisley Nelson (125), Braylin Jones (130), and Avery Winterton (145) all won titles while silver medals were earned by Makayle Carrick (110), Hannah Lesher (135), Amelie Ledesma (140), Jessica Miller (155), and Jocelyn Hepler (190).

Salem Hills qualified 17 wrestlers for the big tournament.

Maple Mountain’s Aurelia Ramos (190) remained undefeated while other local titlists were Spanish Fork’s Sage Ross (135), and Springvilles Haylee Harris (155) and Hotai Valeti (170). Ramos will seek her third state title while Valeti is going for her fourth state title and has lost just once on the season.

At the 4A Divisional B tournament hosted by Green Canyon, Mountain View (214) finished third behind Bear River (360) and Stansbury (270.5). Makenzi McCoy (115) and Isla Baeza (130) won titles for the Bruins. Orem finished 12th out of 12 teams.

At the 4A Divisional A tournament, Payson and Provo were the only local teams and both finished ninth and tenth place respectively. Last year’s 4A state champions Mountain Crest bested Uintah, who won the 5A state title last season, to win the team title.

Canyon View and Grantsville easily won their 3A Divisional tournaments.

Boys wrestling

Three Utah County teams won their divisional tournaments in three different classifications this past weekend.

It was total Don domination as Spanish Fork crushed the competition at the 5A Divisional A tournament hosted by Maple Mountain. The Dons put 12 wrestlers in the finals and ended up with nine champions with Taegan Leavitt (106), Karson Shelley (120), Cahill Simons (132), Porter Olson (138), Edward Sears (144), Junior Wetzel (150), Ryker Olson (157), Alex Koyle (165) and Hyrum King (190). Leavitt defeated his own teammate Connor Simons to claim gold while Brody Vogelsberg (113) and Kyler Spencer (126) placed second.

“Each individual on our team is motivated to be their best, but our team is a family and they go to war for each other in every match too,” said Spanish Fork head coach Kip Spencer. “Our leaders are exactly what every team wants: they motivate, they dominate, and they appreciate everything.”

Spanish Fork ended up with 526 total points while runner-up Kearns scored 291. Viewmont pointed 268 while Salem Hills finished fourth in the 15-team field with 263.5 points.

Salem Hills Kaden Moore (175) did win the tourney from his fourth seed, while Maple Mountain’s Caleb Jackson climbed to the top of the podium at 113 pounds. Salem Hills had two runner-up finishes with Breyton Banks (120) and Daniel Schraedel (150) as Schraedel stormed through the bracket from his seventh seed.

Payson had a strong performance to win the 4A Divisional A tournament hosted by Green Canyon in Cache Valley.

Winning titles for the Lions were Daxton Jolley (106), Colton Theobald (144), Quayde Beck (165), and Landen Shurtleff (190). Payson was further bolstered by the runner-up finishes of Jonah Shaw (120), Barrick Beals (175) and Owen Cottle (215). Beals was seeded seventh and beat the second and third seeds to reach the finals.

“The boys wrestled tough this (past) weekend,” Payson head coach Jeb Clark said. “They are having fun and wrestling loose. I think they are ready for state.”

The Lions tallied 448.5 points to easily outpace Timpanogos with 300.5 to win the gold trophy. Timpanogos didn’t have an individual champion but Connor Knudsen (132) finished second. The returning 4A state champions Mountain Crest placed third at 293.5 points.

Westlake (314) and Pleasant Grove (270) were the top two teams at the 6A Divisional A meet hosted by Westlake.

The Thunder crowned five individual champions with Corbyn Robison (113), Israel Borge (126), Parker Ballantyne (138), Josh Fish (150) and Brayden Robison (157). Kaden Oldroyd (106), Trey Thompson (120), Zion Borge (132), Korbin Chuchran (144) and Colton Cook (215) bolstered Westlake’s point total with runner-up finishes.

Pleasant Grove’s Bradlee Farrer (165), Trevyn Gates (190) and Cayaen Smith (215) won titles, while Hixon Canto (157) and Jake Closson (175) claimed silver medals.

Though American Fork finished ninth out of nine teams in the divisional, the Cavemen had two wrestlers climb to the top of the podium with Hanks Jacobson (120) and Tege Kelley (144), while Skyridge’s Asher Millward (106) defeated Oldroyd in a thriller 6-5 to claim the title. Lone Peak’s Jared Smith won gold at 285 pounds while his Knight teammate Corban Atwood (126) was defeated by Westlake’s Israel Borge in the championship final.

Westlake head coach Jeff Newby was both pleased with the leadership of his older wrestlers combined with the talented younger wrestlers that continue to feed the Thunder program.

“The team wrestled well,” Newby said. “We have some great leaders on this team that have really stepped up. We had six freshmen qualify for state and that’s what I’m most excited about. Our program is continuing to get better each year and this is just the beginning.”

At the 5A Divisional B tournament hosted by Cedar Valley, Wasatch (354) finished second behind Box Elder (501). Meanwhile, Springville was a solid third with 240.5 points. The host school was just outside of the top five scoring 167.5 points to finish sixth.

Wasatch had four titlists with Ben Kohler (126), Daxton Bonner (138), Henry Hanssen (157) and Wyatt Hanssen (165). Wyatt Hansen, a freshman, won the tourney from his fifth seed. In an epic battle at 285 pounds, two state tournament runner-ups from last year met and Cyprus’ Skyler Armenta defeated Wasatch’s Austin McNaughton, 7-6. Also finishing second for Wasatch were Gage Anderson (106), Ryder Christensen (120), Max Richins (132), Jonah Ware (138), and Garrett Christensen (215). Ware, an unseeded sophomore, upset the third and second seeds to make the finals before falling to his own Wasp teammate in the championship finals.

Springville landed two wrestlers at the top of the podium with Davin Fedler (150) and Tevita Valeti (190) while Lisiate Valeti finished second at 175 pounds.

At the 4A Divisional B tournament, host Uintah (509.5) easily outpaced runner-up Bear River (311), but Mountain View finished a strong third with 291 points.

Mountain View had two individual champions with Glade Harman (132) and Isaac McGee (190) while freshman Hyrum Stafford placed second at 157 pounds. Orem’s Tayden Sau (285) also finished second for the Tigers.

At the 6A Divisional A meet hosted by Syracuse, Layton easily won the tournament with 355.5 points over second place Corner Canyon (272.5). Lehi finished sixth out of nine competing teams.

Juab and South Summit won their 3A Divisionals.

Complete results of these tournaments can be found at www.trackwrestling.com.

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