Brian E. Preece, Herald correspondent

The 2024-25 wrestling season officially kicked off on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Provo High was the epicenter of some great wrestling at its 14th Annual Wrestling Against Cancer Duals.

Boys wrestling: Timpanogos showed that it will be a serious contender for a trophy in 4A with two statement wins against Layton and Westlake, the top two teams from 6A last season.

The Timberwolves opened their season with the match against Westlake first taking down the Thunder 42-27.

“We don’t really look at the rankings,” said Timpanogos head coach Alex Nicholes. “We don’t care if they’re ranked, we just care if the boys performed well. It was a good effort.”

The action started at 113 pounds and Ben Belliston earned a hard-fought 6-5 win against Hayden Ballantyne to get Timpanogos on the scoreboard first. Belliston’s teammate Simon Boyer (120 pounds) added a win by technical fall before Westlake countered with a win of its own by returning state champ Corbyn Robison at 126 pounds to trim the Timberwolf lead to 8-6.

Courtesy Rachel Page

Jamyne Xoumphonphackdy (132) then added another win by pin for the Thunder to put Westlake out in front 12-8. But it was here where Timpanogos took control of the dual, winning four of the five next matches as Conner Knudsen (138), Parker Harvey (145), Zack McCann (157) and Fisher Jolley were all victorious. Knudsen and Jolley both won by pin. This staked the Timberwolves out to a 28-17 lead.

Westlake’s Kaizen Detoles (175) temporarily halted the Timpanogos momentum with a 22-7 technical fall victory over Xander Carlson in a battle of returning state placers. This win pulled the Thunder within striking range at 28-22.

But Timpanogos slammed the door shut with wins at 190, 215 and 285 pounds by Micah Wilcox, Dallin Bowman, and Jesse King respectively. King won a close match defeating Colton Cook 6-5. Westlake picked up the last win of the dual when Kaden Oldroyd won at 106 pounds by technical fall.

In its match against Layton, Timpanogos overcame an early 20-12 deficit as strong performances in the middle and upper weights surged the Timberwolves to an eventual 44-28 victory over the Lancers.

Victorious grapplers for the Timberwolves were Simon Boyer (120), Conner Knudsen (138), Zack McCann (157), Fisher Jolley (165), Xander Carlson (175), Dallin Bowman (215), Jesse King (285) and Ben Belliston (113).

Though Westlake was a bit shorthanded without returning state champions Zion Borge and Josh Fish, along with Borge’s younger brother Israel who placed second in state, the Thunder did bring its new head coach Blake Mangum a victory when Westlake routed Mountain Crest, 73-6. Double winners on the day for the Thunder were Oldroyd (106), Robison (126), Xoumphonphackdy (132), and Detoles (175).

Layton, missing some of its top talent in returning state champion Noah Bull and silver medalist

Gavin Regis still had enough firepower to get past Mountain View, 42-33.

Mountain View did bounce back to defeat Skyridge 59-16. Double winners Tuesday for the Bruins were returning state champ Glade Harman (138), along with Hyrum Stafford (175), Isaac McGee (215), and Jonathan Herring (285).

Mountain View actually competed the next day at the Davis Turkey Dart Duals going 5-0 to win the tournament as both Harman and McGee won all of their individual bouts.

Mountain View’s JV or B team also competed at the Wrestling Against Cancer Duals and won both their duals against varsity teams West 45-35, and Timpview 51-23. Benson Terry (165) and Traven Blevins (190) pocketed two wins for the Bruins.

In other boys action, Timpview defeated rival Provo 36-35, West whipped Provo 54-30, Maple Mountain bested Brighton 46-32, while Springville slipped past Brighton 42-38 but were defeated by Skyridge 48-30.

Other local wrestlers winning both of their bouts at the Wrestling Against Cancer Duals were Provo’s Lincoln Grow (126), Christian Beesley (132), Briton Beesley (138) Axel Greer (157); Skyridge’s Jacob Millward (120), Nathaniel Terrazas (157); Springville’s Caden Lacy (106), Dallas Zobell (113), Tuiono Valeti (215); Timpview’s Guy Bowman (106), Enoc Oteo Torgenson (144).

Girls wrestling: Cedar Valley showed why it will be a serious contender in 5A girls wrestling when it went 2-0 in its duals at the Wrestling Against Cancer event at Provo last Wednesday, along with a 48-34 victory over Salem Hills to open its season on Tuesday.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Aviator head coach Eric Gonzalez. “We have a lot of work to do but we’re really excited about this group.”

Cedar Valley lost three state champions from its team last year which placed third in 5A but again the Aviator program is showing good numbers in their program and restocking their talent.

“Anytime you lose three state champs, yeah man, it’s a rebuilding type of thing but we feel really good about this group,” added Gonzalez.

Cedar Valley opened up the competition at Provo with a strong 59-6 win over Riverton, and then in the last dual meet of the afternoon, defeated Layton 45-26.

Giovanna Good (135), Alexandra Gates (140), Rhya Balmforth (145), Hallie Denny (155), Inaily Samaniego (170), and Asinate Mafuahingaro (235) won both their matches at the Wrestling Against Cancer Duals for the Aviators.

In other dual meets involving county teams Springville beat Mountain View 42-30 but lost to Canyon View 65-17, Provo beat West 30-30 on criteria but fell short against Brighton 36-30, while Layton downed Mountain View 41-30.

Other local wrestlers winning both their bouts Wednesday were Mountain View’s Ximena Melendez (110), Johana Espinosa (115); Provo’s Lacy Greer (120), Ella Reynolds (135); Springville’s Rachel Jensen (145), Brooke Gehring (175). Orem’s Sophia Johnson wrestled unattached and went 2-0 as well.