In the sport of wrestling fathers often coach sons and Skyridge head coach Lyle Mangum did just that when at Lone Peak he coached his son Blake. But now, the two are leading their own 6A programs and coaching against each other.

The younger Mangum coaches at Westlake and the Thunder are right in the thick of the team race. Blake Mangum took over Westlake’s program this season for Jeff Newby.

Meanwhile, Lyle Mangum has been the only coach in Skyridge’s history starting when the school opened up in 2016. And before that he was the longtime coach at Lone Peak.

Blake Mangum is actually on his second stint as a head coach as he led the Salem Hills program for a year but moved to the Alpine district where he assisted Newby before ascending to the lead coach.

Lyle Mangum does realize that Skyridge, though not a threat to win a state title, can still be a thorn in the side of his son’s team and their gold trophy dreams.

For example, on the first day alone, Westlake and Skyridge wrestlers met and each school won twice and lost twice.

“I want them (Westlake) to win the state title, but I want my kids to succeed,” Lyle Mangum said. “As long as my kids battle and his kids battle then I’m fine with it.”

The older Mangum is definitely proud of his son.

“I’m happy for his successes and he’s a great technician, one of the best, so I hope they have success. He’s done a good job this year,” Lyle Mangum said.

“Coaching against my Dad is fun,” said Blake Mangum, who said it wasn’t always easy wrestling for his dad because of their competitiveness. But the younger Mangum also said there were some benefits such as the two can help each other when scouting wrestlers from other teams.

“We definitely share information. We can talk techniques and strategies against certain kids,” said the younger Mangum.

When it comes to wrestling each other’s teams Blake Mangum related, “I just want to make sure our kids are respectful.”

6A Notes: Layton (110) has the lead over challengers Westlake (98.5) and Corner Canyon (88) after day one, but the tournament is far from settled. Unlike the 4A/5A tournaments that held their semifinals and blood round matches to place on the first day of competition, the 6A will hold off on these until the second day of competition or today. This means a lot of points are still up for grabs.

Layton penetrated nine wrestlers to the semifinals while Westlake and Corner Canyon each pushed eight.

Right off the bat there will be a huge semifinal match-up between Westlake’s Kaden Oldroyd and Corner Canyon’s Kacen Jones at 106 pounds. Both met at the Ross Brunson All-Star Dual with Jones winning by pin. But Oldroyd did have some success early in the match against the Charger grappler.

Westlake’s Corbyn Robison (120) will hope to test Layton’s Lander Bosh. Bosh is considered the favorite but Robison is a returning state champion.

Robison’s Thunder teammate Jamyne Xoumphonphackdy (126) will face off against Riverton’s Samuel Moody.

There will be a big semifinal match-up at 157 pounds between Westlake’s Korbin Chuchran and Layton’s Gavin Regis. Neither has won a state title but they have been close. Chuchran, a senior, has been second twice and third once and Regis, a junior, has also been a runner-up and taken third.

One key semifinal for Westlake will put Josh Fish (150 pounds) against American Fork’s Tege Kelley. Fish is the returning state champion in this weight but Kelley beat Fish two years ago to win a state title. The winner’s likely opponent is Layton’s Noah Bull, also a returning state champ.

Pleasant Grove had a solid finish and sits in sixth place with four wrestlers through to the semifinals.

The Vikings Bradlee Farrer (175) entered the tournament as the prohibitive favorite and is ranked tenth in the country after placing in two prestigious tournaments against the nation’s elite. Farrer won both of his matches easily on Thursday with two pins. He will now face Shepard Stephens of Davis.

Farrer’s teammates Caleb Jackson (132), Mason Bingham (138) and Ian Fritz (157) also reached the semifinals.

Jackson, a returning state champion at the 5A level, will take on Westlake’s Curtis Borge, the actual 6A returning champion in this weight. However, Layton’s Geronimo Rivera, a 3-time state champion is the man to beat and will take on Corner Canyon’s Parker Garcia in the other semifinal.

Bingham could help Westlake’s cause if he can beat Layton’s Cole Fenwick, while Israel Borge deals with American Fork’s Hanks Jacobson in the other semifinal.

Jacobson’s Caveman teammate Micah Murdoch (144) hopes to be a thorn in Layton’s side as he takes on tournament favorite Logan Crowther of Layton.

In another intra-county battle Westlake’s Kaizen Detoles (165) will take on Lone Peak’s Luke Skousen in a match that Westlake will desperately need for a title run.

Lone Peak’s Ethan Templeton (215), Jared Smith (285), and Patrick O’Bannon (285) also made the semifinals and Smith will wrestle his teammate O’Bannon for the right to go to championship finals. Unfortunately, unlike the 4A and 5A classifications, only one wrestler per weight can score team points.

Lone Peak sits in eighth, American Fork ninth, Skyridge 11th, and Lehi 17th in the 18-team 6A field. Skyridge’s Jacob Millward (113) made the semifinals and will take on Perry Fowler of Syracuse.

In the 3A boys tournament, Juab (124) has staked itself to a nice lead over second place South Summit (93). Delta (88.5), Canyon View (87.5) and Morgan (82) are in a tight battle within the top five.

Complete results and brackets can be found at www.trackwrestling.com.