Back to the top: How Spanish Fork boys wrestling won its second straight 5A title
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- The Spanish Fork boys wrestling team poses for a photo after winning the state title at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Karson Shelley celebrates winning a state title at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Hyrum King competes against Salem Hills’s Kaden Moore in the 190-pound title match at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Ryker Olson celebrates winning a state title at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Porter Olson (top) competes in the 150-pound title match at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork fans cheer on their team at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Wasatch’s William Shallenberger (left) takes on Spanish Fork’s Taegan Leavitt in the 113-pound title match at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Karson Shelley competes in the 120-pound title match at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Ryker Olson competes in the 165-pound title match at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Hyrum King celebrates winning a state title at the 5A finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
Spanish Fork is the repeat winner in 5A wrestling and the Dons did it in dominating and record-breaking fashion.
For the second straight year, Spanish Fork (331) held off Box Elder (319.5) to win the gold trophy, while Wasatch was a strong third, scoring 211.5.
Karson Shelley (120 pounds) became the school’s first ever 4-time state champion. This Don team tied a school record with five individual state champions and set school records in finalists with nine and total placers with 14.
As for Shelley, he had no issues dispatching Roy’s Kaleb Blackner, scoring early and often en route to a 17-0 technical fall victory. And Blackner is no slouch, now a 3-time runner-up who came into the match with a 31-4 record. Shelley finished his 2024-25 season with a sparkling 47-3 mark.
“I’ve been wanting to do this (be a 4-time state champion) since I started wrestling in the first grade,” Shelley said. “It never really seemed possible until I started my freshman year. It’s amazing. I’m grateful. I am so grateful for wrestling.”
Shelley’s younger brother Easton (106) also took state. Just a sophomore, he won’t be a 4-time state champ like his brother mostly because he weighed just 80 pounds as a freshman. But little brother made his own statement by pinning Box Elder’s Rylan Winward in the third round. Easton Shelley finished his season with an impressive 42-5 mark.
As for Karson Shelley, he admitted that he gets more anxious for his younger brother than he does for his matches.
“I get way more nervous for him,” said Karson Shelley.
Spanish Fork might have also set the record for two sets of brothers taking state in the same tournament because later in the night Porter (150) and Ryker (165) Olson both climbed to the top of the podium.
Porter Olson won by an 8-0 major decision over West’s Ian Nielsen. It was their third meeting on the season, all won by Olson.
“It feels good,” Olson said of being on top after finishing second last year. “The whole team has been putting in the work, I’ve been putting in the work, so it all worked out.”
Ryker might be Porter’s younger brother but in this case he is two classes heavier and he came through with a huge 9-3 head-to-head victory over Box Elder’s Eli Jurgens. In fact, Ryker Olson beat two Bee wrestlers in the tournament, pinning Tayson Wylie in the semifinals.
Last year, the younger Olson took fourth in state but felt he was ready for the challenge this year because of his teammates and coaches.
“I just think harder working in the room, having good partners and a great team,” said Ryker Olson on the keys to his championship run. “I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Ryker Olson’s win put Box Elder in a tough spot and when Wasatch’s Wyatt Hanssen defeated Bee wrestler Logan Cefalo in the next weight class at 175 pounds, Spanish Fork mathematically clinched the title. The Dons put more icing on the cake when Hyrum King (190) won by 17-6 major decision over rival Kaden Moore of Salem Hills.
For head coach Kip Spencer, he was actually more confident this year even though going into the championship bouts Box Elder was actually ahead by one point.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Spencer. “Our kids have prepared so well. The last two weeks have been unbelievable at practice. I figured they would get it done.”
Wasatch actually helped things along though at first the Wasps hindered Spanish Fork when William Shallenberger won the 113-pound title at the expense of Spanish Fork’s Taegen Leavitt.
But then the Wasps ran off three straight wins against the Bees at 132, 138 and 144 pounds as Ben Kohler, Daxton Bonner and Max Richins claimed gold respectively. Hanssen’s win at 175 pounds gave Wasatch four wins over Box Elder in the championship bouts and five total over the top two teams. For Kohler, Bonner and Richins it was their second straight state title, and all four are juniors.
“It feels great,” Bonner said of his technical fall victory. “I just wanted to come out and put on a show for everybody. It’s an amazing feeling, I love getting that state title.”
Spanish Fork and Box Elder actually split their four head-to-head meetings. Box Elder’s Mason Bingham decisioned Kyler Spencer 2-0 at 126 pounds, while Easton Connelly won the 157-pound title by beating Jaxon Sorensen by technical fall. Connelly, along with Karson Shelley, were named the meet’s two most outstanding wrestlers while Kip Spencer was named 5A Coach of the Year.
Salem Hills finished fourth for the second straight season with 112 points while Springville (48.5) edged Maple Mountain by a single point to crack the top ten. Cedar Valley was 13th with 44.5 points while Timpview (18) was 22nd in the 28-school 5A field.
5A Notes: It appeared the Spanish Fork just had a one-point lead against Box Elder going into the final day of wrestling. During the semifinals Cahill Simons (138) had been initially disqualified after his match with Box Elder’s Bostyn Tucker and the 12 points he had earned by reaching the semifinals were stripped from the Dons. But then tournament officials rescinded the disqualification and the points were reinstated.
However, during his match with Tucker, which ended with the Bee grappler winning by technical fall, Simons was illegally slammed and awarded a point. He was later diagnosed with a concussion and then defaulted to sixth place. But those critical points gave the Dons a 13-point lead over Box Elder when the second day of wrestling started.
While reinstating Simons’ point was a win for the Dons, on the first day Spanish Fork received two byes in the first round. This cost the Dons four team points though head coach Kip Spencer argued that the state tournament is different from a regular tournament where there are byes.
His argument stems from the fact that two wrestlers had originally qualified for the tournament and should count as forfeit wins. In most cases an alternate wrestler can step into that spot but none could be found by weigh-in time so those spots became byes. So this meant, instead of getting four points for each match, they received just two points. In the end though, it didn’t matter.
And just how dominant were the top three teams? They won 13 out of the 14 weight classes.
Only Moroni Mahe (Hillcrest) prevented a three-school sweep when he beat Spanish Fork’s Preston Graver 5-2. Spanish Fork and Wasatch had five champions each and Box Elder had three. Wasatch went 5-0 in its championship matches, Spanish Fork 5-4 and Box Elder 3-6.
Beyond that, these programs had 23 out of the 28 finalists, claimed 36 of the available 84 medals with Spanish Fork and Box Elder having 14 each and Wasatch eight. This meant that the other 25 5A schools claimed 48 medals, or less than two medals per school on the average.
Complete results can be found at www.trackwrestling.com and the UHSAA website.
5A final results
106: Easton Shelley (Spanish Fork) 42-5 won by fall over Ryker Winward (Box Elder) 33-12 (Fall 4:48)
113: William Shallenberger (Wasatch) 26-6 won by decision over Taegan Leavitt (Spanish Fork) 41-8 (Dec 7-4)
120: Karson Shelley (Spanish Fork) 47-3 won by tech fall over Kaleb Blackner (Roy) 32-4 (TF-1.5 3:37 (17-0))
126: Mason Bingham (Box Elder) 43-6 won by decision over Kyler Spencer (Spanish Fork) 38-9 (Dec 2-0)
132: Benjamin Kohler (Wasatch) 43-7 won by major decision over Kolvin Thompson (Box Elder) 37-10 (MD 11-3)
138: Daxton Bonner (Wasatch) 36-10 won by tech fall over Bostyn Tucker (Box Elder) 36-11 (TF-1.5 2:42 (22-6))
144: Max Richins (Wasatch) 28-15 won by fall over Blake Buckway (Box Elder) 30-13 (Fall 2:47)
150: Porter Olson (Spanish Fork) 47-6 won by major decision over Ian Nielsen (West) 29-7 (MD 8-0)
157: Easton Connelly (Box Elder) 39-13 won by tech fall over Jaxon Sorenson (Spanish Fork) 35-11 (TF-1.5 5:10 (18-2))
165: Ryker Olson (Spanish Fork) 39-6 won by decision over Eli Jurgens (Box Elder) 29-7 (Dec 9-3)
175: Wyatt Hanssen (Wasatch) 45-9 won by tech fall over Logan Cefalo (Box Elder) 33-11 (TF-1.5 4:08 (20-4))
190: Hyrum King (Spanish Fork) 38-10 won by major decision over Kaden Moore (Salem Hills) 44-6 (MD 17-6)
215: Moroni Mahe (Hillcrest) 39-3 won by decision over Preston Graver (Spanish Fork) 32-19 (Dec 5-2)
285: Cody Kaleikini (Box Elder) 41-7 won by decision over Carter Rudolph (Roy) 35-6 (Dec 7-1)
