Utah Valley High School Wrestling Rewind: Elite performances highlight huge week of competition
- Keilikki Rarick of Westlake (top) competes during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Isaac McGee of Mountain View (left) and Ridge Lindley of Fremont compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Westlake’s Corbyn Robison (top) and Spanish Fork’s Karson Shelley compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Elle Jensen of Maple Mountain (left) and Brooke Deeter of West Field compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Wrestlers compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Wrestlers compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Westlake’s Jamyne Xoumphonphackdy (top) competes against Milford’s Boston Thompson during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Wrestlers compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Wrestlers compete during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
- Westlake’s Jamyne Xoumphonphackdy competes against Milford’s Boston Thompson during the 2025 Ross Brunson All-Star Dual at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2025.
The last week was a big one in prep wrestling with the Ross Brunson All-Star Dual on Wednesday and then the state’s largest invitational tournament this past weekend with the Rockwell Rumble.
And this is what we learned and didn’t learn.
We learned that Wasatch has the best girls wrestling team in the state regardless of classification. The Wasps won the Rockwell with 212.5 points while Bear River pointed 175. In between those teams and earning the silver trophy was Grand Junction Central out of Colorado.
Last year Wasatch showed off its depth to win the 5A title but didn’t crown an individual champion. Now some of those Wasp wrestlers have matured and with the great coaching provided by Hailey Corona and her staff, some of these wrestlers are now showing off their star power by winning big tournaments. One of those was Regan Heywood who won the 130-pound title at the Rockwell Rumble.
Wasatch also got a nice move-in with Mackenzi McCoy (125 pounds), who placed second in 4A last season for Mountain View. McCoy placed third at 125 pounds at the Rockwell Rumble as well as winning at the All-Star Dual. Marabelle Brown also won at the All-Star and finished third for the Wasp at 120 pounds this past weekend.
Girls wrestling among county teams in 5A is also very strong. Cedar Valley finished fourth and Salem Hills eighth in the 50-team Rockwell Rumble field.
Hailey (155) and Rylyn (235) Denney placed second for the Aviators while Avery Winterton climbed to the top of the podium at 145 pounds for Salem Hills this past weekend.
Westlake with Rarick sisters Tevia (190) and Keilikki (235), who each won Rockwell Rumble titles, will be right in the middle of the mix in the 6A race. Westlake finished fifth overall and were the top 6A team. This classification is completely wide open and Westlake is among several contenders that include Copper Hills, Corner Canyon, Herriman, Mountain Ridge, and Syracuse.
No valley teams are likely to contend in 4A though Mountain View is looking for a top five finish. Uintah is the strong favorite in 4A.
On the boy’s wrestling front, we learned that 6A teams Layton and Westlake are the two best teams in the state regardless of classification and the battle for the gold trophy might be pretty close this year. Layton has won the last two 6A titles. Westlake won its first trophy in boys wrestling with a second-place finish last year and the Thunder are trying to close the gap on the Lancers.
But how slim the margin might be isn’t exactly known. Both teams sat out two big scoring wrestlers at the Rockwell Rumble as Israel (138) and Zion (132) Borge didn’t go for Westlake while Geronimo Rivera (138) and Ethan Sweet (215/285) didn’t compete for Layton.
At the Rockwell Rumble, Layton and Westlake finished second and third respectively behind SLAM Academy out of Las Vegas but were a good distance ahead of any other teams even with missing wrestlers likely to place or even win their weight classes at the state tournament.
Westlake’s Kaden Oldroyd won the 98-pound weight class while Kaizen Detoles climbed to the top of the podium at 165 pounds. Jamyne Xoumphonphackdy (126) and Josh Fish (150) placed second for the Thunder. It should be noted that the 98-pound class existed for the Rockwell Rumble only but Oldroyd is certainly a top contender at 106 pounds.
It’s also again evident that 6A wrestling is really the strongest division in boys wrestling with a lot of great wrestlers that will play spoilers in the team race. One of these elite wrestlers will be Pleasant Grove’s Bradlee Farrer who won the Rockwell Rumble title at 175-pounds. Farrer’s teammate Ian Fritz (157) and American Fork’s Tege Kelley (150) will contend in their weight classes as well. Both Fritz and Kelley placed third last weekend at the Rockwell Rumble.
In 5A boys, Spanish Fork remains the team to beat. The Dons finished fifth at Rockwell Rumble while Wasatch finished eighth. Meanwhile, last year’s 5A runner-up Box Elder was 12th. Wasatch might have more star power and Box Elder might have the numbers and depth but Spanish Fork has a good combination of both. Brothers Easton and Karson Shelley placed second in their weight classes for the Dons.
Wasatch’s Ben Kohler (132) had a great tournament finishing second and actually avenging his loss at the All-Star Dual beating Mountain View’s Glade Harman 10-4 in the quarterfinals.
Speaking of Mountain View, they might have the inside edge on rival Timpanogos for a trophy in the 4A wars. Uintah, which hosted and won the Tournament of Champions this past weekend, remains the favorite in 4A though the gap between them and Mountain View and Timpanogos might not be as large as many people think.
Mountain View finished ninth at the Rockwell Rumble while Timpanogos tied for 19th in the 67-team field. Mountain View placed five athletes while the Timberwolves had two grapplers win medals.
Isaac McGee placed second at 215 pounds for the Bruins losing to Fremont’s Ridge Lindley. The two also met at the All-Star Dual but in the championship finals of the Rockwell Rumble, McGee was much more competitive, losing 5-3.
Even with all this said, it is important to realize not to put too much stock in how teams finish in the Rockwell Rumble. This tournament has most of the best teams across all six classifications as well as some high-quality out-of-state teams and wrestlers.
Meanwhile, with six classifications, competition is watered down in the Beehive State. In a tournament like the Rockwell Rumble, star power goes a lot further where in the state tournament depth, and just sheer numbers of qualifiers, play a much bigger role.
Also, 4A and 5A will allow two wrestlers to score per weight class but 1A, 2A, 3A, and 6A only score one wrestler per weight class though two athletes may qualify at divisionals for the state tournament. This gives the state tourney an entirely different dynamic. Mountain View has a very strong JV team and placed second at the Rockwell Rumble and they hope they have the edge over their rival Timpanogos in any battle for a trophy.
In 6A boys both Layton and Westlake have strong JV wrestlers while in girls wrestling Wasatch will have the edge there against both Cedar Valley and Salem Hills who have smaller squads. Since in 5A two wrestlers per weight class can score points, the Wasps will have a big advantage over their competition.
Though the past week had great wrestling competition, the sport also took time to reflect and remember the fallen. Payson honored Chris Loveless and his family before its dual meet with Juab on Thursday. Loveless passed away suddenly last season at age 50. Loveless led Payson to back-to-back state titles in 2009 and 2010.
Boys Big-Time Performance of the Week: Pleasant Grove’s Bradlee Farrer has truly tested himself wrestling in the Walsh Ironman in Ohio, the Doc Buchanan in California and the Rockwell Rumble, where he won the gold medal. The Viking wrestler ran his record to 23-2 going 5-0 at The Rumble. Farrer placed second in 6A state last season but won the 2023 tournament as a sophomore. After four easy wins, Farrer had a tough test but beat South Summit’s Ben Smith 5-3 in the championship final. Smith, by the way, is going for his third 3A state title and has a sparkling 31-3 record himself.
Boys Match of the Week: Westlake’s Kaizen Detoles won the 165-pound title at the Rockwell Rumble by defeating Will Stewart of Fruita Monument, Colorado. After a scoreless first period, Stewart actually took a 4-0 lead with an escape and takedown. Detoles earned a reversal at the end of the round to make it 4-2. This all set up the wild third period where Detoles escaped, then earned a takedown and a two-point nearfall to surge ahead 7-4. Detoles was penalized a point for stalling and also gave up an escape but held on to win a thriller, 7-6.
Girls Big-Time Performance of the Week: Freshman sensation Tevia Rarick of Westlake kept her undefeated record intact going 4-0 at the Rockwell Rumble. Rarickn now 16-0 on the season with 16 pins, had three first period wins and then pinned Mountain Home Idaho’s Amie Hartman in the third round of her championship final to claim gold. Rarick also won her bout at the Ross Brunson All-Star Dual with a first period pin over Bear River’s Sydnee Nielson, who has placed third in the last three 3A state tournaments.
Girls Match of the Week: Though Rylyn Denney placed second at the Rockwell Rumble to Westlake’s Keilikki Rarick, she had to win a nailbiter in the semifinals against Bear River’s Brighton Wise, 4-3. Wise scored two penalty points and an escape for her three points but Denney turned Wise for a 4-point nearfall in the third period which eventually provided enough points for the win. This victory provided big time points for Cedar Valley as the Aviators fought for a trophy at the Rockwell Rumble.