OREM — Juab coach Kevin Waldron knew his team had superior talent, but to edge Millard for the 2A state wrestling title, his team needed confidence.
The past two years, there was almost an inherent fear amongst Juab's wrestlers whenever they faced Millard. On paper they appeared even, but the results were a pair of championships for Millard and zero for the Wasps.
That all changed Saturday night at Utah Valley State College when Juab handily defeated Millard for the 2A championship by a total of 345-294. It was the school's first wrestling state title. South Summit (154.5), North Summit (147) and Beaver (100) rounded out the top five.
"I feel proud, but I also know that a lot of people have put a lot of time into the program," said Waldron, who took over the program five years ago. Before Waldron ever became the Wasps' head coach, Juab was considered a wrestling school, but it had never savored a championship.
The last two years it was within Juab's grasp, but both years Millard prevailed.
"The thing about this year's team is we have a lot of seniors, and they've been chasing Millard a few times," said Waldron, who was named coach of the year. "We set a goal at the beginning of the season that we weren't going to be chasing, we were going to make Millard chase us."
Eight Juab wrestlers participated in the finals, and the Wasps ensured that the Eagles never caught them with five victories. Millard actually had one more individual champion, but Juab's depth all week was too much to overcome.
Five individual titles will display very nicely next to a team title.
"Hard work and team unity, that was the difference this year," said Tanner Cowen after he beat South Summit's Kevin Grant. It was his second-straight individual championship. He's only a junior, so Cowen is eyeing a three-peat.
The other Juab repeat winner was Cody Mortensen. He won his second title by topping South Summit's Curtis Cox 11-2.
When asked if any of his athletes had any unique stories or overcame adversity along the way to a championship, Waldron said, "Not really. I wish we had a neat story, but we don't. What we have are some really hard workers."
The fastest victory of the evening belonged to Millard's Matt Anderson, who walked off the mat in tears afterward. He pinned Juab's Troy Pay in 1:05 at 119-pounds to win his third-straight championship. He was named the 2A lower weight outstanding wrestler.
The upper weight outstanding wrestler was Beaver's Rick Jarvis who pinned Juab's Bradee Beddoes in the second period.