SANDY — Jaren Day's individual title at the Region 2 wrestling tournament was not unexpected. After all, Day is a two-time state champion and a team captain for Alta. He beat Brighton's K.C. Nate in the finals with a 9-7 decision in overtime. The timing of the win just exemplified the type of tournament it turned out to be for the Hawks.
The results speak for themselves. Alta ran away with the team title at 248.5 points, 82 points ahead of second-place Brighton at 346.5. Jordan was third with 260.5, followed by Skyline at 129, Taylorsville's 92.5 and Hillcrest's 80.5.
Day and Nate have battled back-and-forth all year. The pair ending up splitting the matches to this point — another match-up at the state tournament would not be surprising — and have traded spots as the top-ranked wrestler in 5A at the 135-pound classification three times. It just happened to be Day's time to shine with the most important match thus far.
"We always have good battles," Day said of his rivalry with Nate. "I think I could have wrestled better. I need to work on my mental aspect. I kind of let him dictate how that match went, and when I do that, I usually lose to him. I just got a break today and was able to get the title."
Alta clearly had its best tournament of the year. The Hawks churned out the points with their studs — they led the way with six individual champions: Zac Eddington (103), Brandon Merrill (119), Ryan Green (130), Jaren Day (135), Weston Maurer (140) and Steve Michels (145) — and they clobbered the competition with their second-varsity wrestlers coming through after losing.
"We wrestled really well," said coach Barry Harrington. "We had so many guys step up and come through the back door really hard for us. It was the most complete effort we've had."
Alta pushed 19 wrestlers through to the state tournament. That kind of number makes the Hawks instant contenders for a title. If they can get the same type of effort as the region tournament, Alta could upset the top-ranked teams from Region 1 such as Weber or Viewmont. Even should the team stumble, there is no taking away that the Hawks showed they were the class of this region for this tournament.
"I think we really pulled through," said Day. "We won all the individual battles, and that eventually won us the war."
Brighton finished second in the points and in individual winners. That number is a little disappointing, however, considering the Bengals had 11 wrestlers in the finals. Jaes Jones (112), Shafer (152), Talan Knox (160) and Junior Salt (275) all grabbed No. 1 seeds for the state tournament, and 13 other teammates secured a spot somewhere in the field.
"I think we did pretty well," said coach Ted Sierer. "We simply can't compete with the depth of Alta. What it boils down to is the overall numbers, but for our varsity and as far as qualifying for state, we are right where we want to be."
Jordan had two individual winners in Chayden Young (171) and Jordan Lundstrom (215) and seven other qualifiers. According to coach Christian Babinsky, the Beetdiggers' finish was, "about what we expected."
Skyline had an individual champion in Jon Gappmier (125), and Jason Winward (119) and Roger Tingey (130) qualified for state. Taylorsville did not have an individual champion, but C.J. Coggins (103), Kevin Cook (119), Collin Backlund (189) and Kyle Olson (275) all got into this week's state tournament. Hillcrest qualified individual champion Eric McCallister (189), and also Joel Parry (152) and Tyson Hake (145) will compete in the state tournament.
WRESTLING
Region 2
Feb. 1-2
Team results
1, Alta 428.5; 2, Brighton 346.5; 3, Jordan 260.5; 4, Skyline 129; 5, Taylorsville 92.5; 6, Hillcrest 80.5.
Individual results
103 — 1, Zac Eddington, Alta; 2, Cody Wharton, Jordan; 3, Connor Meadow, Brighton; 4, C.J.Coggins, Taylorsville.
112 — 1, Jaes Jones, Brighton; 2, Paul Cox, Brighton; 3, Ethan Roberts, Alta; 4, Joe Green, Alta.
119 — Brandon Merrill, Alta; 2, Jason Winward, Skyline; 3, Matt Hood, Alta; 4, Kevin Cook Taylorsville.
125 — 1, Jon Gappmier, Skyline; 2, Bo Beckman, Brighton; 3, Luke Rasmussen, Alta; 4, Carlin Kennelly, Jordan.
130 — 1, Ryan Green, Alta; 2, Ky Lucero, Brighton; 3, Jon Martin, Alta; 4, Roger Tingey, Skyline.
135 — 1, Jaren Day, Alta; 2, K.C. Nate, Brighton; 3, Carson Walker, Alta; 4, Tyler Best Brighton.
140 — 1, Weston Maurer, Alta; 2, Hayden Moss, Jordan; 3, Chris Concha, Brighton; 4, Jono Balk, Brighton.
145 — 1, Steve Michels, Alta; 2, Brady Walker, Brighton; 3, Brandon Poulson, Jordan; 4, Brantley Dunn, Alta.
152 — 1, Cole Shafer, Brighton; 2, Ryan Prater, Alta; 3, Joel Parry, Hillcrest; 4, Jake Clement, Alta.
160 — 1, Talan Knox, Brighton; 2, Jeff Turner, Alta; 3, Josh Roberts, Alta; 4, Mark Johnson, Jordan.
171 — 1, Chayden Young, Jordan; 2, Quin Andrizzi, Alta; 3, Tanner Godfrey, Alta; 4, Bryan Griffith, Brighton.
189 — 1, Eric McCallister, Hillcrest; 2, Colby Barber, Brighton; 3, Nate Ballard, Jordan; 4, Collin Backlund, Taylorsville.
215 — 1, Jordan Lundstrom, Jordan; 2, Zaid Haddadin, Brighton; 3, Brad Godinet, Jordan; 4, Zac Allan, Alta.
275 — 1, Junior Salt, Brighton; 2, Spencer Cook, Jordan; 3, Kyle Olson, Taylorsville; 4, Matt Scholl, Jordan.
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com