OREM — After the 4A state championship wrestling tournament came to a conclusion at Utah Valley University on Thursday night, there was absolutely no doubt which team reigned king above all others.
The Box Elder Bees not only won their first state championship since 2005 after four-second place finishes in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, but they won in dominating fashion, making it look easier than washing the dishes or taking out the trash — beating out Maple Mountain by a score of 312-182.
"This feels really good, several firsts for me," said Box Elder coach Mike Ripplinger, who was voted as the 4A coach of the year. "First of all we won, which was fun. We had 15 state placers and I've been stuck at 12 for a long time; we've had 12 I think 10 times, but we've never been able to get over.
"I told the kids that was my goal, to break the barrier, and we did that. The other fun thing is we had five state champions, which is tied for the most since I've been coaching."
Payson (167.5), Mountain Crest (161.5) and Uintah (134.0) rounded out the top five teams.
Although the championship was never in question after the Bees posted a tournament-high 138 points after the first day — surpassing the nearest team by nearly 50 points — Box Elder still came out with a contagious swagger that was clearly noticeable.
One of the matchups that caught the eye of many was the meeting between Box Elder's Koleton Hardy, who came into the championship round with an undefeated record and a high school All-American label, facing Zach Coffman of Tooele, who also sported an outstanding resume with a 57-2 record.
However, to great surprise, fans got to watch the vaunted match for all of 56 seconds.
Hardy, who was able to force Coffman into a corner, saw a glimpse opening for a cradle move and attacked like a shark that smelled blood, pinning Coffman to claim the title in the 152-pound title.
"I feel great, undefeated season, team (took) state — couldn't have gone better," stated Hardy, who finished with a 50-0 record. "It feels amazing, I mean I can't remember the last Box Elder kid to go undefeated."
"I mean that's what you try to do," continued Hardy. "I just went out and did what I was supposed to do. I did what the plan in my mind was, and that was take him down and cradle him. I wasn't expecting a pin (though)."
In the 171-pound division, Payson's Brady Loveless, who came into the contest with a flawless 46-0 record, squared off against Olympus' Brandon McBride, who had only suffered one setback with a 44-1 record.
As the seconds continued to tick through the second period, McBride seemed to only get stronger, holding Loveless in a down position for nearly 90 seconds and pushing the score to 7-1.
And when Loveless seemed to sustain a shoulder injury, McBride made the first-place medal his own.
Maple Mountain's Brandon George (103) and Britian cArter (112), Payson's Mitch Brown (119) and Jed Mellen (125), Maple Mountain's Grant LaMont (130), Box Elder's Rasten Yeates (135) and Cody Bunderson (140), Sky View's Brayden Anderson (145), Box Elder's Koleton Hardy (152), Tooele's Thomas Manning (160), Olympus' Brandon McBride (171), East's Aaron Kuttler (189), and Box Elder's Sean Smith (215) and Shane Hardy (285) each garnered state titles.
In the lower weights, Yeates was named the most outstanding wrestler, and McBride was awarded in the upper weights.
e-mail: tphibbs@desnews.com