The high school wrestling season is gearing up this month with big tournaments across the state, and even though a lot of kids are still trying to cut weight, and coaches are very much still juggling their varsity lineups, it’s no mystery who the teams to beat are.
Pleasant Grove, Wasatch, Delta and Duchesne are four defending state champs who are favored to repeat again this season, while a new front runner has emerging in 3A with UHSAA realignment.
Having the bull’s-eye on its back in December doesn’t guarantee a team success in February though, which should make the next two months of the high school wrestling season very exciting.
Here’s a class-by-class look at what to expect this season.
Class 5A
It’s time for Pleasant Grove to start working on its other hand.
The Vikings have won five straight 5A state championships, and despite graduated a bunch of seniors off of last year’s championship team, they’re heavily favored in 5A yet again.
Even though there’s some inexperience, coach Brock Moore really likes he team and he said one of the key’s to Pleasant Grove’s success if never becoming complacent.
“You’ve got to constantly evolve, and can’t stay stagnant. Wrestling styles are always evolving and you’ve got to evolve,” said Moore, who said winning never gets old. “It’s still fun. We try and incorporate new stuff and adapt and change. We try and change our stuff every three weeks.”
Pleasant Grove returns two state champs from last season, and one in particular is looking to leave his mark in the record books. Senior Ben Anderson will be going for his fourth state championship this year, and Moore said it’s no accident he’s been so dominant.
“He’s got a great work ethic. He never misses a day of lifting. He picks good partners to work with.”
Koy Wilkinson is also a returning state champ for Pleasant Grove.
Nelson Jones is another wrestling the Vikings will lean heavily on for points this year. He won a state title as a sophomore for Pleasant Grove, but was injured in last year’s state meet.
Layton, Davis and Herriman should push each other for second, while Mountain Crest could play a role once the state meet rolls around as it makes the jump from 4A.
Other returning state placers in 5A are American Fork’s Cameron Hunsaker, Davis’ Wyatt Koelling and Herriman’s Wade French.
Class 4A
A year after halting its five-year title drought, Wasatch and its 10 returning state placers look to make it two straight in 4A.
Once again, it will be watching closely over its shoulder at Maple Mountain. Wasatch beat the Golden Eagles by 28 points at last year’s state meet, and Maple Mountain coach Justin Judkins said that’s how it could finish again this year.
“I don’t think there’s a whole lot up in the air. I think Wasatch is heavily favored and rightly so and I think it’s our job to step up and try and knock them off,” said Judkins.
Wasatch already won the Layton Invitational and finished with a perfect record at last weekend’s Wasatch Intermountain Duels. Both programs will find out a lot about themselves when they meet for a duel meet this Wednesday.
Wasatch’s long returning state champ is Braiden Parker, while Maple Mountain returns two with Tanner Cox and Taylor Lamont.
The only other returning state champ in 4A is Brock Hardy from Box Elder.
Even though Class 4A appears to be a two-horse race between Wasatch and Maple Mountain, realignment has injected some uncertainty into the classification. Mountain Crest made the jump to 5A, while defending 3A champ Payson and Uintah are bumping up from 3A.
“Payson and Uintah coming up from 4A will shake things up a little bit. I really think so,” said Judkins.
Class 3A
The last time a school not named Delta, Payson or Wasatch won a 3A wrestling title was 1999 when Uintah won back-to-back titles.
That will change this year thanks to realignment. Two-time 3A champ Payson was bumped up to 4A this year, and that opens the door for teams that were always chasing second to suddenly be in the state title conversation.
The leader of that pack appears to be Juab. It placed second at state to Payson the past two years, and features returning individual state champ Ashton Seely. It’s been over a decade since Juab last captured a state title when it won the 2A crown in 2005.
Brier Bryan and Gentry Warner are a couple of other Juab wrestlers with high expectations this year.
Tooele and Morgan are two programs who hope to be in the mix once February rolls around.
The only other returning individual state champ in 3A is Bear River junior Holden Richards.
Class 2A
After graduating five state champs, surely this is the year Delta’s streak comes to an end, right?
Probably not.
The seven-time state champs will definitely be young, with three or four freshman featuring in the varsity lineup, but coach Jason Thomas still expects to be right in the hunt at state.
“You have high expectations every year. The kids who have been around a few years, they kind of know what it takes,” said Thomas. “They come in every year and knowing what we expect. They don’t want to be the team that doesn’t get it done. It’s always a bit of a sell to the freshman, but it doesn’t take long.”
Delta’s long returning state champs this year are a couple of juniors, Jason Hatch and Brett Walker.
Already this year they’ve led the Rabbits to a dual-meet win over its toughest 2A competitor Millard, 31-29.
“Millard’s tough as always. Neither of us has our lineups set right now, though."
South Summit is another team that could play a role in the state meet at UVU next February, led by returning champ Matt Lee.
There are eight total returning state champs in 2A, which means there will likely be a bunch of repeat champs in a few months. Other returning champs are: Jaxon Coles (North Summit), Randon Pentz (North Summit), McKade Cox (Gunnison), Kyle Evans (Beaver) and McCoy Christiansen (Emery).
Class 1A
Duchesne captured its first state crown since 2008 with a narrow victory over Altamont at last year’s state meet, and Altamont coach Cory Allred expects another close battle this year.
“(Class) 1A is very strong. It looks tough. It’s going to be a tough race,” said Allred.
Duchesne and its two returning state champs, David VanTassell and Wesley Kota Powell, are the early favorites to repeat in 1A, but Allred fully expects that Altamont and Monticello will be right in the thick of things at state.
Allred said it’s been a little weird not to have a returning state champ, something the program hasn’t had in numerous years, but he really likes how the newcomers are progressing.
One of those newcomers is freshman McKay Foy, who looks to follow in his older brothers footsteps as great Altamont wrestlers.
Other returning state champs in 1A are Panguitch’s Kolton Owens, Monticello’s Zac Musselman and Piute’s Austin Trapp.
Deseret News prep editor and Real Salt Lake beat writer. EMAIL: jedward@deseretnews.com