OREM — Unlike wrestlers from the other classifications of high school wrestling, 1A wrestlers power through as many rounds as possible the first day of competition, the result being a final day reserved solely for state championships. At the conclusion of day one at the UCCU center Friday, two old and familiar foes stood head and shoulders above the rest, the Altamont Longhorns and the Duchesne Eagles.
With team scores of 138.5 and 134, respectively, Altamont and Duchesne are about as evenly matched wrestling programs as you will find. The similarities go deeper than the team scores, however.
Both programs advanced seven wrestlers to title matches, with four of those matches featuring a Longhorn against an Eagle.
One such match, pitting Altamont’s Mckay Foy (145) against Matthew Taylor (145) of Duchesne, features two wrestlers who racked up four pins between each other in only a few hours of competition.
Foy and Taylor weren’t alone in this, though, as almost every single finalist recorded at least one pin en route to his berth in a title match.
“They wrestled pretty hard,” Altamont coach Sanderson said, in a statement that could be applied to all of the finalists. “Most of the kids we have are young, so some of them wrestled better than expected.
“McKay Foy looks pretty tough, and Cody Miles (195) looked pretty tough as well.”
Other Longhorns finalists included Dean Thompson (120), who Sanderson singled out for his effort, Jessen McKinnon (132), Danny Thompson (138), Wyatt Jessen (160), and Domanik Stansfield (182).
“If these kids show up then we should be OK,” said Sanderson. “We should have a shot at the title.”
Aside from Taylor, the Eagles were led by Colby Harper (113), who recorded two quick pins, David VanTassell (120), who very well may have been the most impressive Eagle on the evening, as well as Stockton Moat (160).
In total, the Eagles were almost as impressive as the Longhorns, and as defending champions, will have an excellent chance at defending their throne.
In other 1A action, Monticello finished in third place, with a score of 89, and placed four wrestlers in the finals, including star Zac Musselman (138). Musselman has been outstanding all season long, with 40 plus wins to prove it and continued his stellar season Friday. The Buckaroos had a difficult route to the finals, though, between a first-round matchup with David Jessup of Piute and a quarterfinal bout against Altamont’s Tristen Green. Green gave Musselman quite the battle, but the Monticello star was able to pull out the 14-4 win.
Panguitch ended the evening in fourth place, with 85.5 points, led by finalists such as Jonah Schoppe (106) and Kaden Beckstead (113).
Milford rounded out the top five with 30 points.
Class 1A
Team Scores
1. Altamont 138.5; 2. Duchesne 134.0; 3. Monticello 89.0; 4. Panguitch 85.5; 5. Milford 30.0; 6. Bryce Valley 22.0; 6. Rich 22.0; 8. Wayne 20.0; 9. Parowan 18.0; 10. Monument Valley 4.0; 10. Whitehorse 4.0.
Saturday’s finals
106 — Jonah Schoppe, Panguitch vs. Karson Wunderlich, Milford.
113 — Kaden Beckstead, Panguitch vs. Colby Harper, Duchesne.
120 — Dean Thompson, Altamont vs. David VanTassell, Duchesne.
126 — Kolton Owens, Panguitch vs. Stetson Wright, Milford.
132 — Jessen McKinnon, Altamont vs. Shandon Bradford, Monticello.
138 — Danny Thompson, Altamont vs. Zac Musselman, Monticello
145 — Mckay Foy, Altamont vs. Matthew Taylor, Duchesne.
152 — Brayson Wilcox, Monticello vs. Stockton Moat, Duchesne.
160 — Wyatt Jessen, Altamont vs. Steven Skewes, Duchesne.
170 — Kellen Mooney, Panguitch vs. Reagan Hunt, Parowan.
182 — Domanik Stansfield, Altamont vs. Gatlin Thompson, Duchesne.
195 — Cody Miles, Altamont vs. Wyatt Weston, Rich.
220 — Kelton Cropper, Panguitch vs. Brandon Jones, Bryce Valley.
285 — Parker Knudson, Monticello vs. Aaron Verduzco, Duchesne.
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