High school boys wrestling: Layton dominates 6A state tournament, halts Pleasant Grove’s reign

A year later, Layton’s boys wrestling team got its sweet redemption and did so in dominant fashion.

Layton was the deepest team at this year’s 6A state tournament and it showed as it rolled throughout the week at UVU en route to its fifth state championship in school history and first since 2017. The Lancers do so by tallying 272.5 team points to dethrone five-time state champion Pleasant Grove, which finished second with 178 points.

Westlake finished third with 153 points.

Pleasant Grove had won 11 of the past 12 6A state championships, but Layton coach Adam Fager said that specifically beating Pleasant Grove was never the goal this year.

“Every day we’re allowed to we put in that time and effort and we practice and we find a way to help our athletes fall in love with the sport before they start caring about wins and losses,” said Fager. “We love wrestling at Layton. Winning is a byproduct when you love wrestling.”

Fager said he usually doesn’t check team scores during a tournament to avoid unnecessary distraction, but his team built such a huge lead after Day 1 that Thursday’s final day was stress free from an individual standpoint.

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Last year, Layton lost to Pleasant by just 9.5 points, but the Lancers put in the work to flip that script a year later

“We’ve all worked so hard, we work hard in the room. We’ve been friends since we were 7 years old on the mat, so it means a lot to come up to high school and take state in a dominant fashion,” said Layton senior Ryker Brann.

Brann was one of three individual state champions for Layton as he rolled to the 144-pound title with a 15-6 win over Copper Hills’ Zachary Nope.

Sophomore Geronimo Rivera prevailed at 120 pounds with a 9-3 decision over Westlake’s Korbin Chuchran, and then senior Kael Bennie won the 190-pound bracket with a 5-1 win over Lone Peak’s Cayaen Smith. Two weeks ago Bennie lost to Smith at divisionals, but Fager said his senior put in the work to win his last high school match for Layton.

Both Rivera and Bennie were repeat state champs.

Layton had 12 wrestlers place in the top six of their respective weight, and Fager expects his team to be in the hunt again next season.

“We just had awesome seniors, awesome freshmen, awesome sophomores, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon. We’ve got kids that want to work and kids that love wrestling and buy into the idea whole idea of becoming their potential best self and that’s what we preach day in and day out,” said Fager.

Two other wrestlers finished as repeat state champs — Pleasant Grove’s Jacob Carson and Kyison Garcia of Mountain Ridge.

Carson’s win at 126 pounds helped Pleasant Grove go 3-0 in the finals on Thursday night, with Bradlee Farrer winning at 150 pounds and Trevyn Gates winning at 215 pounds.

Farrer beat Westlake’s Brayden Robison, a two-time state champ, with a surprising pin in the first round. He beat him two weeks ago at divisionals, which gave him the belief he could beat Robison after losing to him at a dual each of the past two years.

“Even though our team may not be bringing the title home, got to bring something back to the people of Pleasant Grove, it’s always a special one, especially with so much support around us,” said Farrer.

Garcia finished his career as a three-time state champ, with a third-place finish as a sophomore the only thing standing in his way of a four-peat. He wrestled at state that year after being just two weeks out of surgery following a spiral fracture on his tibia and fibula.

Garcia said he likes to think he would’ve taken state as a sophomore if healthy, but “God has a plan for everyone and that was his plan for me. I wasn’t meant to have three. My dad had three and I have three.”

On Thursday, he beat Layton’s Logan Crowther in the 132-pound final to wrap up his dominant high school career.

“The thing that I’m most proud of is my resilience. I’ve been through a lot. My mom passed away when I was 15 right before my freshman year,” said Garcia, who said wrestling was a great coping mechanism during many sad days.

With Thursday’s win, he joins his dad Pat Garcia as a three-time state champion, which he did at Hillcrest.

Other individual 6A state champions were American Fork’s Hanks Jacobson (106), Syracuse’s Mason Carlson (113), American Fork’s Tege Kelley (138), Fremont’s Logan Hancey (157), Weber’s Tanner Giatras (165), Herriman’s Carson Grundy (175) and Lone Peak’s Cooper Mumford (285).

6A boys state tournament

At UVU

Team scores

1. Layton, 272.5
2. Pleasant Grove, 178
3. Westlake, 153
4. Corner Canyon, 149
5. Mountain Ridge, 129
6. Syracuse, 113.5
7. Lone Peak, 107
8. Fremont, 102.5

Individual results

106 pounds

1. Hank Jacobson, American Fork
2. Kaleb Blackner, Roy
3. Parker Garcia, Mountain Ridge
4. Hudson York, Corner Canyon
5. Hunter Sanchez, Mountain Ridge
6. Porter Carlson, Syracuse

Championship — Hank Jacobson, American Fork def. Kaleb Blackner, Roy, 17-4

113 pounds

1. Mason Carlson, Syracuse
2. Lander Bosh, Mountain Ridge
3. Kyler Pace, Layton
4. Dagen Lamano, Layton
5. Keagan Pitcher, Westlake
6. Dax Christensen, Bingham

Championship — Mason Carlson, Syracuse def. Lander Bosh, Mountain Ridge, fall 2:38

120 pounds

1. Geronimo Rivera, Layton
2. Korbin Chuchran, Westlake
3. Tylver Vivanco, Corner Canyon
4. Teague Brown, Syracuse
5. Cole Fenwick, Layton
6. Corban Atwood, Lone Peak

Championship — Geronimo Rivera, Layton def. Korbin Chuchran, Westlake, 9-3

126 pounds

1. Jacob Carson, Pleasant Grove
2. Jason Worthley, Fremont
3. Jason Worthley, Fremont
4. Jacob Carson, Pleasant Grove
5. Noah Bull, Layton
6. Hudson Palmer, Farmington

Championship — Jacob Carson, Pleasant Grove def. Jason Worthley, Fremont, fall 5:37

132 pounds

1. Kyison Garcia, Mountain Ridge
2. Logan Crowther, Layton
3. Devyn Greenland, Pleasant Grove
4. Bo Goodman, Pleasant Grove
5. Quinn Bedell, Corner Canyon
6. Caleb Strom, Herriman

Championship — Kyison Garcia, Mountain Ridge def. Logan Crowther, Layton, 8-4

138 pounds

1. Tege Kelley, American Fork
2. Josh Fish, Westlake
3. Gavin Regis, Syracuse
4. Jace Lemons, Layton
5. Chanden Reid, Mountain Ridge
6. Kamren Wolff, Fremont

Championship — Tege Kelley, American Fork def. Josh Fish, Westlake, 3-0

144 pounds

1. Ryker Brann, Layton
2. Zachary Nope, Copper Hills
3. Payden Woolsey, Corner Canyon
4. Treyson Hunter, Fremont
5. Curtis Borge, Westlake
6. Nick Orchard, Farmington

Championship — Ryker Brann, Layton def. Zachary Nope, Copper Hills, 15-6

150 pounds

1. Bradlee Farrer, Pleasant Grove
2. Brayden Robison, Westlake
3. Jack Lounsbury, Herriman
4. Kaizen Detoles, Westlake
5. Ricky Mamone, Granger
6. Angel Granandos, Hunter

Championship — Bradlee Farrer, Pleasant Grove def. Brayden Robison, Westlake, fall 1:46

157 pounds

1. Logan Hancey, Fremont
2. Banks Love, Bingham
3. Preston Stevens, Mountain Ridge
4. Billy Ferguson, Skyridge
5. Ty Carman, Herriman
6. Gabriel Mabin, Syracuse

Championship — Logan Hancey, Fremont def. Banks Love, Bingham, 9-7

165 pounds

1. Tanner Giatras, Weber
2. Kaden Bennie, Layton
3. Corbin Baumgartner, Lone Peak
4. Andrew Crowther, Layton
5. Trapper Anderson, Fremont
6. Caleb Robinson, Corner Canyon

Championship — Tanner Giatras, Weber def. Kaden Bennie, Layton, 5-3

175 pounds

1. Carson Grundy, Herriman
2. Leimana Fager, Corner Canyon
3. Jake Closson, Pleasant Grove
4. Ethan Hearne, Layton
5. Hunter Gillman, Pleasant Grove
6. Jacob Keblis, Fremont

Championship — Carson Grundy, Herriman def. Leimana Fager, Corner Canyon, 13-10

190 pounds

1. Kael Bennie, Layton
2. Cayaen Smith, Lone Peak
3. Collin Webb, Corner Canyon
4. Gage Watt, Riverton
5. Matthew Cambell, Kearns
6. Mason Kartchner, Farmington

Championship — Keal Bennie, Layton def. Cayaen Smith, Lone Peak, fall 1:58

215 pounds

1. Trevyn Gates, Pleasant Grove
2. Mahkyi Smith, Lone Peak
3. Skyler Armenta, Cyprus
4. Connor Schwab, Syracuse
5. Arton Ramadani, Hunter
6. Teancum Mitchell, Corner Canyon

Championship — Trevyn Gates, Pleasant Grove def. Mahkyi Smith, Lone Peak, 3-2

285 pounds

1. Cooper Mumford, Lone Peak
2. Martin Lake, Granger
3. Kaydon Williams, Corner Canyon
4. Ray Griffin, Pleasant Grove
5. Ian Briskey, Weber
6. NaiMana Filivaolelei, Corner Canyon

Championship — Cooper Mumford, Lone Peak def. Martin Lake, Granger, 5-0