It wasn’t quite the “underground cage match” environment he remembered from that inaugural Utah All-Star Duals at a packed Jordan High 25 years ago, but former Viewmont standout Ben Kjar loved being a part of the silver anniversary showcase event at UVU on Tuesday.
Kjar was at the Ross Brunson All-Star Duals to promote his upcoming documentary “Standout,” and also served as a sideline reporter as he interviewed all the center match winners immediately after their matches.
“I think it’s incredible. What I love that they’ve done is that they’ve allowed more schools to come and be a part of it, to bring in the entire state,” said Kjar. “And with the women too, it’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the entire country. Now it’s an Olympic sport.”
Kjar wrestled in the all-star duals back in 2002, an experience he remembers vividly, going up against Millard’s Tyler Tibbets. He brought that same excitement to his post-match interviews.
One of the 33 winners from Tuesday’s event, Juab’s Ladd Holman at 190 pounds, said it was such a cool experience having Kjar on hand doing on-mat interviews.
Holman, who’s ranked No. 11 nationally in his weight, beat Layton’s Elijah Hawes 21-5 in one of the feature matches.
“I knew Eli was a freaking stud. He’s been nationally ranked this year. And I knew that if I wrestled him it was going to be a tough match, right? It was going to be hard to score,” Holman said.
Juab had four wrestlers participate in the All-Star Duals, and those Wasps wrestlers went 4-0 on Tuesday as the program took another impressive step toward a likely 10th straight 3A state championship next month. The three other Juab winners were Jet Abbott, Kaden Martineau and Xander Nielsen.
Holman said that push for No. 10 is something to worry about later — Tuesday was about having fun and get better.
“I would say that this night really just means an opportunity to scrap. It means an opportunity to get someone that hopefully is at your level,” Holman said. “It’s super fun. And I think Utah has a very underrated wrestling environment. It’s good for the experience for everyone around there.”
Holman is one of the top wrestlers in Utah and has already taken visits to Cornell, Wyoming, Utah Valley and North Carolina.
There were a total of 33 boys all-star matches on Tuesday, and 29 girls matches. Wrestlers were invited by USA Wrestling Utah, and broken up into four teams — 6A/5A team, 4A/3A team, 2A/1A team and a wildcard team.
From those 66 wrestlers, organizers tried their best to create exciting matches for the participants and spectators.
One of those matches was at 138 pounds, with Wasatch senior Benjamin Kohler taking on Westlake freshman sensation Joe Whitford. Kohler prevailed 5-2 to put a punctuation mark on a very fun night.
“I think this is more of a fun night. We’re just going out here to scrap, raise money for the UVU wrestling program. But most importantly, just having fun — getting these matchups you normally don’t see at state,” Kohler said. “This is probably one of the most favorite things to do; all the attention’s on you, you’re out there just going hard, win or lose.”
Kohler improved to 36-2 on the season as he continues to build toward trying to win a third individual state title next month.
“It’s been a great year. I feel like I’ve been wrestling my best. We got a new assistant coach, his name is Stockton O’Brien. Really been pushing our butts and making us work harder, and I think that’s showing up here on the mat,” Kohler said.
Boys All-Star Duals Results
106 pounds
- Jantz Greenhalgh (Carbon), So. def. Reid Harris (Syracuse), Fr., 10-4
- Ridger Benson (Parowan), So. def. Ryder Thomas (Salem Hills), So., 16-9
113 pounds
- Blake Mauch (Corner Canyon), So. def. Jaxten Bowler (Canyon View), Fr., 4-0
- Trayl Moat (Millard), So. def. Max Mckinlay (Richfield), Sr., 7-6
120 pounds
- Kacen Jones (Corner Canyon), Jr. def. Ben Belliston (Timpanogos), Jr., TF 16-1
- Easton Olson (Riverton), Jr. def. Porter Dahl (Millard), Jr., MD 9-0
126 pounds
- Lane Monroe (Millard), Jr. def. Corbyn Robison (Westlake), Sr., MD 12-2
- Kaleb Blackner (Roy), Sr. def. Nash Jensen (Delta), 13-6
- Perry Fowler (Syracuse), Jr. def. Ethan Sharp (Uintah), Jr., TF 23-6
132 pounds
- Tanner Telford (Corner Canyon), Jr. def. Maddax Hacking (Uintah), So., TF 19-3
- Jet Abbott (Juab), Jr. def. Grady Roybal (Union), Jr., MD 15-7
138 pounds
Rykan Hacking (Uintah), Sr. def. Jacob Millward (Skyridge), So., 4-3
Benjamin Kohler (Wasatch), Sr. def. Joe Whitford (Westlake), Fr., 5-2
Cal Bray (Millard), So. def. Parker Garcia (Corner Canyon), Sr., 9-6
144 pounds
- Riker Ohearon (Carbon), So. def. Daxton Bonner (Wasatch), Sr., TF 15-0
- Benjamin Ploehn (Stansbury), Sr. def. Statlen Hughes (Beaver), Sr., Fall 2:44
- Wyatt Bingham (Pleasant Grove), Sr. def. Trey Bradshaw (Delta), Sr., 11-4
150 pounds
- Kaden Martineau (Juab), So. def. Karl Ledbetter (Corner Canyon), Jr., Fall 5:28
- Zane Winter (South Summit), Sr. def. Brigham Cookson (Mountain View), Sr., 12-5
157 pounds
- Mack Rutledge (Ridgeline), Jr. def. Jex Bradshaw (Beaver), Sr., MD 16-3
- Ryker Olson (Spanish Fork), Sr. def. Luke Woolsey (Morgan), Sr., MD 16-7
165 pounds
- Alex Crawley (Canyon View), Sr. def. Bo Goodman (Pleasant Grove), Sr., SV-1 4-1
- Xander Nielsen (Juab), So. def. Steele Woodward (South Summit), Fr., Fall 4:47
175 pounds
- Kaizen Detoles (Westlake), Sr. def. Adreian Briceno (Millard), Sr., TF 19-4
190 pounds
- Ladd Holman (Juab), Jr. def. Elijah Hawes (Layton), Sr., TF 21-5
- Hyrum Stafford (Mountain View), Jr. def. Lisiate Valeti (Springville), Sr., 4-0
- Chase Allen (Morgan), Sr. def. Cincinnatus Treadwell (Kanab), Sr., TF 22-6
215 pounds
- Wyatt Hanssen (Wasatch), Jr. def. Moroni Mahe (Hillcrest), Sr., Fall 4:18
- Gael Gutierrez (Millard), Jr. def. Gabe Toone (Morgan), Sr., Fall 3:58
285 pounds
- Caden Young (Uintah), Sr. def. Carter Rudolph (Roy), Sr., Fall 2:47
- Sam Tanner (Green Canyon), Sr. def. Jesus Lopez (American Leadership Academy), Sr., 7-2