Jan. 6, 2005: The Salt Lake Tribune

Small Schools Come Up Big on Mat at Classic
by Peter Richins

OREM — Every other year of the Utah All-Star Wrestling Classic, the event came down to the final match before a team winner was decided.

That was hardly the case Wednesday at Utah Valley State College. Winning 11 of the 17 matches, the team of wrestlers from Utah's small schools earned a 37-24 victory in the fifth annual Classic.

"Wasatch has just got a powerful program, and Uintah's not bad either," Ross Brunson, event organizer and president of the Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation, said. Both Class 3-A schools, Wasatch and Uintah, sent nine athletes to the Classic.

"They are just beating up on the large schools," Brunson said.

The Classic pitted a team of 17 standouts from the state's 5-A and 4-A high schools against the best wrestlers from the smaller classifications. The small-schools won their first Classic victory last year by a three-point margin, but this year there was little doubt the small schools would win.

But primarily, the Classic was about the individual wrestlers.

Lehi's Tyson Thompson, wrestling in his third straight Classic, won his second straight All-Star bout. A two-time state champion, Thompson outlasted Payson's Kelly Kelsey (also a state champ) and earned a 10-5 victory.

Another old hand at the Classic, Wasatch's Dallin Norton, also earned his second victory in the event. Norton improved to 28-0 on the season and 3-0 all-time against West Jordan's Rio Stottler with a 5-1 victory at heavyweight.

"[Stottler] gets tougher each time I wrestle him," Norton said.

Wasatch's other undefeated wrestler, and another Reno champion, Cyler Sanderson scored the most points of the night when he beat Spanish Fork's Spencer Dinkins 22-7.

One of the most dramatic victories of the night was at 112 pounds. Wasatch sophomore Casey Smith came back from a 7-1 deficit and got a reversal in the final seconds to beat Spanish Fork senior and state champion Jason Warner 8-7.

Brighton's Talan Knox beat Smith's brother, 160-pounder Jordan, in a match between close competitors. Knox's 6-4 victory made his record against Smith 2-1 this year.

The match with the most lead changes of the night was at 135 pounds between Bountiful's Cameron George and Uintah's Czyz Woody. After earning a 6-2 lead, Woody got ahead 8-6 at the end of the second period. But George turned things around in the third period, getting a reversal and a pair of takedowns before pinning Woody with 27 seconds remaining.

"When I got on my back, I knew it was strictly business," George said of his third-period rally. "It was no fooling around anymore."

Individual Results

103 - Kolby Bradley, Springville, def. Jared Shepherd, Delta, 4-3 dec.; 112 - Levi Mele, Uintah, def. Shay Warren, Weber, 9-0 maj. dec.; 112 - Casey Smith, Wasatch, def. Jason Warner, Spanish Fork, 8-7 dec.; 119 - Michael Watts, Riverton, def. Shayne Bonner, Wasatch, 3-2 dec.; 125 - Rodney Sager, Lehi, def. Aaron Ross, Weber, 14-5 maj. dec.; 130 - Jake Swensen, North Sanpete, def. Sean Porter, Davis, 5-4 dec.

135 - Shay Lawrence, Viewmont, def. Zack Mau, Ogden, 3-0 dec.; 135 - Cameron George, Bountiful, def. Czyz Woody, Uintah, fall.; 140 - Cyler Sanerson, Wasatch, def. Spencer Dinkins, Spanish Fork, 22-7 tech. fall; 145 - Josh Wilson, Morgan, def. Casey Fromm, Box Elder, 13-10 dec.; 152 - Tyson Thompson, Lehi, def. Kelly Kelsey, Payson, 10-5 dec.; 152 - Colton Camp, North Sevier, def. John Johnson, Box Elder, 10-6 dec. 160 - Talan Knox, Brighton, def. Jordan Smith, Wasatch, 6-4 dec.; 171 - Philip Keddy, Uintah, def. Phillip Rutledge, Mountain Crest, 11-9 dec.; 189 - Brett Boyce, Box Elder, def. Jared McCurdy, Uintah, fall; 215 - Trevor Clegg, South Summit, def. Robert Takeno, Hillcrest, 3-2 dec.; 275 - Dallin Norton, Wasatch, def. Rio Stottler, West Jordan, 5-1 dec.
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