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 Jan.
9, 2005: The Salt Lake Tribune
Prep Wrestling: Box Elder Stings Delta in Final Bout
by Peter Richins
WEST JORDAN — After wrestling a grueling
schedule of dual meets for two days straight, Box Elder's
chances of winning the championship of the West Jordan
Jaguar Classic came down to the final bout of the
tournament.
The Bees' 112-pounder, Caleb Isom,
admitted to being nervous before stepping onto the mat
against Delta's Dustin Peterson on Saturday. But after
earning a 23-8 technical fall victory and clinching the
tournament title for Box Elder, all Isom felt was "tired."
"I wouldn't say I won it for the team,"
Isom said. "I contributed to the win."
Isom's victory gave Box Elder a 34-33
victory in the final dual. The Bees held the lead most of
the way, but a pair of pins by Delta in the two bouts
before Isom's put the Rabbits ahead 33-29. Isom needed a
major decision to tie it, or a technical fall or pin to
win it.
"He did what he had to do," Box Elder
coach Mike Ripplinger said. "We needed a home run, and he
did as well as he could."
Isom found Peterson's weakness, and by the
second period, Isom was letting Peterson up off the mat so
he could grab a leg and earn a takedown. Isom earned the
necessary 15-point lead just seconds before the end of the
third period, and ended the tournament undefeated.
"I thought I would pin him in the first
round, but it didn't happen," Isom said. "I just couldn't
turn him."
Box Elder's Jason Hancey, Riley Yeates,
Casey Fromm, John Johnson and Brett Boyce also went
undefeated at the tournament.
"We wrestled really well," Ripplinger
said. "We were favored to win some of the matches, but
some of those teams did not back down."
For Delta, Jared Shepherd, Todd
Christensen, K.C. Rawlinson and Ryan Nichol went
undefeated. It was back-to-back pins by Nichol and
Shepherd that brought the Rabbits back from a deep deficit
to lead by four points before the final period.
"It was a thrill to be able to win with
our backs against the wall," Ripplinger said.
The Bees' victory once again shows they
are the top team in Class 4-A, especially since defending
champion Spanish Fork took third place. The Dons beat
Bingham 43-21, and had five wrestlers go undefeated: Jason
Warner, Tyler Kelly, Brad Clark, Gatlin Gardiner and Brady
Shepherd.
In the fifth-place bout, Alta showed its
worth against another 5-A team when it beat Weber 35-32.
The Hawks were ranked sixth in 5-A and the Warriors were
ranked third.
Luke Rasmussen and Ryan Green each went
undefeated for Alta. Weber's Shay Warren, Aaron Ross and
Nate Hubbard each were unbeaten.
In Short
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