Jan. 16, 2005: The Salt Lake Tribune

Prep Wrestling: Box Elder is best at Richardson Memorial
by Ryan Howe

BRIGHAM CITY - Winning the Richardson Memorial Invitational on Saturday didn't surprise Box Elder coach Mike Ripplinger.

What did surprise Ripplinger, however, was to be honored before the start of the finals for his 20 years of coaching, including a surprise visit from approximately 100 of his former wrestlers.

It was a pretty emotional moment, Ripplinger said.

Box Elder won with 172 points. Davis finished second in the 16-team tournament with 161. Viewmont had 156.

Ripplinger, who has won 17 region titles and four state championships at Box Elder, credited an entire team effort for the win.

"It was a good team effort; everybody contributed," Ripplinger said. "We saw some weaknesses where we need to improve and things we need to key on in these next couple weeks so we can have a run at a state title. Overall tonight, we got after it and took care of business."

The Bees put five wrestlers to the finals, with 112-pounder Caleb Isom and 145-pounder Casey Fromm picking up wins.

"The two most outstanding performances tonight were by Caleb and Casey," Ripplinger said. "They both wrestled very well for us and set the tone. Caleb has been a little sick, so he stepped up, and Casey was just awesome."

For Isom, revenge over Spanish Fork's Jason Warner was enough to motivate his 8-4 win.

"I wanted to keep it close," Isom said of his finals bout with Warner. "He beat me earlier this year at Wasatch and I knew I could beat him because I didn't wrestle very good the last time."

For Davis, Rhett Keaton won the 103-pound title, Bear River's Jake Madsen won the 119-pound class, Viewmont's Richard Winger (125) and Shay Lawrence (135) each won. Ogden's Zack Mau won the 130-pound class.

Other winners included Sky View's Anthony Elder (140), Idaho Falls' Jayson Johnson (152), Layton's Cody Daniels (160), Mountain Crest's Phillip Rutledge (171), Weber's Jorge Lopez (189) and Hillcrest's Robert Takeno (215).

Uintah tournament

For the second straight year, Uintah earned the victory at the Uintah Tournament of Champions when it beat out Delta. Uintah had 217 points, 32 more than second-place Delta's 185.

Green River, Wyo., took third place, and Payson edged out Pleasant Grove in the finals for fourth place. Last year, Delta finished in seventh place and Green River took eighth. Also last year, the Lions finished in 18th place and the Vikings took 13th.

Uintah took six wrestlers and a 27-point lead into the finals. The Utes' Levi Mele won by fall over North Sanpete's Kaden King at 112 pounds, and Phillip Keddy beat Delta's K.C. Rawlinson 5-1 at 171 to seal the victory.