Feb. 8, 2005: The Spectrum

Three Area Wrestlers Claim Titles at Utah State Jr. High Tourney
by Tom Zulewski

HURRICANE — All he wanted to do for his senior year was to capture a state wrestling championship. One week before the last step on his quest was to begin, Tyler Hathaway was dealt a body blow to the dream worse than any wrestler could dish out.

Not only did Hathaway carry on through the pain, the Snow Canyon wrestler found out just how valuable teammates can be.

Despite needing an emergency appendectomy and suffering from a hernia, Hathaway wrestled at the Region 9 championships in Hurricane, finishing fourth at 160 pounds and earning his spot for the Utah Class 3A state meet at Utah Valley State College in Orem. Competition starts Thursday.

Hathaway earned the spot in the most unconventional of ways.

Following the appendectomy Jan. 29 at a Cedar City hospital, Hathaway was able to start his return to the mat -- slowly. After getting the affected area triple-stitched by a doctor who was a former high school wrestler himself, Hathaway eased himself back into action, able to wrestle at full speed in practice only on Thursday.

During that time, though, the incision from the surgery split open, forcing Hathaway to return to the hospital in the evening. Once his doctor cleared him, the Warriors' wrestler was given the go-ahead to compete.

After opening Friday with a 15-2 victory over Cory Bulloch of Canyon View, Hathaway suffered his first loss in the double-elimination tournament, a 4-1 decision to Craig Oswald of Cedar.

"Once he beat Bulloch, we bought him a hotel room nearby so he could rest," Snow Canyon coach Wane Kittrell said. "I wanted him to forfeit that match to Oswald."

Hathaway would have none of it, but the wear and tear would start to show.

In his first consolation match on Saturday, Hathaway beat Dixie's Jon Hummel 13-2, headed straight for an adjacent wrestling room, and promptly passed out.

Hathaway was scheduled to wrestle Hurricane's Domingo Torres for third place, but forfeited the match. Once his teammate, Rick Twitchell, pinned Hummel to earn fifth place in the weight class, it forced a dilemma. Since the pair hadn't wrestled each other earlier, they would have to wrestle to see who would earn the final spot at the state meet.

After talking to his coach and teammate during a break between scheduled matches, Twitchell, who declined comment, decided to forfeit the match and give the spot to Hathaway despite having prior state meet experience himself.

"It gives me goosebumps to talk about it," Kittrell said of Twitchell's gesture. "Just as heroic as Tyler is for toughing it out, Rick didn't want to wrestle Tyler because he knew it meant more to him.

"I know I have a great bunch of kids, but I never expected anything like this."

Pam Hathaway, Tyler's mother, has been alongside for every moment and every emotion.

"Tyler's been wrestling since he was seven. His goal has been to take state," she said. "I told him he could stop now, but he said there was no way he was going to quit. I'm very, very proud of him. He's shown more courage through this than I ever hoped or thought he had."

Tyler Hathaway started working out on Wednesday, just four days after the surgery, but had his doubts about going forward with the pain.

"It hurts. I thought my season was over and done with," he said.

Thanks to the selfless gesture of a teammate, Tyler Hathaway's season is alive and well. Being the fourth seed from Region 9, Hathaway's first opponent for the state meet is his cousin, Jordan Smith of Wasatch. Smith is ranked No. 1 in the state while Hathaway is second.
.