Dec. 2, 2005: The Salt Lake Tribune

Grappling With Family: Pair of Young Wrestlers Excel at Fathers' Top Sport
by John Renshaw

They say greatness can be passed down through your genes. That saying seems to hold true for the Machan family of West Jordan and the Kilpack family of Sandy.

Bill Kilpack and Wes Machan run the Mountain Top Wrestling Club, a venue for individuals to learn develop and refine their athletic skills.

They teach rules and regulations of freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman wrestling for children ages 4 to adult.

Their sons, 10-year-olds William Kilpack, who attends Sunrise Elementary, and Kyler Machan, who goes to East Sandy Elementary, are club regulars.

Both young wrestlers took home third-place trophies recently at the Monster Match Nationals Folkstyle Wrestling Tournament in Denver on Nov. 5-6.

"This was a good trip for the guys" Wes said. "It's interesting to see what they can do against the rest of the country."

Just like their fathers before, both William and Kyler have already had success in wrestling.

Bill got his son, William, into wrestling at the age of 4. William is a three-time national champion and was recognized as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in Utah between ages 4 to 14 in 2005, regardless of weight.

Kyler has only been wrestling for two years and is already a two-time state champion.

"Wrestling is more of an experienced sport, the more matches you get, the better he'll be," Wes said.

The Monster Match National Tournament is the second of six national tournaments. William and Kyler had different journeys in this particular event.

Kyler, who wrestles in the 57-pound weight class, lost an early match and had to fight his way through the consolation brackets in the double-elimination tournament, eventually winning four matches for a third-place finish.

"I think it's pretty neat," said Kyler, when asked what he thought about his finish.

William wrestles in the 77-pound weight class and he pinned his opponents in his first three matches to get to the finals. He lost in the finals.

Then, he lost another tough match in a two-point decision for true second place.

"At first I felt bad about losing in the championship match, but then I felt better after realizing how far I went," William said.

Said Wes: "I'm very proud of how they wrestled. They are certainly champions and represented Utah well."

William says his most favorite things about wrestling are that it's fun and he likes to travel. To get to his 77 pounds, William eats pizza and bacon burgers. As far as the future goes, he hopes to compete in the Olympics one day.

Kyler likes to wrestle because he gets to hang out with friends and travel. He, too, hopes to make it to the Olympics.

There is added pressure on the youngsters, both of whom are the "coach's kid."

"There's always pressure," Bill said. "The kids are an example of the coaching and every opponent will be gunning for them."

While William took to wrestling at an early age, Wes had a different experience with Kyler, who had a difficult time his first year of wrestling.

"I ran out of speeches for him," Wes said. "But than one day it just clicked for him."

With these two families, it's clear to see it does click when it comes to wrestling. Both Wes and Bill have a prestigious track record when it comes to the sport. And it looks like Kyler and William are on the same road.

Perhaps greatness does run in the family.