Dec. 29, 2006: The Salt Lake Tribune

Prep Wrestling Notes: Springville Star Wins Prestigious Event
by Jay Drew

"Springville High wrestler Jason Chamberlain lost one match last year - at the Reno Tournament of Champions - on the way to compiling a 50-1 overall record and his second Class 4-A state championship.

He's not about to let that happen again.

Chamberlain, a junior, won the prestigious national tournament in Nevada last week, taking the title at 135 pounds in an event billed as the toughest in the country.

"I'm always trying to see how I stack up against the very best," he said after winning the Layton Invitational earlier this month, with a 2-1 championship-round win over Davis' three-time state champ, Sean Porter.

Utah won two of the 14 weight divisions in Reno, as Wasatch's two-time state champion, Jake Salazar, took first place at 145. Chamberlain is also a two-time state champ.

Utah's most dominant program, Wasatch, has won Reno a few times, but this year the champion was national power Easton High of Pennsylvania. Springville was 13th and Wasatch was 15th.

Bingham (28th), Box Elder (30th), Brighton (42nd), Lone Peak (43rd), Pleasant Grove (52nd) and Lehi (59th) were also among the 87 schools that competed Dec. 19-22 in Reno.

Here's a rundown on Utah's best finishers:

• 103 - Bingham's Kade Moss placed fourth after losing by fall in the semifinals.

• 112 - Pleasant Grove's Keola Goodman placed eighth.

• 119 - Springville's Kolby Bradley placed eighth.

• 125 - Bingham's Riley Adamson lost in the semifinals to eventual champion R.J. Pena of Sprague, Ore., and placed third.

• 130 - Wasatch's Casey Smith placed fifth.

• 135 - While Chamberlain won the division, Brighton's Ky Lucero placed eighth.

• 140 - Springville's Jacob Rawle placed eighth.

• 145 - Brighton's K.C. Nate made the quarterfinals, but didn't place in the division that Salazar won.

• 171 - Pleasant Grove's Mitch Sanderson lost to champion Hunter Collins of Gilroy, Calif., in the semifinals and placed fourth.

• 285 - Box Elder's Riggin Holmgren made the semifinals and placed fourth.

Beasts of the East

Pleasant Grove was the only Utah school to send wrestlers to the Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware from Dec. 16-17. All three Vikings won their opening matches.

Keola Goodman went 4-2 at 112 pounds, while Grant Gagon went 1-2 at 160 and Mitch Sanderson went 2-2 at 171. Sanderson won his first two matches, but went 0-2 in the consolation bracket. Goodman won three straight consolation matches after losing his second match.

All-Star Classic Changes

The annual Utah All-Star Wrestling Classic, presented by the Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation, will have a different format this year, UAWF president Ross Brunson said.

The matches will be held Jan. 9 at Utah Valley State College's McKay Events Center. This year, there will be 28 bouts, instead of the 14 or 15, and three mats will be utilized, rather than one.

Four teams - 5-A, 4-A, 3-A and a combined 2-A/1-A squad - will battle to see which classification has the best wrestlers.