Jan. 10, 2007: Deseret Morning News

Class 5A Takes Wrestling Event
by Michael Black

OREM — Wrestling fans celebrated the 7th Annual All-Star Wrestling Classic Tuesday night at the McKay Events Center. The new format of more matches and individual classifications having a team brought out the masses, and the action on the mats did not disappoint.

The Class 5A squad took home the team title with 37 points. The Class 3A team placed second with 33 points, while Class 4A finished third at 30 and Class 1A/2A had 16.

Adam Fager of Layton did not know how big an impact he could have at his first All-Star. Fager moved to Utah this year after finishing second last season in Arizona and the event was new to him. He was facing TJ Robbins of Millard, a defending state champion who had defeated Fager earlier in the season 8-4 at the Viewmont Invitational.

Robbins got the upper hand in the opening minute and had Fager on his back fighting for his life. Rather than thinking about losing, or even worse, just giving up, he found his motivation — fear.

"I was more scared of my brother than getting pinned," Fager said of his brother John, who is his coach at Layton. "I got to do this for my brother. I owe a lot to them."

Even after Fager fought to avoid getting pinned, he fell behind early 6-0 to Robbins and appeared to be headed for defeat. The tide changed quickly as Fager used a counter-move to put Robbins directly on his back and followed through by getting the pin.

"I was a little nervous because it was a move that I had never used in a match. I used it in practice and it worked, but never in a match," he said.

Class 5A's winning margin was four points. Fager's six big points for the fall were probably the difference when it appeared he wasn't going to score for the team.

The feature match of the night pitted two-time state champion Jason Chamberlain of Springville against three-time champ Sean Porter of Davis. Porter got an early take-down to take a two-point lead, but Chamberlain took control from there on and cruised to an 11-7 win.

"I wanted to just keep working him," said Chamberlain. "I thought I got in his head a little bit as I kept taking him down and letting him up."

The pair may not have to wait long for a rematch as both will be at the same Rocky Mountain Rumble tournament this weekend and could meet again.

One of the most exciting matches came from Weber's Lew Woolsey. The top-ranked wrestler in Class 5A at 152 pounds found himself trailing Bryce Fisher of Altamont. The lead went as high as 6-1 before Woolsey found his rhythm. He fought his way back to force overtime as he got a two-point near fall right before the end of the third period. He then took only a few seconds of overtime as he rode the momentum to an 8-6 win.

The event organizers said they were very pleased with the number of fans— an estimated 3,500— and the new format adding some excitement, while the wrestlers themselves were grateful for the experience.

"It is an honor to be here," said Wasatch's Jake Salazar, a two-time participant. "It is fun to wrestle some good guys, and I think they do a great job of getting this done."