Jan. 23, 2007: Tooele-Transcript Bulletin

Buff, Cowboy Grapplers Finish Top 10 at Best of West
by Steve Schwartzman

Tooele's Jake Foster pinned his way to the 171-pound crown in the prestigious Best of the West Invitational wrestling tournament held Friday and Saturday at Tooele High. Foster joined Buff teammate Monte Schmalhaus in the winner's circle for the local squad and helped Tooele to a fourth place overall team finish in the two-day event.

Tooele's Monte Schmalhaus pinned Riverton's Ketson Blackburn to the mat to finish with a 4-0 record and a first place finish at the Best of the West tournament hosted on Jan. 5-6 at Tooele High School.

Schmalhaus finished the tournament with four victories, three of them by pinfall in the 152-pound division.

Jake Foster, of Toole High School, also finished with a perfect record and first place title with four wins and three pins in the 171 division.

These two finishes helped cap off a successful team tournament for both Tooele (4) and Grantsville (10), who both finished in the top ten. Springville High School took the tournament with 244.5 points overall, followed by Riverton (212.5), Cyprus (210.5), Tooele (182.5), Spanish Fork (118), Kearns (116.5), Bonneville (93), East (89), Carbon (75), Grantsville (66), Juan Diego (57), Piute (50), West Wendover (47.5), Tooele JV (41), Park City (30) and Hillcrest (25).

Buff wrestler Daniel Goode finished the tournament in second place in the 140 division, finishing with three wins, two falls and a struggling loss to two time state champion Jason Chamberlain of Springville in the finals to end his undefeated streak at 21.

Isaac Brown of Tooele also grappled to a silver finish, winning three times, pinning two men to the mat, and losing by pinfall in the finals to Bryce Spansing in the final.

Jake Golden, a Buff grappler in the 199 division finished third with a 4-1 record and pinning four opponents to the mat.

Tooele's Zeb Hansen also battled to a third place finish in the 145 division, with a 4-1 record and four pinfalls. Grantsville's Austin Vickers finished sixth overall in the division with a 3-2 record and one fall.

Buff Ben Nelson finished fourth in the 103 division with a 3-2 record overall.

Cowboy Toree Powell finished out the 135 division in fourth place finishing 3-2 with two pinfalls. Buffalo Austin Hansen, of the 160 division, also finished with a fourth place title with a 3-2 record, with three falls.

Seth Kreiser of Grantsville finished in the 171 division in fifth with three pinfalls to cap his record at 4-2.

Tooele's TC Tate, in the 189 division, also finished fifth with one fall and a 3-2 record by defeating teammate Kent Heder, who finished sixth overall with a 2-3 record and two falls.

Tooele's Wally Hendrickson finished sixth overall in the 112 division with one fall, capping to a 3-3 record on the tournament.

In the 103 division Tooele's Jake Prather and Grantsville's Corey Gunderson (one fall) both finished off with 2-2 records, while THS' Brayden Torgensen finished with a 1-2 record in his bouts, his one win coming by pinfall.

In the 112 division, Shawn Cook of Tooele finished at 2-2 overall as Grantsville's Shaun Fawson battled to a 1-2 record.

Daryl James of the Grantsville fought to a tough 1-2 record in the 119 division while Buff Jimmy Searle finished the tourney at 0-2.

The Buff tandem of Travis Gustafson and Chris heaps both finished with 1-2 records to cap off the 125 competitors.

The 130's saw THS' Josh Austin finish at 1-2 and Trent Whitehouse of the Buffs finish at 0-2.

Buff duo Jesse Bissegger and Michael Trujillo both finished at 1-2 in the 135 division.

In the 140 division, Josh Day of Tooele finished at 2-2 as Toby Martinez of Grantsville finished off at 1-2. Colton Rosen of Grantsville fought to a 0-2 record in the division. Brady Wice of Tooele finished with a 0-2 record in the 145 division.

Kennedy Storwold of GHS and Zach Huntsman of THS both finished at 1-2 in the 152 weight class.

Skylar Phelps of Grantsville battled to one fall and a 2-2 record in the 160 class, as Tooele's Jai Knighton and Grantsville's Del Ray Villaverde both finished at 0-2 in the division.

The Cowboy tandem of Jonathan Haddock and Jake Templeton both finished at 0-2 in the 215 weight class, as the Tooele duo of Nic Buxton and Penitani Leeaetoa also finished at 0-2 in the 275 division.

Buffs Fight to Silver at JV Tourney

Tooele's finished with a 4-0 record and a first place finish in the 119 weight class to finish off a successful performance at the Kearns High JV Tournament on Dec. 16. He finished with three pinfalls.

The Buff boys fought hard with a great finish, placing second overall falling just short of Hunter High School.

TC Tate also battled to a first place finish in the 189 division with a 3-0 record and with two pins.

In the 103 division, Ben Nelson finished in second place overall with a 2-1 record, pinning two opponents. Brady Wice at 145 also finished in second place with a 2-1 record.

In his first performance for the Buffs this season, 285 competitor Soni Sonatane finished with a silver medal and 2-1 record on the tournament, pinning two men to the mat to start his season.

Mike Trujillo at 135 finished at 4-1, giving him a third place finish and with three pinfalls.

The duo of Josh Day, 140, and Glen Kummer, 152, finished with third place finishes and 3-1 records to their belts. Both battled out three pinfalls apiece.

At 125, Ken Elsbury finished with two pins and a 2-1 record to cap a third place finish on the tournament.

In the 112 division, Shawn Cook battled to a 1-1 record with one pin.

Cassity Adams finished 0-1 in the 130 weight class for the tournament.

Dallin Chevalier grappled one pinfall, finishing the day with a 1-1 record.

Andrew Adams at 189 finished with a 0-2 record overall.

Tyler McClimmans finished at 0-2 in the 215 weight division.

At 285, Nic Buxton finished with a 0-2 record on the day.