Feb. 9, 2007: Deseret Morning News

Hunter's Depth Paves Way to Region 3 Wrestling Title
by James Edward

SOUTH JORDAN — This time, Hunter's depth proved to be the difference.

A year after finishing second at the Region 3 wrestling champions just six points behind Riverton, the Wolverines had 24 wrestlers place in the top six last week, which was more than enough to help them hold off Bingham for the region title.

"Our biggest strength is we have a whole bunch of really tough kids, maybe not any real superstars, but a bunch of tough, hard-working kids," said Hunter coach Craig Stauffer.

Hunter finished the two-day tournament with 359 points and was followed by Bingham (332.5), West Jordan (280), Riverton (236), Copper Hills (125) and Kearns (95).

Wrestlers who placed in the top three advanced to this week's state tournament at UVSC, which got under way on Wednesday. The championship matches are scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m.

The key for Hunter, according to Stauffer, was the first day of competition, and more specifically, the last round on that Wednesday.

"My kids just wrestled out of their minds; we ended up only losing four kids that day," said Stauffer.

It was such a great performance, Hunter had the region title locked up before Thursday's championship matches. It's a good thing too, because the Wolverines struggled in the finals. Of the seven Hunter wrestlers who advanced to the finals, only Jake Sneddon at 160 pounds and Skyler Bird at 189 pounds ended up winning.

"(Sneddon) has done well all year long," said Stauffer. "We've been working on stuff on top for him, a head lever and a cowboy, and he's just wrestling better and better and I'm excited for him to do well at state."

As for Birds, he's as close to a superstar as Hunter has, as evidenced by his 30-5 record heading into the state tournament.

"He's basically been dominating all the way throughout the year," said Stauffer.

Brian Nicholson, Deseret Morning NewsCody Kip, left, of Cyprus High tries to take down Marcus Mayeda of West High during the Region VI Wrestling Championships. Hunter's runner-up finishers were Michael Daniels (119), Braden Wamsley (140), Colton Griffiths (145), Juan Donis (152) and Josh Larson (215).

"I was hoping for five wrestlers in the finals, so any more than that was great," said Stauffer.

While Hunter finished with two individual champions, Bingham led the way, followed by Riverton with three.

Bingham coach Russ Paulsen was a little disappointed with second place, but he knew Hunter's depth was going to be tough to overcome. He knows, however, that with his four individual region champs, the Miners should fare better at state than Hunter.

"The region scores don't always reflect what's going to happen at state because of your power points," said Paulsen.

Bingham's power points came from Kade Moss (103), Mitch Moss (130), Blake Griffiths (135) and Spencer Paulson (285), who each won their respective individual titles.

"Blake is the hardest-working kid we have on the team; you'd love to have those in every weight," said Paulsen.

Other individual champions were as follows: Copper Hills' Nick Branca (112), West Jordan's Nicko Paraso (119), West Jordan's Collin Grant (125), Kearns' JC Help (140), Riverton's Chris Julkunen (145), Riverton's Kelston Blackburn (152), Riverton's Brandon Molder (171) and Copper Hills' David Williams (215).

KEARNS: For Kearns coach Wilfredo Falcon, even though his team finished last, he believes it was a successful tournament for the Cougars.

"Given the fact I only have seven varsity wrestlers, I've given up seven weights every time we dual," said Falcon. "We expected a couple more guys to place, but it's just a numbers game, and I just don't have the numbers. But that will change in a couple of years."

Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning NewsRiverton's Brandon Molder, left, and Kearns' Jake Grygla battle in the Region III Championships at Bingham High School February 1. Kearns had two wrestlers advance to the finals, with Help capturing the school's only individual title as he held off Hunter's Wamsley 3-2. At 171 pounds, Kearns' Jake Grygla led Riverton's Molder throughout the match, but was taken down late and lost, 4-3. He also finished second at last year's region championships.

Kearns' Derek Young finished third at 125 pounds.

Region 3 Championship At Bingham High School

Team Scores

1, Hunter (H), 359; 2, Bingham (B), 332.5; 3, West Jordan (W), 280; 4, Riverton (R), 236; 5, Copper Hills (C), 125; 6, Kearns (K), 98.

Individual Results

103 — 1, Kade Moss, (B); 2, Zach Ogden, (R); 3, Dominic Ek, (H); 4, Carlos Ramirez, (H). 112 — 1, Nick Branca, (C); 2, Ryker Vandertoolen, (B); 3, Devon Paraso, (W); 4, Chase Mecham, (H). 119 — 1. Nicko Paraso, (W); 2, Michael Daniels, (H); 3, Dallas Osborne, (R); 4, C.J. Clark, (B). 125 — 1, Collin Grant, (W); 2, Riley Adamson, (B); 3, Derek Young, (K); 4, Tyler Garn, (R). 130 — 1, Mitch Moss, (B); 2, Chase Burns, (W); 3, Kenny Jackson, (H); 4, Lane Gardner, (R). 135 — 1, Blake Griffiths, (B); 2, Cameron Cross, (C); 3, Keith Sasine, (B); 4, Bradon Fredrickson, (R). 140 — 1, JC Help, (K); 2, Braden Wamsley, (H); 3, Joe Bradshaw, (B); 4, Cody Burns, (W). 145 — 1, Chris Julkunen, (R); 2, Colton Griffiths, (H); 3, Kaicy Sweeney, (W); 4, Romeo Drawn, (H). 152 — 1, Keltson Blackburn, (R); 2, Juan Donis, (H); 3, Chase Steele, (W); 4, Jared Wall, (W). 160 — 1, Jake Sneddon, (H); 2, Spencer Harris, (B); 3, Trent Thompson, (B); 4, Micah Smith, (W). 171 — 1, Brandon Molder, (R); 2, Jake Grygla, (K); 3, Chris Hall, (H); 4, Andrew Park, (B). 189 — 1, Skyler Bird, (H; 2, Eli Fieldon, (R); 3, Tyler Wallace, (W); 4, Ryan Vasquez, (C). 215 — David Williams, (C); 2, Josh Larson, (H); 3, Seth Anderson, (B); 4, Bryce Sansing, (R). 285 — 1, Spencer Paulson, (B); 2, Justin Blackmore, (W); 3, Brian Fletcher, (C); 4, Ammon Neilson, (R).