April 20, 2004: The Standard Examiner

Prep Notes: Utah Wrestlers Impressive at National Meet
by Tony Renya

The high school wrestling championships are nearly two months old, but the season still continues for several of the state's top wrestlers.

At the recently held High School Senior Nationals in Cleveland the Utah contingent of 22 wrestlers finished in 10th place, just behind New York.

"If you think about the number of people they (New York) have to draw from, as opposed to what we draw on, that says a lot about the quality of wrestling in Utah," Bill Kilpack, communications director for the Utah Wrestling Coaches Association said.

Included on the Utah squad were Top of Utah wrestlers, Flint Ray of Roy High, Weber's Craig Mock and Luke Lofthouse and Josh Burnett of Mountain Crest.

In order to qualify for the meet, the wrestlers needed to have finished first or second at their respective state tournaments at some point in their high school career and be a high school senior.

Three wrestlers from Utah earned All-American honors at the meet, including Andrew Hochstrasser of Tooele at 125 pounds, Spanish Fork's Jeb Clark at 145 pounds, and Colton Salazar of Wasatch at 152 pounds.

Hochstrasser won the bronze medal by defeating Travis Lang of North Dakota, 8-6. Clark also took home the bronze by winning a 3-0 decision over New Jersey's Greg Hagel. Salazar placed fourth, losing to Seth Garvin of Alabama in the bronze medal match.

"I'm not surprised that we did as well as we did. This is one of the strongest senior classes we've had in a number of years," Kilpack said.

Although Ray (119 pounds), Mock (171) and Lofthouse (189) did not earn All-American status, they did finish as top point scorers in their individual weight classes.

Other Utahns finishing as top scorers were:

Mykel Walsh of Panguitch (112), Cad Christensen of Uintah (130), Robert Sanders of San Juan (135), Cody Sweat of Wasatch (140), Randy Callicoat of Timpanogos (160), and Orem's Mark Freeman (275).

Other Utah wrestlers who competed at the meet were:

Jordan's Tanner Purser (119), Spanish Fork's Dave Beagley (119), West Jordan's Kellen Wilson (130), McKay Sanderson of Timpanogos (130), Casey Fehlberg of Orem (140), Peter Rose of Wasatch (145), Pleasant Grove's Justin Jacob (152), Chase Walker of Timpanogos (152), Casey Eldrege of Monticello (160), Hunter's Jeff Linzey (215), Spanish Fork's Garrett Elliott (215) and Spencer Bowles of Riverton (275).

The tournament also served as a recruiting tool for college coaches who were not allowed to talk to the wrestlers until after the matches were concluded.

"College coaches and recruiters go there especially looking for new talent, Kilpack said.