Dec. 16, 2007: The Salt Lake Tribune

Prep Wrestling: Millard Beats Up on Upper Classes
by Chhun Sun

BOUNTIFUL - It was an up-and-down battle that can cause panic, even with the most experienced wrestling teams. And it was up to Clancy Mortensen to offer his Millard Eagles relief when his 160-pound final took place.

Before then, it was a tight race between Box Elder and Millard for the team title at the Viewmont Invitational on Saturday night. Luckily for the Eagles, they had a very confident and capable wrestler in front of them.

"I like the pressure," Mortensen said.

The junior beat Payson's Taggart Miller in a 6-3 decision to secure Millard's second consecutive tournament title with four matches left.

In the end, the Eagles edged Box Elder 182.5-173.5. The victory was highlighted by four individual tournament winners - Mortensen, Matt Tuttle (103), Mason Stott (135) and Sergio Pedroza (285). Viewmont, Layton and Payson rounded out the top five with 160.5, 152, 144.5 points, respectively.

It was another effort to show that Class 2A's Millard can compete with the big boys, as the Eagles will use the win in preparation for their region and state tournaments. It also shows that Millard is quite deep, as 12 of the 14 Eagles who competed in the two-day, 22-team tournament scored points.

Was this a statement win for the two-time defending 2A state champion?

"It's not really us proving ourselves to others," Millard coach Blake Turner said. "It's proving to ourselves and what we can do. I think it really helps our confidence when you go back and wrestle other 2A schools, to be able to wrestle the best in the state."

And it wasn't easy.

After Friday night and three rounds of action, the Eagles were in the lead with 106.5 points. Viewmont was not too far behind, holding onto second place with 91.5.

Box Elder, however, was in fifth with 70.5.

With only the championship matches left, the Bees led Millard 173.5-164.5.

Nine of Box Elder's wrestlers finished in the top six. Kolby Williamson had the best outing with a runner-up finish in the 145-pound class, losing 16-1 to Cyprus star Matt Brown in the final.

Still, Turner said his Eagles could have done better.

"We had a few letdowns on our team," he said. "We didn't come back in the consolation finals. Our four guys who made the finals really stepped up and came through with some big wins for us. . . . It's exciting for us, to see that our kids can compete with all these bigger schools. And to be right at the top, I'm real happy with the performance overall today."