Jan. 6, 2008: Deseret Morning News

Dons Cruise to Duals Victory
by Michael Black

 WEST JORDAN — When the wrestling season began just over six weeks ago, Spanish Fork's Kade Christenson was comfortably sitting at home. His thoughts were far from cutting weight, running, lifting and spending several grueling hours on the practice mats. But after the Dons were forfeiting matches in duals at the 215-pound weight class, coach Dave Clark came calling.

"I quit wrestling when I was in eighth grade," said Christenson. "I just would rather spend my time hunting or camping. But coach came and asked me if I would come and help out the team. I was friends with a lot of the guys, and coach is just awesome, so I couldn't say no. After the way things have gone, and the way our team is, I am so glad I am back."

The rest of his teammates and coaches are glad he came back as well. Christenson — who went 5-1, including a thrilling come-from-behind 11-10 win over Daniel Cook in the finals — was a perfect example of the type of wrestling that the Dons performed at the two-day Jaguar Class Duals tournament. They gutted out several close duals and captured the title with a 42-21 victory over Box Elder in the championship.

"I am so proud of this team," said Clark. "We have come a long way since we first started. The guys are just progressing so well, and we had a lot of kids that came through for us. Even guys that might not win their match, they fight hard not to get pinned and save our team some points. Everyone on the team did something to help us."

This year's edition of the Jaguar featured more top teams and more individual high-ranking wrestlers than ever before — seven of the top 10 schools in 5A and four of the top 10 in 4A — the competition was at a premium. West Jordan coach Larry Jaramillo said there is a simple reason why so many of the best teams like to come compete.

"With it being a dual format, coaches like to come because they know their wrestlers are going to get five or six matches for sure," he said. "With a tournament, you can have guys get two matches and be out and done. So when a couple of good teams start coming, it kind of snowballs for the rest to come get their guys the experience they need."

Spanish Fork's win may have surprised some of the other teams, but the Dons were confident they could accomplish such a feat.

"We expected to do well," said 130-pounder Nolan Haycock. "We are getting better all the time, so we knew we could compete."

"As a team this is the best we have wrestled," said Phil Sorenson, the 160-pound grappler. "We are just starting to hit our stride."

Following Spanish Fork was Box Elder, which finished second. Weber took third as it topped Springville 45-21. The host Jaguars from West Jordan were fifth, and Mountain Crest ended in sixth.