Jan. 13, 2008: Deseret Morning News

Three-Mat Showdowns
by Michael Black

 Win or lose, there will be memories made to last a lifetime.

The seventh annual Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation's All-Star Classic wrestling exhibition gets under way Tuesday night at 7 at the McKay Events Center on the campus of UVSC. Outside of the state tournament, it is the biggest and most celebrated event that happens each year in the wrestling season.

The idea to have an all-star event isn't new. In fact, there were several attempts to pull off such an event through the years. There was an after-season exhibition that went on for a few years. Then there was a meet held in Cedar City that worked for a couple of seasons.

The current edition really caught on at the beginning of the decade. The burst of popularity occurred when it had two top wrestlers that really didn't like each other and things became rather personal between the pair. When people from the respective schools heard that the two were to do battle during an all-star event at Jordan High, they turned out in droves. So many people showed up for that all-star event that people had to be turned away at the door. Finding that there certainly was an interested wrestling community of fans necessitated a move to the much larger venue in Orem, and it has been an enormous success ever since.

The event not only showcases the best wrestling talent from a state renowned for producing some of the country's top wrestlers but it is used to promote the sport and raise money for the state's only local collegiate wrestling program at UVSC. The UAWF originally told the school that if it would create a men's wrestling program — after all the other programs in the state were forced to fold their teams because of gender equity issues in scholarships and participation — it would donate a certain amount of money each year. In order to generate a good portion of those funds, the All-Star Classic was created. In other words, the fans in attendance not only get to watch some incredible action, but they can feel good knowing the cost of their ticket goes to helping the sport they love at a local school.

"We are very glad to be a part of something that promotes the sport of wrestling," said Ross Brunson, event organizer and member of the UAWF board. "We are happy with the past success of the event and hope that we can continue to accomplish those things that we set out to do when we first came up with this idea.

Mainly, we want to put on a good show and help meet our pledge for the UVSC wrestling team."

As far as the actual wrestling matches, the format was changed last season. Before 2007, the All-Star was simply 14 or 15 matches pitting the state's top grapplers with a combined 4A/5A team against a 1A/2A/3A team. Last year, the teams were expanded and now each of the 3A, 4A and 5A squads have 14 members with a combined 1A/2A team. Three mats of action take place simultaneously, so the fans have plenty to keep themselves occupied.

There are plenty of intriguing matchups on the ticket this year. The match billed as the feature includes two returning state champions. Ethen Lofthouse of Mountain Crest and Ethan Smith of Wasatch have both earned All-American status and the attention of college recruiters. Lofthouse, while only a junior, may be getting more attention nationally with his third-place finish at the Beast of the East and 112-5 record, but Smith, a senior, placed third at the recent Reno Tournament of Champions and has schools such as Missouri, Wyoming, UVSC and Stanford after him.

Another match certain to have people's interest is that of Springville's Jason Chamberlain against Monticello's Aaron Butler. Both are three-time state champions and nearly locks to join the rarefied company of four-time winners next month. Chamberlain is a three-time participant in the All-Star and has won his previous two matches. He owns a 160-2 career record with his only two losses coming at the Reno event in his freshman and sophomore years. He is ranked No. 1 in the country at 140 pounds and has signed to wrestle at Boise State.

Plenty of other matches will turn out to be "Classics," and every wrestler will remember his time spent highlighted as one of the best in Utah.

"There are so many great wrestlers. It is an honor to be picked," said Wasatch's Jake Salazar last year. Salazar will wrestle in his third All-Star this year. "They do a great job putting this on, and I know speaking for myself that you would be crazy not to want to be here. It is a great event and a lot of fun."