February 2008: West Jordan Journal

West Jordan Wrestlers Send Jaramillo Off On a Good Note
by Josh McFadden

Earlier this season, Larry Jaramillo announced he would retire after the state tournament, ending a 28-year career as West Jordan High School’s wrestling coach. After his announcement, his team set out to make sure his last season was a memorable one. They succeeded with a second place finish in the Region 3 championships and a third place finish at the 5A state tournament, held Feb. 13-15 at Utah Valley State College.

With two individual title winners, West Jordan finished the meet with 128.5 points, fewer only than Viewmont and Weber. It was the highest finish in the program’s
history since the Jaguars took the title in 1997.

“It’s starting to sink in that this is it for me,” Jaramillo said.

At the state tournament, the Jaguars got three wrestlers into the championship match and had three more go deep into the consolation round.

Nicko Paraso, a 125-pound senior who entered the state championships with a 37-10 record, advanced to the first-place match. Along the way, he pinned his first
two opponents within the first two rounds and then won his semifinal match in overtime, 7-5. Paraso captured the state title by winning the championship match by fall in 5:56.

Senior heavyweight Justin Blackmore, who lost just two of his 39 matches coming into the state tournament, won by fall in his first two matches and then defeated his semifinal opponent 9-3 to get to the finals. He won in the finals as well, giving the Jaguars their second state title winner.

Colin Grant, a 130-pound senior, won the region title in his weight class and then marched to the state finals after two pins and a 6-5 win in the semifinals. Grant lost to Lone Peak’s Paul Johnson 5-3 in the finals.

Freshman Jacob Falk, who had an impressive 24-6 record this season, lost his second round match, but made his way through the consolation round to win third
place in the 103-pound weight class.

Devon Paraso, a 119-pound sophomore, placed third at the region meet. He finished fourth at state despite losing his first match. Junior 135-pound competitor Chase Burns also got to the third-fourth-place match, where he won by a 4-0 decision.

Jaramillo was happy to go out on such a high note.

“The kids worked hard,” he said. “They made me proud.”

Copper Hills High School, which placed fifth in the Region 3 tournament, sent five competitors to state. Ryan Zumwalt (125 pounds), Mitch Myler (140 pounds), Mitch Sommers (152 pounds), Ryan Vasquez (189 pounds) and Max Adamson (285 pounds) each placed third at the region tournament. Another 285-pound competitor, Zac Jensen, took fourth but did not go to the state tournament.

At state, the Grizzlies had 17 points and finished in 20th place out of 26 teams. Myler and Adamson each won their first match, lost their second match and then won one in the consolation round before bowing out. Vasquez lost his first round match but won a pair of consolation matches before being eliminated. Sommers and Zumwalt each went 1-2 in the tournament.