December 2003: Wrestling USA Magazine

Wasatch Crowned Layton Invitational Champions

The Layton Invitational was held over the weekend at Layton High School. One of the first tournaments each year, it included more than 50 Utahns who medals last year, as well as 18 Utahns ranked nationally by Wrestling USA Magazine. Heber City wrestling powerhouse, Wasatch High School, walked away with the 1st place team trophy.

Going into the finals, Wasatch had a 13-point lead over Viewmont High School, and both teams had six wrestlers going for the championship. It turned out to be anticlimactic, however, as Wasatch won five of the six gold medals, nearly tripling its lead over second-place Viewmont. Third-place Box Elder High School was a distant 74.5 points behind second.

Among Wasatch's champions was Cyler Sanderson, brother of wrestling phenom Cael Sanderson (recent silver medalist at the World Championships), who won his 135 lbs. championship match 19-5 over Adam Kjar of Viewmont. Other Wasatch champions included Casey Smith (103), Cody Sweat (140), Peter Rose (145) and Dallin Norton (275).

The tournament was a good gauge of the coming 5A state championships, with seven of the 10 5A teams ranked by the Utah Wrestling Coaches Association (UWCA) in attendance, as well as four teams top-ranked by Wrestling USA Magazine's Utah Editor.

Team results were 1st place Wasatch High School, 252.5; 2nd place Viewmont High School, 218; 3rd place Box Elder High School 143.5; 4th place Brighton High School, 139.5; 5th place Layton High School, 119; 6th place Timpanogos High School, 114; 7th place Bingham High School, 106; 8th place Hillcrest High School, 97.5; 9th place West Jordan High School, 92; 10th place Alta High School, 91.5; 11th place Orem High School, 76; 12th place Roy High School, 46.5; 13th place Fremont High School, 44; 13th place Springville High School, 44; 15th place Jordan High School, 41; and 16th place, Bountiful High School, 39.5; 17th place, Taylorsville High School, 37; and 18th place Elko High School, 21.

Not surprisingly, top-ranked Wasatch came out on top. Viewmont, ranked 5A no. 1 by UWCA and no. 3 by Wrestling USA Magazine, came in 2nd; UWCA no. 2 ranked Brighton (5A) came in 4th. Timpanogos, ranked 4A no. 2 by the UWCA and no. 1 by the magazine, came in 8th. UWCA no. 9 ranked Bingham (5A) came in 7th; no. 8 ranked Hillcrest (5A) came in 8th; no. 4 ranked West Jordan (5A) came in 9th; no. 5 ranked Alta (5A) came in 10th; no. 10 ranked Orem (4A) came in 11th. Most surprising (and disappointing) was Fremont. Ranked 5A no. 6 by the UWCA and no. 1 by the magazine, they came in at a dismal 13th place out of 18 teams.

Individual Results

• 103 - 1st Casey Smith (Wasatch), defeated Tyler Rackham (Box Elder), decision, 6-2; 3rd Caleb Isom (Layton) defeated Tyson Jackson (Viewmont; UWCA rank 5A no. 1), decision, 8-0; 5th Kolby Bradley (Springville) defeated Jesse Clark (Bingham), fall.

• 112 - 1st: Riley Yeates (Box Elder), defeated T.J. Park (Hillcrest), decision, 11-3; 3rd Richard Winger (Viewmont) defeated Chris Moat (Layton), decision, 8-0; 5th Shayne Bonner (Wasatch) defeated Josh Pappas (Taylorsville; UWCA rank 5A no. 3; magazine Wrestler to Watch), decision, 4-2.

• 119 - 1st Flint Ray (Roy; UWCA 4A rank no, 1), defeated Brady Smoot (Viewmont; UWCA 5A no, 1), fall; 3rd Andy McCoy (Orem; UWCA 4A rank no. 6), defeated Justin Bell (Bingham; UWCA 5A no. 5), decision, 9-2; 5th Jason Greaves (West Jordan), defeated Tanner Purser (Jordan; UWCA 5A rank no. 2), decision, 6-5.

• 125 - 1st Evan Woody (Hillcrest; UWCA 5A rank no. 4), defeated Bryce Bartel (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 3), overtime decision, 8-6; 3rd Shay Hardy (Box Elder), defeated Troy Kranendonk (Layton), decision, 4-2; 5th Matt Tallman (Taylorsville) defeated Spencer Smoot (Viewmont), disqualification.

• 130 - 1st McKay Sanderson (Timpanogos; UWCA 4A rank no. 1 at 135; national rank no. 12 senior at 135), defeated Shay Lawrence (Viewmont; national rank no. 28 junior at 119), decision, 13-3; 3rd Tyrell Sweat (Wasatch; national rank no. 10 sophomore at 135), defeated Cam George (Bountiful), decision, 15-5; 5th Gregg Hearty (Bingham), defeated Dwain Martinson (Fremont), default.

• 135 - 1st Cyler Sanderson (Wasatch; national rank no. 4 junior), defeated Adam Kjar (Viewmont; UWCA 5A rank no. 1), decision, 19-5; 3rd Casey Fehlberg (Orem; national rank no. 30 senior at 130), defeated Jeff Wilson (Hillcrest; UWCA 5A no. 3), decision, 9-3; 5th Casey Fromm (Box Elder; UWCA 4A rank no. 6 at 125), defeated Josh Egan (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 5), decision, 3-1.

• 140 - 1st Cody Sweat (Wasatch; national rank no. 30 senior at 135), defeated Kyle Robbins (Orem; UWCA 4A rank no. 1), decision, 15-2; 3rd John Johnson (Box Elder; UWCA 4A rank no. 2), defeated Matt Mann (Viewmont), technical fall, 16-0; 5th Danny Franks (Bingham), defeated Bryan Jones (Roy), fall.

• 145 - 1st Peter Rose (Wasatch), defeated Ben Harding (Fremont; UWCA 5A rank no. 1), technical fall, 21-6; 3rd Talan Knox (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 1 at 140; national rank no. 2 sophomore at 140; magazine Wrestler to Watch), defeated Ryan Moore (Bingham; UWCA 5A rank no. 3), decision, 9-2; 5th David Wiser (Viewmont), defeated Justin Callicoat (Timpanogos), decision, 8-2.

• 152 - 1st Landon Essig (Viewmont; UWCA 5A rank no. 1; national rank no. 30 senior), defeated Chase Walker (Timpanogos; UWCA 4A rank no. 1; national rank no. 11 senior), double-overtime decision, 2-1; 3rd Colton Salazar (Wasatch; national rank no. 10 senior), defeated Jon Moore (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 2 at 145), decision, 14-6; 5th Dave Warren (Springville), defeated Cody Schroeder (Elko), decision, 3-2.

• 160 - 1st Randy Callicoat (Timpanogos; UWCA 4A rank no. 1 at 171; national rank no. 23 senior at 160), defeated Kyle Graham (Viewmont), decision, 2-1; 3rd Jordan Smith (Wasatch), defeated Jayson Kim (Bingham; UWCA 5A rank no. 2), fall; 5th Danny Eason (West Jordan; UWCA 5A rank no. 4), defeated Tyson Petersen (Box Elder), technical fall, 17-1.

• 171 - 1st Shawn Brunson (Hillcrest; UWCA 5A rank no. 1 at 160), defeated John Pearson (Wasatch), decision, 5-0; 3rd Brett Boyce (Box Elder), defeated Joshua Smith (Timpanogos), decision, 5-0; 5th Andy Ware (West Jordan), defeated Josh Bruening (Alta; UWCA 5A rank no. 3), decision, 5-4.

• 189 - 1st Forrest Mackintosh (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 2), defeated Chris Day (Alta), fall; 3rd Matt Rawlings (Wasatch), defeated Ryan Moat (Layton), decision, 5-4; 5th Nathan Shepherd (Bingham), defeated Mason Milligan (Viewmont), decision, 7-5.

• 215 - 1st: Mitch Moody (Alta; UWCA 5A rank no. 2), defeated Pat Hanley (Viewmont), decision, 11-5; 3rd Kevin Clarke (Brighton; UWCA 5A rank no. 3), defeated Rubiel Mendoza (Layton), fall; 5th Joe Johnson (Jordan), defeated Ben Crook (Box Elder), defeated, 3-2.

• 275 - 1st Dallin Norton (Wasatch; national rank no. 4 junior), defeated Rio Stotler (West Jordan; UWCA 5A rank no. 1), fall; 3rd Austin Curtis (Layton), defeated Josh Mattert (Viewmont; UWCA 5A rank no. 1 at 215), fall; 5th Folau Aso (Brighton), defeated Alejandro Reyes (Taylorsville; UWCA 5A rank no. 4), decision, 16-4.

Wrestling USA Magazine has been the voice of national high school wrestling since 1965. For more information, see www.wrestlingusa.com.

Utah Editor Bill Kilpack is a past AAU national champion, a seven-time national silver medalist, an AAU All-American, and earned an alternate position on the U.S. Pan-Am Team in Greco-Roman. He coaches an independent freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling program through Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, Jordan Freestyle Wrestling. For more information about the program, go to http://members.aol.com/jordanfreestyle/ . He is also editor of UtahWrestling.org, newly formed Web site aimed at becoming the voice of Utah wrestling.