Ridgeline’s first trip to the Corner Canyon Cup—the first in recent memory, at least—was unforgettable.
The Riverhawks went 6-0 in the two-day dual-style wrestling tournament and defeated traditional 6A power Layton 40-37 in Saturday’s championship round. Ridgeline also edged out Bingham, Layton’s B-Team, Skyline, Davis and Corner Canyon through, with his showdowns against Davis and Corner Canyon duals decided by three combined points.
The Riverhawks were able to best the Lancers in the Finals thanks in large part to their ability to rack up bonus points. Ridgeline got pins in that doubles from Jack Semadeni (126-pound weight class), Sam Welker (144), Dylan Twedt (157), Owen Munk (165), Sam McMullen (190), and Hollis Risher (285), and Peter Jeppson ( 150) has prevailed through an important decision.
Semadeni and Welker both went unbeaten for Ridgeline, with 10 of those wins coming in the fall. Kruz Allred (106), Jeppso, Twedt, Munk, Pirtle and Risher each lost just once for the Riverhawks, with the lion’s share of those wins ending in pinning fashion.
“We had several exciting duels that went to the last game or penultimate,” said Ridgeline head coach Jarrett Morrill. “I think a special shout out to Jack Semadeni who was undefeated and Sam Welker who was also undefeated. Those two did great and then we had several (kids) that went 5-1. … In all three (closely contested duels), we both won seven matches, but we were able to get over the top because we have more pins than the other side, which we really tried to work on. Well, that was huge, and especially Sam Welker (was huge). In our last duel against Layton they were three points ahead before the last game and Sam came out and took a pin so we could win the duel so he came up with that clutch pin.
Ridgeline wasn’t the only local high school program to win a tournament this past weekend, as Green Canyon hosted the nine-team Cache Valley Classic and prevailed. Wolves accumulated 264 points, which was 40.5 more than the Mountain Crest JV roster. Preston was third with 171 points.
Green Canyon crowned three champions in Quinn Richards (113), William Tanner (157) and Jackson Landon (215) and had four other finalists in Joey Montufar (138), Calvin Wallis (165), Sam Tanner (215) and Ethan Kunzler ( 285). It was an all Green Canyon showdown in the finals at 215. Tanner pinned all three of his opponents and Richards was selected as the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
Wolves also had four consolation champions, as Max Erickson (113), Easton Darley (120), Benjamin Wallis (175) and Eli Pensamiento (190) all advanced in their third-place games.
“It takes a lot of work to put together a tournament so it’s great that the kids are also coming out and doing the best they’ve got this season and putting on a flawless tournament,” said GC head coach Dirt Howa.
Like the Wolves, the Mustangs had seven athletes who advanced to the championship round. Porter Johnson (132) and Mason Geary (150) earned the right to top the podium for Mountain Crest, while Ryker Smethurst (106), Ian Allen (144), Nash Brown (157), Tanner Poppleton (175 ) and Porter Kennington (190) were just one win away from accomplishing the same feat. Mountain Crest’s Zane pickup was the consolation title winner at 150.
Preston finished the tournament with the top four champions in Peyton Keller (120), Tavin Rigby (138), Quinn Bradford (145) and Micah Serr (190). Serr, a 4A state finalist last season as a sophomore, is undefeated so far in the 2022-23 season. Additionally, a trio of Preston grapplers including Dustin Pearce (132), Ethan Keller (165), and Brandon Lindhardt (285) finished third in their respective weight classes.
The Mountain Crest collegiate team showcased their talents at the prestigious Wasatch Intermountain Duals. The Mustangs were missing the injured Carter Nelson, a defending champion, and returning 4A runner-up Lincoln Lofthouse was down with an injury in the middle of the two-day tournament. Despite this, the Mustangs still managed to win 5-3, with victories over Mountain Ridge, Maple Mountain, Canyon View, Central (Washington) and Wasatch, who finished third in last season’s 5A State Championships.
Mountain Crest lost to 5A Power Payson and Colorado programs Fruita Monument and Green River. The duels against the two teams from Colorado were each decided with three points.
Two-time reigning state champion Easton Evans went 8-0 for the Mustangs, with seven of those victories being secured in convincing fashion. The three-time state finalist also came through with a 6-4 win over returning 5A consolation champion Parker Hayes of Wasatch.
Hunter Hammer (215/285) went 6-2 with six pins for Mountain Crest while teammates Stetson Bingham (150), Jace McBride (157/165), Dontay McMurtrey (165/175) and Jud Wells (215/285) only lost twice each. Sam Schroeder (190) triumphed in four of his seven fights for the Mustangs.
Another team that did well over the weekend was West Side, who competed in the 21-team Tim Mathews Invitational, a two-day bracket tournament hosted by Jerome. No final team standings were available, but the Pirates racked up plenty of points – and mainly against programs from larger classifications – as they crowned two champions and had five other medalists.
West Side won back-to-back titles from Colter Barzee (98) and Gavin Peterson (106). Other Pirates who made the placement rounds were Stellar New (5th with 126), Tige Roberts (5th with 138), Jed Hurren (4th with 145), Colten Gunderson (3rd with 160) and Ben Jensen (5th with 160). with 220).
Sky View and Logan have traveled to Wyoming to compete in the Star Valley Braves Braves for more than a decade, and this dual-style tournament took place last weekend. The Bobcats went 2-4 with wins over Logan and Cokeville (Wyoming) while the Grizzlies went 1-5 with a win over Cokeville. The other programs in action were Wyoming Power Star Valley and the Idaho teams Sugar-Salem, Shelley and Thunder Ridge.
Preston Smith (285) went undefeated for Sky View, which included a two-point win over his Star Valley opponent. Parley Thacker (152) and Hans Herrmann (160) each went 4-1 for the Bobcats, while Camron Carling (145) emerged victorious in four of his six duels.
Cooper Redd (138) Logan fared well as he won 5-1, with two nerve-wracking one-point victories – one over Sky View’s Collin Miller. Alan Lazzari (152) won four of his six matches for the Grizzlies.
Mountain Crest and Ridgeline were in action at the Bear River Duals, which had two pools of six teams each. Team Mountain Crest B led among local teams with a record of 4-1, while Team Mustang A won 3-2 and Ridgeline 1-5. Mountain Crest’s B-Team lost only to Bear River, defeating Blackfoot, Layton, Ridgeline and Copper Hills B, while MC’s A-Team defeated Bear River 2, West and Northridge and Ridgeline defeated Copper Hills 2.
The Mustang B-Team had four unbeaten athletes in Erin Smith (120), Talya Summers (135), Maggie Budge (155) and Laura Stabile (155). Budge and Stabile shared the matches at 155. Smith pinned all five of their opponents for the Mustangs while teammates Hadley Glenn (175) and Kalie Jensen (235) went for a combined 5-3. Jensen’s only setback was by three points to Bretlee Potter, Bear River’s standout.
Mountain Crest’s A-Team was led by Kaitlin Lofthouse (125) and Eastyn Nyman (130), who combined to lead 9-0 with seven pins and a technical fall. Jacyi Tolman (105/110), Jacie Shock (120), Anna Van Huss (135) and Gracie Howard (170) each lost just once for the Mustangs.
Ridgeline only had six wrestlers, but four of them finished with records of 3-2 or better. Emi Stahl (130) triumphed in all five fights and she dominated all her opponents. Taya Crookston (125) and Breanne Lundahl (135) tied to make it 8-2, with eight pins for the Rivehawks while Caroline Kirk (155) won 3-2.
Meanwhile, Green Canyon had a memorable weekend at Hunter-hosted Queen of the Ring as Wolves accumulated 148 points and finished third out of 18 teams. Gracie Blake went 5-0, with five pins en route to a 155 title win for Wolves, who had six wins – all by the fall – and a second-place performance from Kiah Saurey (140).
Three other Wolves punched their ticket to the placement rounds in Yasmin Manjarrez (5th, 170), Jorilyn Herzog (3rd, 170) and Kaetla Pierce (4th, 235). Herzog has tasted victory six times on her way to the consolation title.
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