High school wrestling: Altamont rallies to earn 3-peat

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OREM — In the beginning stages on the first day of the 1A state wrestling tournament the two-time defending champs were on the ropes.

Altamont, looked deflated, trailing by more than 50 points with the majority of the opening day matches already in the books. At that time, the Longhorns huddled in the southern portion of the UCCU center and engaged in a motivational pep talk.

From that point forward the champs woke up and carried that momentum to complete back-to-back-to-back title runs at Utah Valley University Saturday with a total score of 183.0.

"It's pretty cool. We've worked for it. We've been bustin' our butt for three years in a row now," said Altamont's Cassidy Smith, the 285-pound champion. "It shows. We're all one, we work for the same thing."

Monticello finished second at 169.5 and Panguich ended with 146.0 for a third-place effort after the two teams were tied heading into the second day.

Both Smith and Rylee Foy, a three-time champion in the 160-pound weight class, attributed the turnaround to the pep talk.

"Just attitude," said Smith when asked what was muttered in the huddle. "We needed an attitude adjustment."

"He just told us to pull our heads out," added Foy. "We came together as a team. At first we weren't really, but at the end we came together and got this trophy."

Duchesne (124.5), Rich (108.5), Wayne (102.5), Piute (42.0), Diamond Ranch (26.5), Milford (18.0) and Bryce Valley (12.0) completed the top ten standings.

In total, seven of the 14 matches ended in pins: Altamont's Brady Farnsworth (106), Duchesne's Christian Mahan (152), Altamont's Rylee Foy (160) and Kyle Foy (170), Monticello's Austin Wilcox (182), Duchesne's Max Lewis (220) and Altamont's Cassidy Smith (285).

Other individual champions included: Panguitch's Jory Owens (113) and Cade Coles (120), Monticello's Brian Robinson (126) and Cole Eldredge (132), Altamont's Jake Stevenson (138) and Chance Goodrich (145) and Wayne's Jared Alvey (195).

Panguitch's Owens and Coles, Monticello's Robinson, Altamont's Kyle Foy and Duchesne's Lewis all repeated as individual state champions in their respected weight classes.

Email: tphibbs@desnews.com

1A Wrestling

Final Team Results

1. Altamont, 183.0; 2. Monticello, 169.5; 3. Panguitch, 146.0; 4. Duchesne, 124.5; 5. Rich, 108.5; 6. Wayne, 102.5; 7. Piute, 42.0; 8. Diamond Ranch, 26.5; 9. Milford, 18.0; 10. Bryce Valley, 12.0; 11. Whitehorse, 4.0; 12. Escalante, 0.0; 13. Layton Christian, 0.0; 14. Oakley, 0.0.

Individual Results

106 — Championship, Brady Farnsworth, Altamont def. Sam Brophy, Panguitch, Pin 2:51; 3. Justin Redd, Monticello; 4. Hayden Ivie, Duchesne.

113 — Championship, Jory Owens, Panguitch def. Hunter Bowring, Monticello, 4-2; 3. Chance Weahkee, Monticello; 4. Drue Fivecoat, Wayne.

120 — Championship, Cade Coles, Panguitch def. Brandon Musselman, Monticello, OT 5-3; 3. Dyson Barker, Rich; 4. Jordan Allred, Duchesne.

126 — Championship, Brian Robinson, Monticello def. Sam Vasquez, Panguitch, 15-0; 3. Zack Allen, Piute; 4. Alec Silva, Rich.

132 — Championship, Cole Eldredge, Monticello def. Brandon Birch, Panguitch, 9-1; 3. Jesse Malm, Rich; 4. Clay Fullmer, Piute.

138 — Championship, Jake Stevenson, Altamont def. Dakota Clark, Rich, 10-7; 3. Blake Thompson, Altamont; 4. Jayden Coburn, Piute.