High school wrestling: Altamont in 'prime-beef' position to capture fourth-straight 1A wrestling title

OREM — Gosh, Altamont sure does like to make things interesting.

The three-time defending 1A wrestling champions trailed Monticello early at the UCCU Center in the 1A tournament on Friday as the lighter weights started to file in.

But, of course, it’s all about the beef.

The Longhorns dominated the heavy weights and are in “prime-beef” position to capture yet another title with an overall team score of 132.0 points after Day 1.

“A little better than I expected actually,” Altamont coach Cory Allred said of his team's performance. “They came out and wrestled really well today. We had a couple that we thought we’d get — but you always have a couple you think you’d get — but we won a couple that I didn’t think we’d win. Monticello has a good bunch so it’s going to be tight.”

Monticello is the closest challenger with 113.0 team points, as the Buckaroos have six wrestlers vying for individual championship medals. However, the two front-runners only match up head-to-head twice in Saturday's championship round: at 145 pounds between Altamont’s Derrik Thompson and Monticello’s Cole Eldredge, and at 182 pounds between Altamont’s Cody Mitchel and Monticello’s Austin Wilcox.

“We don’t line up a ton of places. It’s going to be (other) teams helping us out a little bit,” Allred said. “With Wayne coming in with a better team and Rich and Duchesne — everybody has a few good kids. So, I think everything is going to flush and even out a little bit more (Saturday) morning.”

In 2012, the Longhorns trailed by more than 50 points against Monticello before kicking into overdrive on the second day and eventually capturing the hardware with a 13.5 point team-score victory.

“I hate to jinx anything,” Allred said when asked if he fully expects to celebrate a fourth-straight championship. “I really don’t know. I think we’ve got a good chance but I hate jinxing anything. As long as we wrestle like we did today we should be OK.”

Wayne (68.5), Rich (60.0) and Duchesne (46.0) round out the top five.

“You got to pin,” Allred explained. “That’s what it will boil down to — who pins the most.”

1A wrestling tournament

At Utah Valley University

Friday

Team standings

1. Altamont, 132.0; 2. Monticello, 113.0; 3. Wayne, 68.5; 4. Rich, 60.0; 5. Duchesne, 46.0; 6. Panguitch, 34.0; 7. Piute, 32.5; 8. Milford, 26.0; 9. Bryce Valley, 24.0; 10. Diamond Ranch, 16.0; 11. Whitehorse, 8.0; 12. Escalante, 0.0; 12. Layton Christian, 0.0; 12. Monument Valley, 0.0; 12. Oakley, 0.0

Championship pairings:

106 — Lane Coil, Duchesne vs. Jade Holm, Milford.

113 — Brady Farnsworth, Altamont vs. Tanner Jeffery, Wayne.

120 — Hunter Bowring, Monticello vs. Preston Stephenson, Wayne

126 — Austin Trapp, Piute vs. Brain Robinson, Monticello

132 — Zack Allen, Piute vs. Brandon Musselman, Monticello

138 — Dyson Barker, Rich vs. Blake Thompson, Altamont

145 — Derrik Thompson, Altamont vs. Cole Eldredge, Monticello

152 — Christian Mahan, Duchesne vs. Dakota Clark, Rich

160 — Rylee Foy, Altamont vs. Tommy Calkin, Diamond Ranch

170 — Kyle Foy, Altamont vs. Joshua Rose, Bryce Valley

182 — Cody Mitchel Altamont vs. Austin Wilcox, Monticello

195 — Rowdy Josie, Panguitch vs. Nephi Barlow, Monticello

220 — Cassidy Smith, Altamont vs. Jared Alvey, Wayne

285 — Kade Earley, Rich vs. Jake Johnson, Rich

Email: tphibbs@desnews.com

Twitter: @tphibbsami