DIVISION CHAMPS • The JHS wrestling squad finished 1st at the Southern Divisionals and qualified 16 for the state tournament this weekend. Photo courtesy of JuabWrestling@JuabWrestling (Twitter).

By Dr. Joel Holman
JHS Wrestling Coach

The Juab Wrestlers are Division Champs! After a great wrestling weekend, Juab brought home the team title and are set up for a great state tournament run. We scored 299.5 points to Cedar City's 255. We qualified 16 wrestlers for state, two more than last year. This is the third year in a row that we have increased our qualifiers. We placed four 1st, three 2nd, three 3rd, one 4th, two 6th, one 7th, and two 8th. We feel that our wrestlers are in a good position to be successful at State and we hope to bring home a team title and many individual state titles.
For the second year in a row, Gentry Warner(106) started us out with a divisional title. Also for the second year, he pinned his way through the tournament. Gentry is wrestling exceptionally well at the right time of the season. We expect him to bring home a state title. Kaleb Nybo(113) was our second champion and he also pinned all of his opponents. Kaleb has an unconventional style that is hard for opponents to prepare for. He is fun to watch because no matter the score, he is never out of the match. He has set himself up well for a run at the finals and could be the surprise champion of the state tournament. Mason Mangleson(145) was the first seed going into the tournament and he wrestled to match his seed. He has been ranked number one all year at 145lb and he is ready to repeat this weekend's performance at state. Ashton Seely(182) repeated as divisional champ. As per last year, he was unchallenged. He pinned his first three opponents and won in the finals by technical fall. He is the odds-on favorite for a state title again this year.
Jayce Lind(120), Joey Aagard(160), and Jaxson Kendall(HWT) were our other finalists. Jayce had a great semifinals victory to an opponent who he has never beaten. It was a great match and Jayce showed how good he can be when he is at his best. Unfortunately, we were unable to repeat in the finals. Nonetheless, Jayce is set up well for a state finals run and he has the potential to be a state champion this year. Joey Aagard suffered a disappointing loss in the finals to a rival from Canyon View. He is now 2-2 vs said opponent and we plan to win the best of five series next week at state. Placing second has made Joey's path to a state championship a little tougher, but he is ready to face the task head on and we all feel that he will be a state champion at the end of the weekend. Jaxson Kendall had a great divisional tournament. He is wrestling great and has been improving daily through the last month of the season. We expect that he will take confidence in his success and carry that through to state.
Placing third were Hayden Mangelson(152), Brier Bryan(170), and Cason Messersmith(182). Chandler Beal(152) placed fourth. Hayden and Chandler both lost in the semifinals and wrestled back to the consolation championships. We felt that there was no value in wrestling our own teammates, so we flipped a coin and Hayden won. Both have the potential to do well at state and it would be fun to have a double Juab finals. Brier lost in the semis to the eventual champion from Cedar. We have beaten him in the past but unfortunately he bested us this weekend. We will have the opportunity to avenge the loss at state and anticipate that Brier will. Though Cason lost to the eventual champion, he is getting better in every match. He is wrestling with confidence and skill that we have never seen before. We know that he will continue on that trajectory at state and should place high.
Zavien Dunihoo(145) and Brent Huata(220) placed sixth. Zavien wrestled a great tournament up to the semi final round. Unfortunately, he injured his knee in the quarter finals and we decided to injury default him down to sixth place. We hope that with a week of rest, he will be able to compete and place at state. Brent, on the other hand, is coming off of an injury. He broke his finger in December and has only returned to the mat in the last couple weeks. He is a little rusty, but was able to do reasonably well and qualify for state. He placed fifth at state last year and his goal is to improve on that this year.
Rounding out our placers are Wyatt Harmon(132), Jackson Schugk(182), and Logan Ulibarri(220). This is the first time qualifying for all three wrestlers. All have a goal to place at state this year.
As a team, we have the goal to take state this year. Our wrestlers have had this goal since the first of the season, and we are excited that our opportunity is here. Come to UVU this weekend and see your Juab Wasp Wrestlers at State!
State will be held this Friday at the UCCU center at UVU. Wrestling starts Friday at 1:00p. Quarterfinals are at 4:00p. Semi finals are Saturday morning at 10:30a. The Medal Rounds are Saturday at 2:00p and the Finals are Saturday at 5:00p. For schedule details - http://www.uhsaa.org/Wrestling/2014-15/TournInfoandSchedule.pdf . If you are unable to attend but still want updates, follow us on twitter @juabwrestling. There will also be radio coverage on KMGR 95.9 FM.