The 1998-99 year was one a bit of a transition and definitely more parity. But you will see familiar programs at the top of the standings a generation ago, and in some cases, coaches we all are familiar with were coaching at other schools while two others are still at the same school a quarter of a century later.

5A was still relatively a new classification. And while Layton, under the leadership of the great Mike Hansen, was a consistent program it hadn’t won an outright state title as of yet. Yes, the Lancers won the state title in 1991, but it had to share it with Pleasant Grove. Yes, the two schools actually tied for the state title in one of the most intriguing team races ever. But more on that one some other time though I have written an article about that one you can find on the Internet somewhere (I hope). My own brother took state that year for Skyline and helped Layton earn a piece of that title by beating a Pleasant Grove wrestler (so they didn’t win the title outright) and a Hillcrest wrestler, who if he would have went to the title as was expected, the Huskies would have won its first state title. But while I bring up 1991, one of those Viking wrestlers was Cole Kelley, who in 1999 was the head coach of the Orem Tigers taking over for Robert Steele in the 1997-98 season. And Kelley was named as the 5A Coach of the Year!  Now Kelley leads the American Fork program where his son Tege is a returning state champion.

Two other current coaches working at this time were current Syracuse head coach Troy Brown (Northridge) and Skyridge head coach Lyle Mangum (Lone Peak). Both of these schools were basically brand new. Lone Peak was 4A at this time. And how about Barry Harrington, coaching Alta then as he’s coaching Alta now as is Chris Babinski at Jordan! 

Kelley’s Tigers were definitely a title threat and crowned two state champions with TJ Warner (152 pounds) and Lars Christensen (160). Orem (137.5 points) had a third wrestler in the finals, Justin Whiting (140), but when Whiting lost to Bingham’s Wayne Watts, a name many are familiar with, Layton (142.5) was able to clinch the title. Layton actually only had one individual champion which was Mike’s son Braden (171) but had two other finalists in Blake Hansen (Mike’s other son wrestling 189 pounds) and Jordan Brown (215). Layton’s Zach (112) and Josh Lamano (125) both placed third to give Lancer valuable points. And those Lamano’s that are wrestling for the Lancers now are relations.

Hillcrest (128) placed third led by the great Ross Brunson with Taylorsville (125.5), the defending 5A champions, in fourth. Hillcrest had two state champions that year with Pat Garcia (130) and Kory Wardle (135). Garcia has a son wrestling for Mountain Ridge currently while most recently his son Kysion won three titles for the Sentinel program. Bingham, which placed first, had the most individual state champions with three as Watts, Eric Lott (145) and Derek Bunkall (215) won titles. Brighton had a pair of champions with Cam Jones (106), whose son Kacen wrestles for Corner Canyon. And Don Chavis, son of the great Brighton coach Dave Chavis, won the 189-pound title. Dave had come out of retirement to help coach Brighton as an assistant. One interesting note, Ryon Bingham, the 285-pound state champion for Alta played football for Nebraska and had a stint in the NFL. And I noticed placing fourth at 140 pounds was Curt Clapier of Skyline. I once coached Curt in Pony Baseball and his father Mike was one of the best officials in our state history and also coached a bit in the Eagle program. Curt’s younger sister Lida married current Viewmont head coach Brandon Ripplinger. More on those amazing Ripplingers in a few paragraphs! It should be noted that Mountain View (sixth place with 120 points) put four in the finals with Dave Allen winning at 112 pounds. 
 

There was a lot more parity in 5A wrestling back then. Ten programs actually scored over 100 points and the winning team didn’t even break 150 points. Wrestling was a bit healthier in this generation from top to bottom. And yes, the same exact scoring system was used then as it is now, though 6A this year has gone back to just scoring one wrestler per weight class. 

Box Elder won the 4A tournament by a big margin scoring 243.5 points to easily outpace the returning state champs Payson (187.5).

The Bees had two state champions and one is very familiar in Utah wrestling. Jeff Newby won his first of four state titles at 125 pounds while his teammate Kip Zerkle won gold at 145 pounds, at the expense of one my Provo High wrestlers, Shiloh Nomiyama. Other finalists for the Bees were Matt (112) and Brandon Ripplinger (152), sons of head coach Mike Ripplinger. This was Mike Ripplinger's second state title of six, this one coming exactly ten years after Box Elder broke Brighton’s long run of 10 straight. This would also be the first one of three in a row for the Bees. Bryn Winward (130), Nick Elgan (160), and Cade Mund (171) also placed second giving Box Elder seven finalists total. Newby, of course, is the head wrestling coach at Westlake and the Executive Director of USA Wrestling Utah. All total, Box Elder placed 11 wrestlers in this tournament including Caleb Hardy, fifth place at 103 who next year would take state, and then become a head coach himself later at Weber.

Payson head coach Ric Thompson, a good friend of mine, always lamented Payson’s second place finish because he felt he had a better team this year than the one that took state in 1998. But who is to argue? Also, as fate would have it, Ric's grandson Trey wrestles for Westlake coached by Newby.
 

The Lions put five total wrestlers on the top of the podium with Rich Wilson (103), Andrew Ewell (135), Jake Wright (152), Tom Ford (189) and Chet Johnson (215). Johnson was a transfer from Juab, a highly contentious one where Juab actually fought to deny it, and he beat Provo’s Ben Jones in the finals. Ford beat Logan’s Chris Cooley to win his title and Cooley went on to play several years in the NFL, most notably with the Washington Redskins. Rounding out the top five were Weber (160), Sky View (143) and Spanish Fork (132). And yes, way back in sixth place were my Provo Bulldogs with 84.5 points. I also found out that having three second place wrestlers is a way worse feeling as a coach than having three state champions, though our team improved from seventh to sixth this season. 

It should be noted that Sky View had three individual champions with Layne Davis (112), Josh Hanks (130) and Josh Hancey (171). Sky View head coach David Swenson actually became Green Canyon’s first ever principal.

A couple of current coaches were third place finishers. And they may win state titles this year. Spanish Fork head coach Kip Spencer placed third for Pleasant Grove at 112 pounds and in the weight class below at 103 was T.J. Brindley of Spanish Fork. Brindley was upset in the semifinals by one of my wrestlers, Ryan Argyle. Spencer’s son Kyler wrestles for the Dons while Brindley’s daughter Addie wrestles for Salem Hills where Brindley is coaching. And back to Box Elder, it is great to see Brandon Ripplinger back coaching at Viewmont where his own son Tate is a top contender at 138 pounds! I’m not sure if Ben Fish (152), one of Lone Peak’s first placers, is the father of current Westlake head wrestler Josh Fish. Another interesting note was Weber's 152-pound Ashton Buswell was the winner of the High School Heisman, an award that recognizes student-athletes for their feats on the field, in the classroom and out in the community! 

Uintah (255.5), led by Gregg Stensgaard, won the 3A state title over second place Delta (232.5). Then just behind Delta was Wasatch (223.5) led now by recently retired Wade Discher. It was Discher’s first stint as Wasp head coach Rounding out the top five were Morgan (122). and Lehi (105). The top three teams took a big bulk of the points, finalists and placers. 

Danny Jensen (112), Trevor Murray (135), Erik Haslem (160), Anthony Thomas (189), and Jason Tenney (215) gave Uintah five individual titles. Uintah also had William Merkley (119), Patrick Sharp (125) and Brett Johnson (285) take second. Sharp is currently the head girls coach at Uintah. And Jensen beat Morgan’s Dustin Rock, now the head coach at his alma mater.

Delta had five state champions themselves with brothers Luke (106) and Gordon Beckstrom (119), Rhett Crapo (145), Dallan Chase (152), and Sam Edwards (171). Wasatch had three champions with brothers Steve Cordova (125) and Ritchie Cordova (130) and Mitch Morgan (140). All of these Wasp wrestlers would become NHSCA Senior All-Americans. Lehi’s Travis Lewis (275) was the other champion as the top three schools claimed 13 of the 14 champions. But Uintah with 12 total placers stood tall and hopes to do it again 25 years later!

The late 1990’s and early 2000’s 2A was dominated by Millard, Juab and South Summit. Millard was coached by Marshall Sheriff, Juab by Paul Messersmith, and South Summit by Wade Woolstenhume. Former Delta coaching legend Jim Porter led Millard to a state title in 1994 and then South Summit three straight titles followed by another title by Millard now led by Sheriff. Millard would win its second straight under Sheriff in 1999 while Juab, who would win its first state title in wrestling the next season with Kevin Waldron as its head coach. Millard really was the dominant power going into the 2000’s but Juab and South Summit were very good as well. In 1998-99 Millard (293.5), Juab (277), and South Summit (217.5) all went over 200 points and much like in 3A, these schools did make up the bulk of the individual champions, though there were five other programs (Beaver, Duchesne, Kanab, Manti, and North Sevier) that had champions. Manti’s Jesse Strickland was a 2-timer for the Templars. North Summit finished a distant fourth with 155 points and North Sevier, led then by George Chappell, now a volunteer assistant with the Snow College Women’s team, placed fifth with 116 points.

Millard crowned three titles with Tyler Teeples (106), Matt Anderson (113) and Adam Turner (152). Everyone knows plenty of Teeples went through the Eagle program. 
 

Juab’s three champions were Cody Mortensen (119) and two very familiar names in wrestling in Tanner Cowan (135) and Andy Messersmith (140). Andy was Paul’s son and is currently both the head football and wrestling coach at Enterprise and doing a stellar job. Andy was also a NHSCA Senior National All-American. Andy placed fourth and lost both of his matches to the same wrestler, a very famous one in Johnny Thompson who would end up wrestling at Oklahoma State winning two NCAA titles at the expense of former Uintah High star Ryan Lewis. Lewis assists the boys team at his alma mater. Cowan has been a force in youth wrestling in Utah County and had a notable career in mixed martial arts. 

South Summit’s three champions were Paul Kunz (125), Brock Johnson (160) and Aaron Heiner (215).

At this time, two wrestlers per weight class were scored, and that paid off well for Millard as the Eagles placed 16 wrestlers where Juab placed 13. And that proved to be the difference.

There were actually 18 2A schools in 1998-99, or more than there are now. That’s because schools like Altamont and Monticello were in the 2A ranks instead of 1A like now.

The 1A tournament, where in 1998-99 had just 10 schools, was a runaway, one of a state record 16 state titles coached by Kerry Anderson as Wayne (309.5) broke the 300-point barrier. That’s because the Badgers put 11 wrestlers in the finals and back then 1A was counting two wrestlers per weight class. 
 

Panguitch (165), coached by another Hall of Fame coach and official in Frank Houston, nudged past Milford (158) for second, though it didn’t crown a single individual champ. Piute, coached by Rick Larsen, placed fourth with 132 points and Rich was fifth with 122 points in a reasonably bunched group fighting for the silver trophy. Larsen and I have a bit of history as we wrestled for the BYU Intramural Championship way back when. And though I won, Rick would later lead Piute to a state title, something that eluded my grasp then he would move north and lead the Rich program to a lot of success.

Kerry Anderson’s son Bryant (119) was one of six individual champs for the Badgers which also included Taylor Rasmussen (130), Jordan Pace (135), Jake Jones (189), Josh Chappell (215) and Josh Brown (285). You can say Wayne won the 1A title in style!  

One last note. It is funny to see Lehi in 3A knowing it’s one of the largest schools in the state. The population growth in northern Utah County has been incredible. And another 3A school was Granite, and that school no longer exists. 
 

5A individual Champions:

106–Cam Jones (Brighton)

112–Dave Allen (Mountain View)

119–Cristian Peme (Taylorsville)

125-Nate Deleon (Jordan)

130–Pat Garcia (Hillcrest)

135–Kory Wardle (Hillcrest)

140–Wayne Watts (Bingham)

145–Eric Lott (Bingham)

152–TJ Warner (Orem)

160–Lars Christensen (Orem)

171–Braden Hansen (Layton)

189–Don Chavis (Brighton)

215–Derek Bunkall (Bingham)

275–Ryon Bingham (Alta)

Team Scores: 1. Layton (142.5) 2. Orem (137.5) 3. Hillcrest (128) 4. Taylorsville (125.5) 5. Bingham (123) 6. Mountain View (120) 7. Viewmont (116) 8. West Jordan (114) 9. Alta (109.5) 10. Brighton (106) 11. Jordan (96) 12. Hunter (74.5) 13. Skyline 65 14. Clearfield 64 15. Northridge 48 16. Davis 28 17. Kearns 23 18 (T) Cottonwood 11 18 (T) Timpanogos 11 20. Granger 6 21. Copper Hills 3.

4A Individual Champions:

106–Rich Wilson (Payson)

112–Layne Davis (Sky View)

119–Justin Rawle (Springville)

125–Jeff Newby (Box Elder)

130–Josh Hanks (Sky View)

135–Andrew Ewell (Payson)

140–Justin Kitchen (Spanish Fork)

145–Kip Zerkle (Box Elder)

152–Jacob Wright (Payson)

160–Ashton Buswell (Weber)

171–Josh Hancey (Sky View)

189–Tom Ford (Payson)

215–Chet Johnson (Payson)

275–Brady Brisky (Weber)

4A Team Scores: 1. Box Elder (243.5) 2. Payson (187.5) 3. Weber (160) 4. Sky View (143) 5. Spanish Fork (132) 6. Provo (84.5) 7. Springville (83.5) 8. Murray (82) 9. Lone Peak (75) 10. Mountain Crest (72) 11. Pleasant Grove (64) 12. Highland (58) 13. Olympus (47) 14. Logan (46) 15. Bountiful (41) 16. Wood Cross (37) 17. West (17) 18. Fremont (15) 19. East (13) 20. Cyprus (11.5) 21. Bonneville (4) 22. Timpview (3).
 

3A Individual Champions:

106–Luke Beckstrom (Delta)

112–Danny Jensen (Uintah)

119–Gordon Beckstrom (Delta)

125–Steve Cordova (Wasatch)*

130–Ritchie Cordova (Wasatch)*

135–Trevor Murray (Uintah)

140–Mitch Morgan (Wasatch)*

145–Rhett Crapo (Delta)

152–Dallan Chase (Delta)

160–Erik Haslem (Uintah)

171–Sam Edwards (Delta)

189–Anthony Thomas (Uintah)

215–Jason Tenney (Uintah)

275–Travis Lewis (Uintah)

*NHSCA All-Americans

3A Team Scores: 1. Uintah (255.5) 2. Delta (232.5) 3. Wasatch (223.5) 4. Morgan (122) 5. Lehi 105 6. Pine View (94) 7. Bear River (75.5) 8. Dixie (72.5) 9 (T) North Sanpete (65) 9 (T) Union (65) 11. Hurricane (64) 12. Snow Canyon (61) 13. Richfield (35) 14. Carbon (34.5) 15. Ogden (34). 16. Tooele (32) 17. Cedar City (23) 18. Granite (19) 19. Canyon View (14) 20. Emery (7) 21. Ben Lomond (2). 

2A Individual Champions:

106–Tyler Teeples (Millard) 

112–Matt Anderson (Millard) 

119–Cody Mortensen (Juab)

125–Paul Kunz (South Summit)

130–Kade Wasden (North Sevier)

135–Tanner Cowan (Juab)

140–Andy Messersmith (Juab)*

145–Ryan Crum (Duchesne)

152–Adam Turner (Millard)

160–Brock Johnson (South Summit)

171–Jesse Strickland (Manti)

189–Reagan Williams (Beaver)

215–Aaron Heiner (South Summit)

275–Scott Johnson (Kanab)

2A Team Scores: 1. Millard (293.5) 2. Juab (277) 3. South Summit (217.5) 4. North Summit (155) 6. North Sevier (116) 7. Grantsville (94) 8. Beaver (76) 9 (T) Duchesne (72) 9 (T) North Sanpete (72) 11 (T) Monticello (65.5) 11 (T) San Juan (65.5) 13. Parowan (63) 14. Altamont (62) 15 (T) Enterprise (56) 15 (T) Kanab (56) 17. South Sevier (58) 18. Grand County (23).

1A Individual Champions:

106–Jason Lake (Rich)

112–Justin Lake (Rich)

119–Bryant Anderson (Wayne)

125–Steven Florence (Milford)

130–Taylor Rasmussen (Wayne)

135–Jordan Pace (Wayne)

140–Ken Coates (Piute)

145–Luke Wren (Milford)

152–Tyler Bagley (Piute)

160–Ben Noyes (Milford)

171–Levi Kendall (Rich)

189–Jake Jones (Wayne)

215–Josh Chappell (Wayne)

285–Josh Brown (Wayne)

1A Team Scores: 1. Wayne (309.5) 2. Panguitch (165) 3. Milford (158) 4. Piute (135) 5. Rich (122) 6. Whitehorse (35) 7. Monument Valley (34) 8. Valley (9) 9. East Carbon (4) 10. Escalante (3).