DOMINANT CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCES HIGHLIGHT 3RD ANNUAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING SUPER STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

With a tournament record of 8 pins in the 14 championship matches, several Utah High School classification champions left no doubt as to their status as the best in the state at the 3rd annual Utah High School Wrestling Super State Championships.  The tournament is fully sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) and is the season finale for many high school programs throughout Utah as it features state place winners from each of the five UHSAA classifications.

Senior Jacob Armstrong (48-2) closed out his stellar high school career with a third straight Super State title at 182, where he defeated Provo senior Rett Cook (34-10) by pin fall at the 3:04 mark.  Both 4A competitors, Armstrong won his 3rd consecutive 4A title last weekend at the UHSAA classification championships while Cook finished 3rd in the 4A bracket.  Another matchup of 4A wrestlers saw a rematch of last weekend’s classification 285 championship between Roy senior Damian Trujillo (44-0) and Wasatch junior Ben Bos (39-8), with Trujillo again securing the fall at 3:16 and completing an impressive undefeated season.

Region 8 power Maple Mountain won the team title with two champions and seven place winners, including a pair of 2-time Super State Champions in junior Taylor Lamont (64-0) at 126 and senior Johnny O’Hearon (57-1) at 152.  Both nationally ranked, Lamont and O’Hearon both recorded second period pins in their respective championship matches.  Storied wrestling program and 4A champion last weekend, Wasatch High School finished as runner-up with six place winners.

While it was the underclassman who ruled the day winning 10 of the 14 weight classes, the best match of the evening saw a pair of senior classification champions battle it out to the closing seconds as 2-time 1A champion Preston Stephenson (53-2) scored a takedown with five seconds left to secure the 3-1 victory over 4A champion Spencer Heywood (50-6) from Wasatch at 160.  With his victory, Stephenson became the first 1A participant to ever win a Super State Championship.   In another match-up of classification champions at 132, freshman Brock Hardy (44-1) controlled senior 3A champion Jayden Pentz (34-4) for a 9-4 victory.  In the next match at 138, another freshman followed Hardy in victory as John Manning (40-4) from Juan Diego defeated 2014 4A champion sophomore Ryan Hansen (55-11) from Maple Mountain with a late fall at 5:50.

Other dominating performances with finals match pins came from 2-time 2A champion sophomore Jaxon Cole (52-2) from North Summit, 2-time 3A champion sophomore Ashton Seely (55-2) from Juab and nationally ranked junior Wyatt Koelling (40-1), a 2-time 5A champion from Davis.

2015 Championship Match Results

106 – Jaxon Cole (So/North Summit) over Kegan Leatherow (Fr/Fremont) – Pin 3:32

113 – Braiden Parker (Jr/Wasatch) over Tanner Benedict (So/Layton) – Dec 14-1

120 – Cameron Hunsaker (Jr/American Fork) over Heston Woolsey (Sr/Weber) – Dec 17-9

126 – * Taylor Lamont (Jr/Maple Mtn) over Jackson Wilson (Sr/American Fork) – Pin 3:47

132 – Brock Hardy (Fr/Box Elder) over Jayden Pentz (Sr/Morgan) – Dec 9-4

138 – John Manning (Fr/Juan Diego) over Ryan Hansen (So/Maple Mtn) – Pin 5:50

145 – Owen Pentz (So/Morgan) over Morgan Palmer (Sr/American Fork) – TF 18-0

152 – * Johnny O’Hearon (Sr/Maple Mtn) over Logan Sondrup (Sr/Manti) – Pin 2:43

160 – Preston Stephenson (Sr/Wayne) over Spencer Heywood (Sr/Wasatch) – Dec 3-1

170 – Ashton Seely (So/Juab) over Cory Rokovitz (Jr/Maple Mtn) – Pin 3:48

182 – ** Jacob Armstrong (Sr/Salem Hills) over Rett Cook (Sr/Provo) – Pin 3:04

195 – * Wyatt Koelling (Jr/Davis) over Weston Anderton (So/Lehi) – Pin 1:01

220 – Shaun Stockwell (So/Corner Canyon) over Aaron Verduzco (So/Duchesne) – Dec 5-0

285 – Damian Trujillo (Sr/Roy) over Ben Bos (Jr/Wasatch) – Pin 3:16

** 3-time Utah Super State Champion

* 2-time Utah Super State Champion

A record 39 of the 112 UHSAA high schools earned top six place winners, with another tournament record 13 different high schools with champions of the 14 weight classes.  All match results can be found at trackwrestling.com.