Nov.
28, 2005: The Salt Lake Tribune
Prep Wrestling: Shakeup Makes 5-A a
Class Act for Talent
by Jay Drew
Not to suggest that Viewmont did not
deserve the Class 5-A wrestling state championship the
past two years, or Fremont the year before that.
This season, however, the team that wins the 5-A title
will really have earned it.
That's because the classification has been
made extra tough with the addition of Utah County powers
Pleasant Grove, Lone Peak and Spanish Fork.
"Those schools have added a lot to the
talent pool in 5-A," Davis coach Alan Porter said. "There
is a lot more depth."
The 2005-06 wrestling season officially
began last week with a few pre-Thanksgiving dual meets and
quad meets and Brighton's annual meet, but it starts in
earnest this week with some major tournaments, including
the Layton Invitational, Northridge's Excalibur Duals, the
Carbon Duals and, for the smaller schools, tournaments at
Panguitch and Millard.
The shakeups in 5-A and 4-A have left many
coaches scratching their heads as they filled out their
preseason rankings questionnaires. Foremost, how much
impact will the new Utah County 5-A region have on 5-A?
And now that some of the big boys such as Spanish Fork and
Pleasant Grove have left 4-A, what becomes of that
classification?
It should all make for a rather intriguing
prep wrestling season, capped with the state meets Feb.
8-11 at Utah Valley State College.
In 5-A, newcomer Pleasant Grove starts the
season with The Salt Lake Tribune's top ranking, followed
closely by Weber and Northridge.
Pleasant Grove has five returning state
placers, including senior Mitch Sanderson, state champion
in 4-A's 160-pound division last year, and Gerhart
Vuksinik, a UVSC signee who was second at 145 in 2005.
Weber also has a returning state champion, Jorge Lopez, at
189, and some title hopefuls in Nate Hubbard at 152 and
Jay Tracy at 215.
Northridge coach Troy Brown says this is
his best team in seven years as coach, better than last
year's 5-A runner-up to Viewmont. Senior Mark Dennis won a
171-pound state title for the Knights last year and has
moved up to 189. Brown says Jesse Betts, Spencer Ito,
Kendall Raddon and Mike Baker are also title threats.
Simply put, 4-A has been weakened with the
loss of the Utah County schools to 5-A and Logan to 3-A.
In their place are some schools not known for wrestling -
Cottonwood, Granger and Lehi.
Mountain Crest and Box Elder, winners of
five of the last seven 4-A crowns (Spanish Fork won the
other two) should again go head-to-head for the 2006
championship, although Springville beat Spanish Fork for
the first time in more than 25 years in a dual meet last
week and could be 4-A's biggest surprise.
In 3-A, it will be the same old story as
Wasatch, Uintah and Delta again contend for the
middle-classification crown. Millard looks to regain its
stranglehold on the 2-A title, after Juab outpointed the
Eagles 233-214 1/2 last year to end their four-year run.
In 1-A, Wayne will try to repeat for the
first time since 2001, but Altamont and Monticello look
decent, and Whitehorse, which has gone from three
wrestlers to 22 in three years, could be a ... dark horse.
Rankings
CLASS 5-A
1. Pleasant Grove
2. Weber
3. Northridge
4. Viewmont
5. Alta
CLASS 4-A
1. Mountain Crest
2. Box Elder
3. Springville
4. Payson
5. Provo
CLASS 3-A
1. Wasatch
2. Uintah
3. Delta
4. Bear River
5. Pine View
CLASS 2-A
1. Millard
2. Juab
3. North Sevier
4. South Summit
5. Manti
CLASS 1-A
1. Wayne
2. Altamont
3. Piute
4. Monticello
5. Rich
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