April
20, 2004: The Standard Examiner
Prep Notes: Utah Wrestlers Impressive
at National Meet
by Tony Renya
The high school
wrestling championships are nearly two months old, but the
season still continues for several of the state's top
wrestlers.
At the recently held
High School Senior Nationals in Cleveland the Utah
contingent of 22 wrestlers finished in 10th place, just
behind New York.
"If you think about
the number of people they (New York) have to draw from, as
opposed to what we draw on, that says a lot about the
quality of wrestling in Utah," Bill Kilpack,
communications director for the Utah Wrestling Coaches
Association said.
Included on the Utah
squad were Top of Utah wrestlers, Flint Ray of Roy High,
Weber's Craig Mock and Luke Lofthouse and Josh Burnett of
Mountain Crest.
In order to qualify
for the meet, the wrestlers needed to have finished first
or second at their respective state tournaments at some
point in their high school career and be a high school
senior.
Three wrestlers from
Utah earned All-American honors at the meet, including
Andrew Hochstrasser of Tooele at 125 pounds, Spanish
Fork's Jeb Clark at 145 pounds, and Colton Salazar of
Wasatch at 152 pounds.
Hochstrasser won the
bronze medal by defeating Travis Lang of North Dakota,
8-6. Clark also took home the bronze by winning a 3-0
decision over New Jersey's Greg Hagel. Salazar placed
fourth, losing to Seth Garvin of Alabama in the bronze
medal match.
"I'm not surprised
that we did as well as we did. This is one of the
strongest senior classes we've had in a number of years,"
Kilpack said.
Although Ray (119
pounds), Mock (171) and Lofthouse (189) did not earn
All-American status, they did finish as top point scorers
in their individual weight classes.
Other Utahns
finishing as top scorers were:
Mykel Walsh of
Panguitch (112), Cad Christensen of Uintah (130), Robert
Sanders of San Juan (135), Cody Sweat of Wasatch (140),
Randy Callicoat of Timpanogos (160), and Orem's Mark
Freeman (275).
Other Utah wrestlers
who competed at the meet were:
Jordan's Tanner Purser (119), Spanish Fork's Dave Beagley
(119), West Jordan's Kellen Wilson (130), McKay Sanderson
of Timpanogos (130), Casey Fehlberg of Orem (140), Peter
Rose of Wasatch (145), Pleasant Grove's Justin Jacob
(152), Chase Walker of Timpanogos (152), Casey Eldrege of
Monticello (160), Hunter's Jeff Linzey (215), Spanish
Fork's Garrett Elliott (215) and Spencer Bowles of
Riverton (275).
The tournament also
served as a recruiting tool for college coaches who were
not allowed to talk to the wrestlers until after the
matches were concluded.
"College coaches and
recruiters go there especially looking for new talent,
Kilpack said.
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