Jan. 10, 2008: Deseret Morning News

All-Star Dual Pits Best Wrestlers
by Brian E. Preece

 Four Utah County wrestlers — including a pair from Springville — join the featured participants of Tuesday's eighth annual Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation All-Star Dual.

Returning to the UAWF event for the third straight year will be Red Devil star Jason Chamberlain, the nation's top-ranked wrestler in the 140-pound division and three-time state champion.

Chamberlain has lost only twice in his career, once as a freshman and once as a sophomore at the Reno Tournament of Champions. He's 160-2 overall and undefeated this season, having missed a few meets with a knee injury.

Considered a prohibitive favorite in the All-Star Dual, Chamberlain will face Monticello's Aaron Butler, who also has won three state titles and is a past Dual participant. Butler sports a 24-0 current record and a 149-11 career mark.

Springville teammate Hayden Petersen is a junior who won the 130-pound 4-A state title last year and placed third at 119 pounds as a sophomore. He placed sixth at this year's Reno Tournament of Champions and pinned down a second-place finish at the Layton Invitational.

Petersen brings a 23-4 record against Millard's Mason Stott, a two-time returning state champion, in a bout at 135 pounds. Stott boasts a perfect 28-0 record this season.

Making his first Dual appearance is Lone Peak's Paul Johnson, who is 21-1 on the season and recently won the Viewmont Invitational. The two-time state champion will take on Uintah's Creedon Merkley at 130 pounds.

"I'm very excited," said the Knight senior, who has a reputation of being quite reserved. "I'm not really nervous, just excited. It'll be a good match."

Merkley has compiled a 21-4 mark as junior, including an eighth-place finish at Ohio's tough Iron Man Tournament.

Utah County's fourth participant is Lehi's Dylan Stadel, a comparative newcomer among Utah's elite wrestlers. Stadel, who normally weighs in the 230-pound range, wrestles in the 285-pound division. In his first year of wrestling, Stadel took fourth in state last season.

His career has catapulted to the next level this year as the Lehi big man has won the Evanston tournament to go along with a Reno Tournament of Champions gold medal and a current 28-1 record.

"He's a good wrestler who has the potential to be a great wrestler," said Pioneer coach Dan Rice of Stadel. "He's very coachable and is only going to get better."

Stadel will take on Murray's Matt Fairbrother, who placed second at state last year and third the year before. Fairbrother is nationally ranked in some publications and is considered by many to be the top wrestler in the state at this weight class.

Other Utah County wrestlers designated as alternates include the Payson pair of Jace Harmon (135 pounds) and Hesston Parkin (171), Lehi's Cam Phillips (135), Mountain View's Clay Frost (145), Lone Peak's Zane Mendenhall (171), and the Spanish Fork duo of Rodney Cox (130) and David Sorenson (152).

Tuesday's All-Star Dual will begin at 7 p.m. at UVSC's McKay Event Center, with tickets $8 for adults and $5 for students. Proceeds will go to the UAWF and its efforts to promote amateur wrestling in Utah and at Utah Valley State.

The All-Star Dual pits the best wrestlers from the 5-A, 4-A, 3-A and a combined 1-A/2-A against each other in 28 bouts done on three mats. In this new format, the 5-A team won the event last year, with the 3-A two points behind. The 4-A team finished third, with the 1-A/2-A team fourth.