Jan.
13, 2008:
Deseret Morning News
Three-Mat Showdowns
by Michael Black
Win or lose, there will be memories made
to last a lifetime.
The seventh annual Utah Amateur Wrestling
Foundation's All-Star Classic wrestling exhibition gets
under way Tuesday night at 7 at the McKay Events Center on
the campus of UVSC. Outside of the state tournament, it is
the biggest and most celebrated event that happens each
year in the wrestling season.
The idea to have an all-star event isn't
new. In fact, there were several attempts to pull off such
an event through the years. There was an after-season
exhibition that went on for a few years. Then there was a
meet held in Cedar City that worked for a couple of
seasons.
The current edition really caught on at
the beginning of the decade. The burst of popularity
occurred when it had two top wrestlers that really didn't
like each other and things became rather personal between
the pair. When people from the respective schools heard
that the two were to do battle during an all-star event at
Jordan High, they turned out in droves. So many people
showed up for that all-star event that people had to be
turned away at the door. Finding that there certainly was
an interested wrestling community of fans necessitated a
move to the much larger venue in Orem, and it has been an
enormous success ever since.
The event not only showcases the best
wrestling talent from a state renowned for producing some
of the country's top wrestlers but it is used to promote
the sport and raise money for the state's only local
collegiate wrestling program at UVSC. The UAWF originally
told the school that if it would create a men's wrestling
program — after all the other programs in the state were
forced to fold their teams because of gender equity issues
in scholarships and participation — it would donate a
certain amount of money each year. In order to generate a
good portion of those funds, the All-Star Classic was
created. In other words, the fans in attendance not only
get to watch some incredible action, but they can feel
good knowing the cost of their ticket goes to helping the
sport they love at a local school.
"We are very glad to be a part of
something that promotes the sport of wrestling," said Ross
Brunson, event organizer and member of the UAWF board. "We
are happy with the past success of the event and hope that
we can continue to accomplish those things that we set out
to do when we first came up with this idea.
Mainly, we want to put on a good show and
help meet our pledge for the UVSC wrestling team."
As far as the actual wrestling matches,
the format was changed last season. Before 2007, the
All-Star was simply 14 or 15 matches pitting the state's
top grapplers with a combined 4A/5A team against a
1A/2A/3A team. Last year, the teams were expanded and now
each of the 3A, 4A and 5A squads have 14 members with a
combined 1A/2A team. Three mats of action take place
simultaneously, so the fans have plenty to keep themselves
occupied.
There are plenty of intriguing matchups on
the ticket this year. The match billed as the feature
includes two returning state champions. Ethen Lofthouse of
Mountain Crest and Ethan Smith of Wasatch have both earned
All-American status and the attention of college
recruiters. Lofthouse, while only a junior, may be getting
more attention nationally with his third-place finish at
the Beast of the East and 112-5 record, but Smith, a
senior, placed third at the recent Reno Tournament of
Champions and has schools such as Missouri, Wyoming, UVSC
and Stanford after him.
Another match certain to have people's
interest is that of Springville's Jason Chamberlain
against Monticello's Aaron Butler. Both are three-time
state champions and nearly locks to join the rarefied
company of four-time winners next month. Chamberlain is a
three-time participant in the All-Star and has won his
previous two matches. He owns a 160-2 career record with
his only two losses coming at the Reno event in his
freshman and sophomore years. He is ranked No. 1 in the
country at 140 pounds and has signed to wrestle at Boise
State.
Plenty of other matches will turn out to
be "Classics," and every wrestler will remember his time
spent highlighted as one of the best in Utah.
"There are so many great wrestlers. It is
an honor to be picked," said Wasatch's Jake Salazar last
year. Salazar will wrestle in his third All-Star this
year. "They do a great job putting this on, and I know
speaking for myself that you would be crazy not to want to
be here. It is a great event and a lot of fun."
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