| Jake Gardner gaining some points against his opponent. |
Wrestling at Emery High School is alive and well although there is lots of room for the team to grow. This past weekend Emery traveled to the American Fork Duals and did quite well. Emery finished fourth out of six teams but individually several wrestlers did quite well. McKay Allred, Mike Jones and Kenny Baker each went 5-0 at the tournament and took first place. Hayden Hatch also took first place but went 4-1. Jace Guymon also finished 4-1 but ended up second. Jake Gardner and Cade Whittle each finished in second place and had 3-2 records. McKay Allred took his season record to 26-1 with the five wins. Allred lost his first match of the season wrestling at a higher weight but has been untouchable since that match. McKay decisioned his first guy, a wrestler from American Fork 6-0 and then pinned his next 4 opponents. They were from West High, Granger High, Timpanogos High and an independent team made up of wrestlers from several high schools.
Mike Jones wrestled well at the tournament. Mike pinned all five opponents while no opponent scored a point against him. This was the best that Jones has wrestled this season.
Wrestling is getting better at Emery High but the problem still exists that Emery cannot usually field an entire team and gives up points due to forfeits. The Spartans still have a need for more participants in their system.
Last week, Emery also hosted North Sanpete in the opening of region and lost 67-11. North Sanpete has a good wrestling program with most wrestlers starting as freshmen rather than sophomores. The parents from Mt Pleasant commented that their junior wrestling coaches due a great job and that the kids wrestle lots of matches each year as they are growing up. That seems to be a common theme with all schools that do well, their kids wrestle seriously at an early age.
Only two Spartans won their matches against their Hawk rivals. Allred, at 125 pounds, pinned his opponent in the second round after taking a 7-2 lead. Wade Bohn, at 189 pounds, won his match in the third round with a score of 21-5 to register a technical fall. Bohn, with a record of 20-2, did not travel to American Fork.
Other results of the North Sanpete match are Zach Walls at 119, pinned in the second round. Hayden Hatch lost by a decision at 130 pounds. Keith Bird, at 135, was pinned in the first round. Jace Guymon, at 140, and Jake Gardner, at 145, each lost by decision. Cade Whittle, at 152, was pinned in the first round, Mike Jones, at 171, was pinned in the second round. Kenny Baker, at 215, was pinned in the second round and Caleb Jones at 285 was pinned in the first round. Emery did not field wrestlers at 103, 112 or 160.
Coach Buck Taylor is “pleased with the progress his wrestlers have made this season and his team will see how good they really are when they travel to Vernal and participate in the Tournament of Champions with teams from around the west.”
At American Fork, Allred was named outstanding wrestler for his team while Jones was a finalist for outstanding wrestler for the meet.