HYRUM -- Three straight wins in the early going helped ensure it was going to be a successful Senior Night for the Mustangs.
One of those victories, a come-from-behind effort by Koen White, loomed large and it was instrumental in Mountain Crest's hard-fought 42-32 triumph over Green Canyon in a Region 11 boys wrestling dual on Thursday evening.
"It was a big win by him," MC standout junior Carter Egbert said. "It got the whole team fired up and woken up for the rest of the dual. I think that's what kicked us off."
White was able to stack and pin one of Green Canyon's top grapplers early in the second round in the 175-pound weight class to give the Mustangs a 18-6 lead. Egbert immediately followed suite with a come-from-behind win by pin of his own right -- also against one of Green Canyon's top wrestlers. Egbert (190) gave gave up an early takedown against fellow all-region football player Eli Wheatley, but was able to completely flip the script midway through the first round.
"Yeah, we just worked on that move in practice, that high crotch and getting him in the air," Egbert said. "We stayed after practice and worked on it a little bit, so it was nice to do it on the mat (in a dual)."
Those two back-to-back victories gave the Mustangs a seemingly comfortable 18-point advantage they never relinquished, and they extended iy to as many as 21 points on two occasions. The Wolves fought to the end, to their credit, and put together one of their best performances of the season.
"We came out firing," GC head coach Dirt Howa said. "I don't think there were many matches where we didn't create action within the first seconds. We had our hardest week of practice this week by far. The kids were the sorest they've ever been all year yesterday coming into this match today, and we've had our best wrestling. They're a team right now and it's awesome."
Green Canyon was a bit disappointed in how it wrestled in last Thursday's lopsided loss to a strong Ridgeline team. Two Wolves who surely felt they should have performed better in that dual were Brackston Bird (157) and Grayden Herzog (215), and both put it all together against the Mustangs.
Bird was already in control when he stuck a solid foe midway through the second round, while Herzog was dominant from the top position en route to a gratifying technical fall triumph over a very good athlete in Santiago Huerta.
"They went and won their matches, right? It wasn't because the other kid may have slipped or something else," Howa said of Herzog and Bird. "They just straight up decided that they wanted to win their matches and won. It was on them and it was awesome."
In addition to Bird, other Wolves who prevailed by fall were Sam Tanner, a legitimate 4A state title contender at heavyweight, and Miles Phillips (138). Green Canyon's Easton Darley (126) continues to look sharp as he was triumphant by major decision, while Daxton Reese (144) made sure the visitors finished strong as he reigned supreme by technical fall in the final dual of the evening.
Reese's teammates were really into that match, much to the delight of Howa.
"That was awesome," Howa said. "That's one of (MC's) seniors right there, right? It's a solid kid and Daxton Reese can wrestle that kid and lose by one or win by one, but when the team's behind him like that, he's going to pin or tech fall him every time."
Indeed, it was a very encouraging evening for the Wolves, but also for the Mustangs as well. Not only did the hosts receive come-from-behind wins in convincing fashion by White and Egbert, they got hard-fought efforts from several other kids.
For starters, Mountain Crest's Josten Sanchez (113) pulled out an entertaining 16-15 nailbiter over Kyler Bagley. Sanchez trailed the lion's share of the bout, but came through with a takedown with about 20 seconds remaining in the final round to earn the right to have his hand raised. Both athletes were visibly exhausted after that duel.
"Yeah, that was a great match at 113," MC head coach Jay Tovey said. "Josten is one of the kids that the past couple of years has just always shown up and has always done the right stuff. Wrestling is very unforgiving, where you can do everything right and still lose, and it was really cool for Josten to win that one. And not only for the team, but for himself."
Another Mustang who garnered the praise of Tovey was Pedro Puga (132), who executed a takedown in every round and was also rock solid from the top position in his 13-0 win by major decision.
"Pedro we've always know has the skills to beat anybody," Tovey said. "It's just about putting together a full match of his skills and I thought he did that tonight, for sure against a really good kid. So Pedro, we're excited about to see (he can get). We need to push him a little more as far as in the room and getting him partners where we can challenge him, so we'll do a better job of that. And I think at the end of the year when it matters most, he'll be where I think he wants to be."
Mountain Crest's other four victories were of the convincing variety as Ryder Hansen (106), Stetson Lofthouse (150) and senior Zane Pickup (165) all executing pinning combinations -- Hansen and Lofthouse in the opening round -- while James Rollins (120) tech falled his opponent in the first round.
OTHER REGION MATCHES
Ridgeline made the short drive to Logan and left with a 49-20 victory over the Grizzlies, while visiting Bear River dispatched of West Field, 63-17. The Bears can captured their second consecutive outright region title with a triumph over the Grizzlies next week.
The Riverhawks earned bonus points in eight of their 10 match wins over the Grizzlies. Sam Rassi (157), Samuel McMullen (190), Seth Montierth (215), Hunter McBride (120) and Kruz Allred (126) all prevailed by fall and Joseph Holbrook (113) by technical fall, despite giving up the first takedown.
"Happy about getting those pins, but Logan battled us really tough, so I've got to tip my cap there," Ridgeline head coach Jarrett Morrill said. "They've got some tough kids and so good job by them, but I thought our kids wrestled really well against a tough Logan squad and so I was really proud of them for coming out on top."
Ridgeline's Mack Rutledge (144) secured a gratifying major decision victory over one of Logan's best grapplers in Kolt Redd, while teammate Tate Mosher (132) edged Mason Redd, 5-3. Ridgeline heavyweight Matt Alles (285) came through with a late takedown in the waning seconds of the third round to punctuate his 7-2 win over Brock Johnson in what Morrill called "the match of the night."
"Logan's got some really tough kids, especially those Redd boys through the middle of their lineup, so I felt really, really pleased with Mack Rutledge," Morrill said. "He comes out and beats a real tough kid by major decision. And Tate Mosher gets a real hard-fought tight match at 132. And even Zack Butt got beat at 138, but I was proud of how he battled because those Redd boys are really tough."
Raiden Nielson (165) and Spencer Martinez (175) stuck their opponents for Logan, while Keanan Bartlett (150) tech falled his foe and two-time state finalist and one-time champion Payton Redd (138) outpointed Zack Butt, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Bear River went 8-3 in contested duals at also picked up 18 forfeit points in its win at West Field. Mason Brown (106), Payden Rupp (138), Alex Kunzler (144), Jonathan Harris (157), Vincent Fertig (165), Max Anderson (215) and Kody Richards (285) all reigned supreme in pinning fashion for the Bears.