High school boys wrestling: Westlake and 6A wrestlers shine at 24th annual Utah All-Star Duals
The son of an MMA fighter, Westlake freshman Israel Borge has made a big splash in his first high school wrestling season, and on Tuesday night he got to show off his tremendous potential at the Ross Brunson Utah All-Star Duals at UVU.
Wrestling Uintah’s two-time state champ Michael Alexander, who came into the match with a 22-3 record this season, Borge dominated from the outset, racking up a huge lead before recording a third-period fall at the 5:24 mark.
“I wasn’t that nervous, I knew I was going to get him just based on the competition I was doing before this,” said Borge. “I moved my feet a lot and wasn’t resting on top, putting a lot of pressure. Because I used to not do that before I used to hold my breath.”
A youth wrestling all-American, Borge improved to 14-0 on the season with the victory, which includes first-place finishes at national tournaments, Drury Open and the Mid America Nationals.
Borge was one of five Westlake winners on Tuesday, the most of any school.
Westlake’s Brayden Robison wrestled twice at 157 pounds, beating Juab’s Preston Aagard by fall and then Stansbury’s Brandon Ploehn 6-0.
He was scheduled to face Pleasant Grove’s Bradlee Farrer — whom he lost to in the 6A final last year — but Pleasant Grove’s three wrestlers withdrew from the event after participating in a tournament in California last weekend.
“I’m pleased, I went with a stronger mentality, just score points and be aggressive and wrestle hard,” said the senior Robison. “Tonight is fun. You don’t have to worry about getting too tired, just focus on one, get it done and have fun.”
Westlake’s other individual winners were John Fish at 150 pounds and Curtis Borge at 138 pounds. Borge’s 3-2 win over Jason Worthley was one of the best matches of the night as it was decided in the ultimate tiebreak overtime.
In total, there were 30 boys matches at the 24th annual Utah All-Star Duals. The 6A wrestlers fared very well, posting a 12-2 record against wrestlers from other classifications.
The heavyweight showdown between Woods Cross’ Cash Henderson and South Summit’s Trayvn Boger was one of the most anticipated of the night, and it did not disappoint. With the match tied 4-4 in the third period, the senior Henderson pinned the sophomore at the 4:45 mark for the victory.
“I felt it early but I didn’t go for it when he was down the first time, but that time I went for it,” said Henderson, who has committed to wrestle at Cornell next year.
The win improved Henderson’s record at the All-Star Duals to 2-1, as he won his sophomore and lost his junior year.
He said the All-Star Duals are always tough as it comes after the Christmas break, which means enjoying his favorites, pumpkin pie and cheesecake.
“This is my least favorite dual, it’s always a dogfight. Right in the spot where I’m getting back into it from Christmas break and it’s always against the best guys,” said Henderson, who was an all-state football player for Woods Cross this past season. “I’m just glad I got the pin, got a good match out of him and I think coming up this weekend at Rockwell, which last year was one of my better tournaments, hopefully start getting into that deeper season, the grind.”
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Thirteen of the 30 matches ended in pins.
One of the best matches of the night was at 132 pounds as Davis’ Austin Ellis beat Altamont’s Dillon Ivie in the first overtime, 6-4.
Other tight matches included Juab’s Cooper Blackett beating Syracuse’s Teague Brown 3-1, American Fork’s Tege Kelley beating Millard’s Sam Rasmussen 1-0 and Beaver’s Kutlur Matheson beating Canyon View’s Marc Richardson, 5-4.
Ross Brunson, the former president of the Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation and one of the organizers of the inaugural event in 2002, sat in the front row of Tuesday’s event enjoying the spectacle he helped create.
“It’s heartwarming and incredible. The goal when we were starting was to save the BYU wrestling program, and we had to come up with some money and we thought this was a good way we could start saving money,” said Brunson about the inaugural event in 2002 that was held at Jordan High School. “This has taken on a life of its own. First it was 4A/5A against 3A/2A/1A on one mat, just one dual meet in essence, and now we’ve got three mats, boys wrestling and girls wrestling. It’s really grown, and really fun to see.”
Individual results
106 — James Rollins (Mountain Crest) def. Max Mckinlay (North Sevier), fall 2:43
106 — Perry Fowler (Syracuse) def. Ethan Sharp (Uintah), fall 3:27
113 — Monty Christiansen (Emery) def. Chad Yellow (San Juan), fall 1:24
113 — Kaleb Blackner (Roy) def. Krew King (North Sanpete), fall 2:34
120 — Bryce Pulver (South Summit) def. Kolter Kelly (Millard), fall 0:52
120 — Karson Shelley (Spanish Fork) def. Mason Carlson (Syracuse), fall 0:46
126 — Ben Kohler (Wasatch) def. Dak Eldredge (Millard), 9-3
126 — Israel Borge (Westlake) def. Michael Alexander (Uintah), fall 5:24
132 — Austin Ellis (Davis) def. Dillon Ivie (Altamont), 6-4 (OT)
132 — Hudson Palmer (Farmington) def. Glade Harman (Mountain View), 9-0
132 — Hayden Park (Juab) def. Oakley Shumway (Mountain View), 11-2
132 — Cooper Blackett (Juab) def. Teague Brown (Syracuse), 3-1
138 — Curtis Borge (Westlake) def. Jason Worthley (Fremont), 3-2
144 — Tege Kelley (American Fork) def. Sam Rasmussen (Millard), 1-0
144 — Noah Bull (Layton) def. Lincoln Lofthouse (Mountain Crest), 15-4
150 — Josh Fish (Westlake) def. Tucker Roybal (Union), 7-3
150 — Brody Rhoades (Uintah) def. Colton Barnes (Milford), fall 5:38
157 — Jacob Marshall (Panguitch) def. Brandon Ploehn (Stansbury), 10-8
157 — Brayden Robison (Westlake) def. Preston Aagard (Juab), fall 0:51
157 — Brayden Robison (Westlake) def. Brandon Ploehn (Stansbury), 6-0
165 — Quayde Beck (Payson) def. Morgan Tingey (Millard), 9-3
165 — Logan Hancey (Fremont) vs. Ben Smith (South Summit), 10-5
175 — Banks Love (Bingham) def. Bridger Thalman (Mountain Crest), 17-0
175 — Kaden Bennie (Layton) def. Kaden Turner (Millard), 11-4
190 — Landen Shurtleff (Payson) def. Andre Leota (Olympus), fall 1:50
190 — Tevita Valeti (Springville) def. Emilio Jackson (Millard), fall 2:32
215 — Dallin Sweat (Manti) def. Athanasios Johnson (Murray), 11-5
215 — Kutlur Matheson (Beaver) def. Marc Richardson (Canyon View), 5-4
285 — Cash Henderson (Woods Cross) def. Trayvn Boger (South Summit), fall 4:45
285 — Austin McNaughtan (Wasatch) def. Taylor Black (San Juan), fall 0:45
