12:00 AM, Feb. 17, 2012
| ST. GEORGE - The wrestling season has expired for most. However, 49 Region 9 wrestlers have earned their way into the 3A field, and will begin competing for state championship medals Friday and Saturday at Utah Valley University.
Beginning in the 106-pound class, four wrestlers from Region 9 are in. Hurricane sophomore Josh Pettus (52-6) is the No. 1 seed in the bottom half of the bracket and is coming off a win over Delta's Kohl Tolbert (44-5) in last week's 3A South Division tournament final. The two split their head-to-head matchups this season 2-2 thus far, and are on opposite sides of the state bracket.
Joe Mondragon of Desert Hills is in Pettus' half of the bracket, and they are on a collision course in the semis if they both get there. The other top seed is Caden Clyde of Wasatch.
Cedar's Dusty Hone is going for his second state title at 113 pounds. Hone and Stansbury's Logan Stewart own the top seeds in the bracket.
At 120 pounds, Spanish Fork's Branson Ashworth (42-1) and Wasatch's Garrett Sweat hold the top seeds. Morgan Sweat of Wasatch (43-3) and Mitch Brown (50-2) of Payson are atop 126.
Uintah's Beau Blackham (41-2) and Jed Mellen (49-2) of Payson are the premier 132-pound competitors. The possibilities of Region 9 competitors going up against each other in this bracket are numerous. Trevor Bass of Canyon View resides in the bottom half bracket, while Curt Wilde (Snow Canyon), Kolby Lloyd (Cedar) and Anthony Casteneda (Canyon View) all begin in the top half.
Anthony Small (33-8) of Union and Payson's Zac Loveless (51-4) reign as the top seeds at 138. Devan Webb of Desert Hills (44-9), Canyon View's Ivan Lopez, Pine View's Zach Worlton, and Hurricane's Justin Post will all be trying to unseat the impressive Loveless and Small.
The 145-pound division sees Cole Ford of Payson (48-5) and Kade Carrigan of Morgan as the top seeds. Cody Miller of Canyon View, Dustyn Roberts of Desert Hills (46-10), Hurricane's McKay Prince and Tyler Stout all represent Region 9 in this class. Â
The 152-pound division is junior Zach Prince's (Hurricane) to lose. It certainly won't be a cake-walk though. The already two-time state champion is 45-4 this season. Â The big threats come from the other No. 1 seed Dakotah Holmes (40-3) of Uintah and Cole Wright (30-2) of Juab. Tooele's Seth Manning (46-9) also had a very good season. Delta's Tyler Nielson (40-8) can't be taken for granted either.
Three Region 9 wrestlers compete at 160 pounds: Desert Hills' Kevan Webb (34-5), Braiden French of Cedar and Pine View's Austin Manuele. The top dogs in this division are Chet Boren (36-8) of Uintah and Delta's Dane Nielson (43-2). Nielson won the 3A South Division tournament when he beat Payson's Kaelen Loveless 5-2. Nielson and Loveless reside in opposite hemispheres of the bracket. If they met again, it would be for the state title.
Cedar's Mason Williamson (39-10) and Zach Coffman of Tooele (50-3) are the top seeds at 170 pounds. Three other Region 9 wrestlers join Williamson in this group, Alvino Baldivino of Canyon View, Pine View's Jerome Nelson, and Sean Winkle of Dixie.
Williamson beat Baldivino in last week's 3A South Division championship final in a third-round pin. They're on opposite sides of the bracket once again. It would be a banner showing for Region 9 if they could meet again in the state final.
Delta's Ryan Peterson (44-2) and Wasatch's Wil Edler (38-11) hold the top spots at 182 pounds. Nokoni Slivers of Snow Canyon (40-7), and Pine View's Mikaio Schwalger appear in this division.
The 195-pound class is loaded with five Region 9 grapplers: Josh Batin (39-7) of Dixie, Pine View's Mike Kauvaka (29-9), Daniel Bulloch of Hurricane, Snow Canyon's Tavish Nelson, and the top seeded Cameron Williamson (39-7) of Cedar. Williamson beat Payson's Dalton Judd in last week's 3A South Division tournament. Josh Batin finished third in the same tournament and could see Williamson in the semis.
There are five Region 9 wrestlers sprinkled throughout the 220-pound bracket. Scott (40-0) is expected to win his third state title, however, if anyone has anything to say about it, it would most likely have to be Snow Canyon's Curtis Bulloch (37-3) who has come close to pinning Scott twice this season.
Scott and Bulloch are on separate sides of the bracket, which is great for fans. Another worthy contender comes from Nyle Adamson of North Sanpete (38-11). Adamson took Scott the distance last week in the 3A South Division tournament in the semis. Scott won a close 7-5 decision, and even had to fight out of a near pin at one point. Adamson finished third in the 3A South tourney by pinning Hurricane's Joe Takau.
Other Region 9 wrestlers in this weight are: Pine View's Braden Nixon and Jake Heaton, and Tyler Stevenson of Desert Hills.
Desert Hills' Kalob Stevenson (40-6) and Uintah's Jed Rich (29-4) are the top 285 pounders. Four other Region 9 competitors join Stevenson: Cedar's Kahi Eldredge (30-9), Sheydon John of Snow Canyon, Hurricane's Lee Wyatt and Wes Kauvaka of Pine View.
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