| All-Star Duals bring state's best together for Tuesday's action | | By Michael Black
Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010 10:31 p.m. MST
| | OREM — When the BYU wrestling program finished its last match in February of 2000, many thought that was the end of wrestling opportunities for Utahns to stay home.
After all, it had been nearly 30 years since an NCAA Division I school had actually added wrestling to its athletics department, while programs had been falling at an alarming rate — nearly 300 programs have been cut since 1972 . Colleges and universities were forced to cut a male non-revenue sport in order to comply with Title IX and even up the scholarship ratio. Wrestling suffered.
But that didn't stop wrestling enthusiasts in the Beehive State. They still thought it would be possible to get the sport back into a higher-education setting — enter Utah Valley University, or UVSC back then, and the Utah All-Star Dual.
"The goal was to try and raise enough funds to bring a college wrestling program back to Utah," said one of the event founders and Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation board member, Ross Brunson. "As a result of the Utah wrestling community organizing and coming together along with the success of the wrestling All-Star event, we were able to convince Utah Valley State College to become the first Div. I school to add wrestling in 35 years."
The Wolverines added wrestling as one of its varsity sports in 2003, and after a probationary period, are now eligible to participate in the NCAA tournament. It probably wouldn't have happened without the All-Star Duals.
The All-Star got its humble start as a 28-wrestler, 14-match exhibition at Jordan High School. This year's edition takes place Tuesday night at 7 at the McKay Events Center on the campus of UVU with 64 participants. All funds raised from tickets go to help the Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation.
As part of Utah Valley agreeing to add the wrestling program, the foundation pledged to donate a certain amount to help each year, and the All-Star not only provides wrestling fans with an opportunity to see some of the state's best wrestlers, it is also a fund raiser to keep a wrestling program going in Utah.
"We are very excited and are looking forward to this year's matches," added Brunson. "We would invite the community's support for this valuable and exciting event. We think we are putting on a great exhibition of wrestling and helping out those that love the sport."
The 10th annual All-Star boasts some of the best matches in event history, beginning with the feature match. Carson Kuhn of Alta and Colby Christensen of Uintah are two of the top wrestlers in the country in the 119-pound division. Both are nationally ranked, and neither has lost a match in-state for over two years. The two seniors are both two-time state champions, and both have offers to wrestle at premier colleges next season.
Another match that will be on center stage pits 5A's three-time state champion Kade Moss of Bingham against 3A's champ Derek Peterson of Delta. Both have earned the respect of their peers, and both have the potential to continue wrestling at the next level.
There are other three-time state champions hitting the mats this year. Along with Moss, Raider Lofthouse of Mountain Crest — a three-time participant in the All-Star as well, and Bryson Foy of Altamont are looking to join the prestigious club of four-time winners this year and have great matches scheduled.
he All-Star also creates a bit of camaraderie for the wrestlers. The format splits the wrestlers into teams based on their respective classifications — there are 14 members on each classification squad, 1A/2A is combined, plus six wildcard entries, or wrestlers not counted toward team totals. There are three mats of action going on simultaneously with each team rooting for its own classification. The 5A team won the event the first two years of such a format, but last season, the 4A squad dominated as it won 10-of-14 of its matches. The 3A team has some other very good wrestlers this season, and the 1A/2A team is looking like it can be competitive.
South Mat
Round 1: Open Mat
Round 2: Jacob Falk (West Jordan) vs. Travis Hatch (Milford) **
Round 3: Jace Abbott (3-A) vs. Matt Tuttle (1-A/2-A)
Round 4: Dylan Howell (5-A) vs. Brendan Willoughby (3-A)
Round 5: Damon Mele (4-A) vs. Dakota Payne (1-A/2-A)
Round 6: Barton Olsen (3-A) vs. Kamron Day (1-A/2-A)
Round 7: Brett Clapier (Skyline) vs. Taylor Merkley (Uintah)**
Round 8: Corrick Knight (4-A) vs. Justin Penn (3-A)
Round 9: Duke Babka (5-A) vs. Thomas Kessler (1-A/2-A)
Round 10: Drew Mills (Hurricane) vs. Brian Adlard (South Summit)
Round 11: Mitch Rasmussen (5-A) vs. Matt Gallen (3-A)
Round 12: Open Mat
** Wildcard match, or an extra match at the same weight as featured wrestlers
Center Mat
Round 1: Kade Moss (5-A) vs. Derek Peterson (3-A)
Round 2: Brady Loveless (4-A) vs. Zach Boden (3-A)
Round 3: Ronnie Wardleigh (5-A) vs. Mitch Brown (4-A)
Round 4: Derek Thomas (5-A) vs. Tyson Larsen (1-A/2-A)
Round 5: Derek Malan (5-A) vs. Brock Brown (4-A)
Round 6: Jed Craner (5-A) vs. Niko Klus (1-A/2-A)
Round 7: Zach Loveless (4-A) vs. Colton Thornton (1-A/2-A)
Round 8: Daniel Crook (4-A) vs. Daniel Nielson (3-A)
Round 9: Colton Cannon (4-A) vs. Colby Barlocker (1-A/2-A)
Round 10: Danner Kjar (5-A) vs. Bryson Foy (1-A/2-A)
Round 11: Raider Lofthouse (4-A) vs. Jonsen Crandall (1-A/2-A)
Round 12: Carson Kuhn (5-A) vs. Colby Christensen (4-A)
North Mat
Round 1: Open Mat
Round 2: Kesni Tausinga (5-A) vs. Colten Argyle (1-A/2-A)
Round 3: Mitch McCloy (Viewmont) vs. Thomas Linton (Juan Diego) **
Round 4: Brett Naylor (5-A) vs. Cody Hone (3-A)
Round 5: Bubba Demke (4-A) vs. Brian Scott (3-A)
Round 6: Cody Bunderson (Box Elder) vs. Jeff McCormick (South Summit) **
Round 7: Spencer Brown (5-A) vs. Cole Hunt (3-A)
Round 8: Rami Haddadin (5-A) vs. Brenden Turner (1-A/2-A)
Round 9: Koleton Hardy (4-A) vs. Dixon Richins (1-A/2-A)
Round 10: Steve Hendricks (4-A) vs. Kaleb Moritz (3-A)
Round 11: Britain Carter (4-A) vs. Gerritt Bradley (3-A)
Round 12: Open Mat
** Wildcard match, or an extra match at the same weight as featured wrestlers
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