WOODS CROSS — To say the team title was close would have honestly been an understatement Thursday night at the Region 5 wrestling championships. A mere 2.5 points separated first and second place.

This time it was Box Elder coach Mike Riplinger's turn to say "I finally got you" to Mountain Crest coach Dave Swenson as the two gave each other a bear hug after the match. The Bees had lost to the Mustangs the past three seasons, but were able to squeak out the 360.5-358 victory.

The team title was neck-and-neck all night between the two. Mountain Crest took a 4.5-point lead heading into the championship bouts where both the Mustangs and Bees had nine wrestlers competing. The difference was Box Elder won five of its matches compared to Mountain Crest's three titles.

A key match early on was at 112 pounds. Mountain Crest's Zabinadi Smethurst pinned Box Elder's Colton Gladwell with just over a minute left in the second round.

"I had lost to him last week by two points and just have been working hard all week. I just came back, caught fire and got the pass," said Smethurst.

"I was a little nervous and surprised after they got that pin at 112," said Riplinger. "I was just thinking, 'Oh no.'"
Box Elder earned some redemption at 125 pounds with Cody Bunderson dominating Mustang Cole Soreneson for the Bees' first win in the finals.

"I was hoping for the pin, but the win worked because it still helped the team. It was a good match and gave us some momentum," said Bunderson.

Tucker Ray followed up his teammate with a pin in the 130-pound class. But Mountain Crest got the points right back after Raider Lofthouse pinned Box Elder's Koleton Hardy in the 135 finals. From there the two teams battled back and forth. A key helper for the Bees was Sky View, which recorded wins from Brayden Anderson and Jake Redd at 140 and 145 pounds over Mustang wrestlers. It was no surprise when three-time state champion Ethen Lofthouse of Mountain Crest pinned Box Elder's Zach Wittusen. But what may have been a surprise to some was the next bout where Bee Brian Curtis defeated Mustang Hayden Snow. Sean Smith then won in the 215-pound division to give Box Elder its fifth individual title.

Though you never like to say one match made or broke the team title, the closeness in points did mean the heavyweight bout featuring Robert Thompson of Woods Cross and Richard McGowen of Mountain Crest would decide the winner. Needless to say Robert "Tiny" Thompson got a lot of crowd support from the Bee fans and he rewarded them by defeating McGowen to put Box Elder ahead. Thompson's win was the only individual title for the Wildcats.

"We knew what we had to do and made it happen," said Riplinger. "This really is a thrilling region to watch for wrestling."

Team scores

1, Box Elder, 360.5; 2, Mountain Crest, 358; 3, Roy, 179.5; 4, Woods Cross, 143; 5, Sky View, 134; 5, Bountiful, 69; 6, Bonneville, 15.

Individual Results

103 — 1, Tuon Troung, Roy; 2, Ben Ferry, Box Elder; 3, Matt Pearson, Roy; 4, Alex Moore, Box Elder.

112 — 1, Zabinadi Smethurst, Mountain Crest; 2, Colton Gladwell, Box Elder; 3, Casey Carolan, Woods Cross; 4, Justin Gualtier, Mountain Crest.

119 — 1, Trent Stander, Roy; 2, Colby Hamilton, Mountain Crest; 3, Zach Harris, Box Elder; 4, Spencer Cordner, Box Elder.

125 — 1, Cody Bunderson, Box Elder; 2, Cole Soreneson, Mountain Crest; 3, Jaison Jensen, Woods Cross; 4, Chase Peterson, Box Elder.

130 — 1, Tucker Ray, Box Elder; Wyatt Sackett, Roy; 3, Tyson Kendrick, Mountain Crest; 4, Landon Knight, Mountain Crest.

135 — 1, Raider Lofthouse, Mountain Crest; 2, Koleton Hardy, Box Elder; 3, Zameliki Smethurst, Mountain Crest; 4, Courtney Henrie, Sky View.

140 — 1, Brayden Anderson, Sky View; 2, Corrick Knight, Mountain Crest; 3, Skyler Riggs, Mountain Crest; Chase Smoot, Box Elder.

145 — 1, Jake Redd, Sky View; 2, Spencer Schwab, Mountain Crest; 3, Tanner Smoot, Box Elder; 4, Coulter Sims, Woods Cross.

152 — 1, Jordan Anderson, Box Elder; John Kendrick, Woods Cross; 3, Thomas Horne, Roy; 4, Nate Rigby, Mountain Crest.

160 — 1, Jake Shelton, Roy; 2, Wade Young, Bountiful; 3, Joseph Carley, Mountain Crest; 4, Tanner Smith, Sky View.

171 — 1, Ethen Lofthouse, Mountain Crest; 2, Zach Wittusen, Box Elder; 3, Brenan Stewart, Sky View; 4, Jesse Beeman, Roy.

189 — 1, Brian Curtis, Box Elder; 2, Hayden Snow, Mountain Crest; 3, Brennan Archibald, Mountain Crest; 4, Benj Mills, Bountiful.

215 — 1, Sean Smith, Box Elder; 2, Benjimon Lemon, Bountiful; 3, Derek Pond, Mountain Crest; 4, Ryan Petit, Box Elder.

275 — 1, Robert Thompson, Woods Cross; 2, Richard McGowen, Mountain Crest; 3, Daniel Crook, Box Elder; 4, Shane Hardy, Box Elder.

Bees edge Mustangs for title

By Jason Turner
Published:
Friday, February 6, 2009 2:40 AM CST
WOODS CROSS — If the Mustangs needed to be reminded how difficult bringing home a fourth straight state title will be, they got just that Thursday night.

Box Elder won its final two championship matches, while Mountain Crest lost its final two. That proved to be the difference as the Bees edged the Mustangs by 2.5 points (360.5-358) to end MC’s three-year hold on the Region 5 Wrestling Tournament.

When Woods Cross’ Robert Thompson beat Mountain Crest’s Richard McGowen to capture the 285-pound weight class and end the tourney, it set off a raucous celebration by the Box Elder faithful.

Simply put, the Mustangs and Bees have one of the best and most fierce rivalries in the state, regardless of the sport.

“They wrestled real well and they deserved to win,” MC head coach Davie Swensen said. “If they beat us again next week, it will hurt a lot worse. If we come back and get them, we’ll let them have this one.”

Roy finished a distant third with 179.5 points, while host Woods Cross (143) and Sky View (134) were close behind. Bountiful (69) and Bonneville (15) rounded out the field.

And while Swensen was disappointed not to get that fourth consecutive region crown, his squad still did plenty of good things Thursday.

For starters, Ethen Lofthouse became a rare four-time region champion, and he did so in he typical dominant fashion. The 171-pounder threw and pinned Box Elder’s Zach Wittusen just 20 seconds into the opening round.

“It’s always a good accomplishment winning region four years in a row, especially with tough teams like Box Elder, Sky View, Roy and Bountiful in our region,” Lofthouse said.

Ethen’s young brother, Raider Lofthouse (135 pounds), also shined under the lights. Raider, a junior, earned his third straight region title by scoring from every position in a 6-1 victory over nemesis Koleton Hardy of Box Elder.

“It’s probably one of my top (matches this season) because he’s a great wrestler, and just to go out there and take it to him pretty much, score from every position, felt good,” Raider said.

Arguably Mountain Crest’s biggest victory of the evening was secured by its third titlist, 112-pounder Zabinadi Smethurst. The junior entered his championship bout with Colton Gladwell having lost to his Box Elder foe all three times this season.

However, Smethurst — who couldn’t hold onto a four-point lead the last time he wrestled Gladwell — got his revenge Thursday, throwing and pinning Gladwell midway through the second round.

“I came here from that region dual and I’ve watched the film a lot, and it’s been on my mind every time I’ve practiced,” Smethurst said. “I’ve never practiced harder than I have this week, and so winning that ... was incredible.”

In addition to the Lofthouse brothers and Smethurst, Sky View’s Brayden Anderson and Jake Redd did Cache Valley proud en route to winning their titles.

After losing in the region finals the previous two seasons, Redd, a senior, got that elusive crown. The 145-pounder was strong on his feet in a 8-4 victory over Mustang Spencer Schwab.

“It’s good to get a win, but a region championship is never the main goal,” Redd said. “But it felt great to win it.”

Like Redd, Anderson earned his place at the top of the podium by beating a tough Mountain Crest foe for the third time this season. Anderson used a deep shot in overtime to defeat Corrick Knight 3-1.

The sophomore lost his semifinal bout at region a year ago on a body slam the Sky View faithful vehemently thought was legal and was understandably pleased to get another opportunity at a title.

“It was satisfying,” Anderson said. “Since last year I was a little mad that I didn’t get a chance to wrestle in the finals. I guess it’s a lot better now this year that I got to wrestle in the finals. And I hadn’t won in the finals yet, so it’s nice to get that victory.”

Anderson was one of six Bobcats to qualify for the 4A tournament, while the Mustangs will be sending 19 grapplers to state. Box Elder qualified a region-best 21 kids and had a region-best five champions.

Like the Bees, the Mustangs had nine athletes make it to the finals. Unfortunately for Mountain Crest, several of those wrestlers lost gutwrenching decisions.

McGowen only lost his duel by four points, as did teammate Cole Sorensen in the 125-pound championship match. Mountain Crest’s Hayden Snow (189) and Colby Hamilton (119) were even closer to a spot at the top of the podium.

Hamilton nearly caught Roy’s Trent Stander in a tilt as time expired in the final round — in fact, MC’s coaching staff felt Hamilton had secured the back points — but wasn’t awarded the near fall in a 2-1 heartbreaker.

The Mustangs did fare better in the consolation finals, winning six of their nine third-place bouts. Mountain Crest’s consolation champs were Tyson Kendrick (130), Zamaleki Smethurst (135), Skylar Riggs (140), Joseph Carley (160), Brennon Archibald (189) and Derek Pond (215).

Kendrick, Smethurst, Carley, Archibald and Pond all won those consolation championship matches by fall.

Sky View’s Brenan Stewart (171) also was victorious in his third-place duel, pinning Roy’s Jesse Beeman.

Mountain Crest did go 3-2 in head-to-head title bouts against Box Elder, but it wasn’t quite enough. Nevertheless, Ethen Lofthouse is confident the Mustangs will get their revenge next week.

“Last time this happened we came out and won a state title, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do (next week),” he said. “We’re going to go out there and we’re going to work hard in practice, and that’s going to win us a fourth straight state title.”