Bos, Wasps take first-day lead at 4A state wrestling tournament; PG rolls in 5A


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OREM — Wasatch High heavyweight Ben Bos has dreamed of winning a state championship since he first stepped on the mat four years ago as a freshman, but his last chance is this weekend.

So far, so good.

Bos took a pair of first-period pins Wednesday in the 285-pound weight class, becoming one of 11 Wasatch wrestlers to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals at the Class 4A state tournament held at Utah Valley's UCCU Center.

Wrestling resumes Thursday with the championship semifinals at noon.

"I've always wanted to be a state champion," Bos said. "I started wrestling my freshman year, and fell in love with the sport. Since then, I always wanted to win state."

The senior who has signed with Weber State football wasted little time keeping his hopes of a title alive Wednesday. He rushed into his first match and took a 56-second pin over Timpview's Rusty Lamb, then added a fall in just 33 seconds over Kearns' Nathan Fosi in the quarterfinals to keep his unbeaten record at the tourney.

But for Bos (50-4), winning as a team is just as important as individual accolades. The Wasps finished the opening day of the 4A state tournament in first place, leading second-place Maple Mountain 130.5-119.

Class 4A state wrestling tournament

And though wrestling is formally an individual sport, the team side of the event had Bos excited after his pair of first-period pins.

"It makes it so much better," Bos said. "People think (wrestling) is an individual sport, which it is. But you always have your teammates pushing you in the wrestling room, on the mats, and it's so much more fun."

Wrestling as a team can have dramatic effects on individual performances, as well. The Wasps, who brought 23 wrestlers to the tournament, got a 6-3 win from Trevor Cluff at 113 pounds, and used that momentum to get wins in eight of the next nine quarterfinals.

State Wrestling Preview

Braiden Parker (120), Zak Kohler (120), Corbin Smith (132), Steven Ballif (138), Seth Gardner (145), Jakob Discher (152), DJ Cohen (160), Ritchie Haywood (170) and Garth Healey (182) each won quarterfinal bouts for the Wasps, who won the inaugural UHSAA 4A state duals a month ago and fed off the energy generated by each victory Wednesday.

"These guys really care about each other," Wasatch coach Wade Discher said. "Even though there might be a few losses along the way, they overcome that stuff and they all talk it through and what to expect in the emotional times. But once that wave gets rolling, you want to hop on that thing with your surfboard and ride it for a long time."

Having a heavyweight like Bos to top off the evening's championship round was money in the bank, Discher acknowledged.

"Having a heavyweight closer, where you can almost guarantee he's going to get a pin, it's very nice. We haven't always had that, and it was a little scary," Discher said. "He's a great leader by example. He's not a big voice, kind of quiet and sticks to himself.

"But he's there every day, and he works hard."

Maple Mountain got quarterfinal wins from Quenton Mortimer (106), Tanner Cox (126), Taylor LaMont (138), Spencer Curtis (145), Brandyn Van Tassell (152), Parker Kay (160), Cory Rokovitz (182) and Korbon Tibbals (220) to finish in a comfortable second place, 30 points ahead of Payson and Box Elder.

Uintah finished the opening day in third place with 84.5 points, followed by Box Elder (82.5), Payson (76.5) and Salem Hills (61).

Class 5A state wrestling tournament

Class 5AIn the 5A tournament, Pleasant Grove jumped out to a 49.5-point lead over second-place Herriman and the rest of the field after the first two rounds of the championship bracket.

The Vikings were paced by Matthew Zorn (126), Nelson Jones (138), Alex Yong (145), Ben Anderson (152), Koy Wilkinson (170), Maika Tauteoli (182), Bandon Closson (220) and Walker Wolfgramm (285) in winning their quarterfinal bouts.

Anderson, who has committed to Duke, will likely vie for his fourth-straight state championship Thursday evening.

Herriman was second with 75 points, followed by Westlake (57.5), American Fork (56) and Davis (54).

Wrestling resumes with the championship semifinals Thursday at noon in Orem.

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