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OREM — It’s difficult to win a two-day wrestling tournament on the first day, but it’s easy to lose it.
Wasatch made sure it didn’t lose the Class 4A state tournament after Wednesday’s first two rounds.
The Wasps sent 11 wrestlers to Thursday’s semifinals and finished the opening day atop the leaderboard with 140 ½ points at Utah Valley University’s UCCU Center. Defending 4A champion Mountain Crest is 11 points back in second place, followed by Maple Mountain (117 ½), Box Elder (56 ½), and Salem Hills (52).
Wasatch was led by Spencer and Ritchie Heywood, who both advanced to the 160-pound semifinals (in different bouts). The other Wasps who made it through the winner’s bracket are Trevor Cluff (106), Braiden Parker (113), Corbin Smith (120), Gage Bradley (126), Jakob Ditscher (132), Matthew Provost (145), DJ Cohen (152), Payton Mair (170) and Ben Bos (285).
The Mustangs, who tallied a tournament-high 21 pins on the first day, sent eight wrestlers to the semifinals. Maple Mountain had seven wrestlers in the semifinals.
Pleasant Grove leads the Class 5A tournament after the first day, with its state-high 25 wrestlers tallying 117 ½ points. The Vikings sent seven wrestlers to Thursday’s semifinals. Anthony Ridge (106), Derek Fisher (113), Benjamin Anderson (132), Kaden Sperry (152), Josh Anderson (160), Koy Wilkinson (170) and Brandon Closson (195) each advanced to the semifinals for Pleasant Grove.
Herriman (80 ½) and Davis (78) round out the top three in 5A.
Thursday opens with the championship semifinals for both 4A and 5A at noon, followed by remaining consolation rounds. The state finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. MT at UVU.
The state tournament for Classes 1A, 2A and 3A begins Friday at 11:15 a.m., with the championship finals scheduled for 5 p.m. MT on Saturday.
