Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — Spencer Heywood walked off the mat as a Utah high school state champion, and the official whispered something in his ear: “Congrats; that’ll probably never happen again.”
It wasn’t a shot at Heywood’s title — it was a comment on the remarkable circumstances of the final step in his journey.
Heywood walked off the mat with his opponent — little brother Ritchie Heywood, the runner-up at 160 pounds and a sophomore wrestler with the Wasps. The Heywoods are believed to be the first pair of brothers to wrestle in a state final in UHSAA history.
The siblings led Wasatch to a dominant second-day effort, putting seven wrestlers into the finals and winning the Class 4A state title Thursday with 170.5 points at UVU’s UCCU Center. Maple Mountain finished second with 242.5, followed by Mountain Crest (231.5) and Box Elder (109.5).
“I was both tired and excited; a little bit of everything,” Spencer Heywood said shortly after he walked off the mat. “But I’m proud of Ritchie, how far he’s come, and happy for myself to finally win a state championship.”
Spencer opened the scoring with a first-period takedown to take a 2-0 lead, but Ritchie got back to 2-1 with a second-period escape. Taking the down position to start the final period, Ritchie got away for a point with about a minute left, and held on for a 3-1 win and his first state title.
The elder Heywood had made it to the state finals twice before, falling in the championship match both times. This time, with the a pair of Wasatch coaches sitting silently in each corner, the duo put on a show reminiscent of the battles they get into at home.
“It was awesome,” Ritchie said.” I honestly couldn’t ask for a better way to end it.”
Guaranteed the top two spots at 160, Wasatch added to its haul with three state champions, five runners-up and four other spots on the podium.
“They’ve got a lot of heart, and they’ve put the time in,” said Wasatch coach Wade Discher, who was named 4A Coach of the Year. “It’s more than coming to practice every day — my sophomores, I had four in the finals, they all battled. They’ve been putting 10-11 months in, and they lasted longer. There’s no mystery to that. It’s been a lot of work.”
Ritchie Heywood spent most of the season at 152 pounds, but the Wasps already counted on DJ Cohen at that weight. Cohen finished fourth at the state tournament, and a few weeks ago, the younger Heywood walked into his coach’s office and told him he’d “feel better” if he wrestled up a weight class — even if it meant potentially matching up with his brother at some point.
“We bring the best out of each other,” said Ritchie Heywood, whose coach has noticed significant improvement since moving up eight pounds. “We push each other to get better every day. There are no bragging rights; this will be a fun memory for a long time.
“He tries to beat me up (at home), and I had to get bigger and stronger to fight back a little.”
Braiden Parker won Wasatch’s first individual state championship of the night at 112 pounds, claiming his second title with a 5-0 decision over Mountain View’s Julio Ortiz.
“Braiden’s been doing that all season,” Discher said. “The bigger the stage, the harder he wrestles. He had a little bit of a letdown during the division tournament, but we let him wrestle his matches this week and do what he wanted to do. He had his purpose, he had his focus, and it was great. He really sets that pace.”
The Wasps would add to their bounty at 170 pounds, where senior Payton Mair rolled by Mountain Crest’s Caden Musselman, 12-2.
Wasatch held a commanding lead in the race for the state title before the finals began, leading the pack 257.5 to second-place Mountain Crest’s 231.5. Maple Mountain trailed in third with 224.5.
We bring the best out of each other. We push each other to get better every day. There are no bragging rights; this will be a fun memory for a long time.
–Wasatch wrestler Ritchie Heywood
“By the second day, I told them they had to wrestle with a little more intensity,” Ditscher said. “They came out and wrestled really intense.”
Maple Mountain junior Taylor Lamont capped off a 61-0 season with his third-straight state championship. The All-American and Academic All-State honoree also won the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions and the Rocky Mountain Rumble this year.
The Golden Eagles cleaned up in the championship finals, crowning three champions from their three finalists to help jump over Mountain Crest for second place in the team standings.
Cameron Killian won his first title at 145 pounds with an 8-3 decision over Mountain Crest’s Mitchell Egbert. Johnny O’Hearon made it back-to-back for Maple Mountain with his third championship, a 10-6 win over Salem Hills’ Jaxon Vantassel at 152 pounds.
Kearns sophomore Brandon Meikel won the 106-pound title with a 12-0 win over Wasatch’s Trevor Cluff in the opening match of the finals.
Box Elder freshman Brock Hardy won the 132-pound title with a 4-minute, 21-second pin of Wasatch’s Jakob Discher. The Bees’ first-year standout improved to 41-1 in his first year of high school wrestling.
Corner Canyon’s Greg Lamb won a championship at 138 pounds with a pin in 5:22 of Olympus’ Lukas Erickson. Salem Hills’ Jacob Armstrong moved to 46-2 on the year with his third-straight state championship, a pin in 1:41 at 182 pounds.
Spanish Fork got back-to-back state titles in the upper weight classes. Heber Shepherd won the 195-pound championship by edging Skyline’s Jordan Crofts, 3-2. Dons teammate John Leilua followed with a pin in 2:42 over Mountain Crest’s Andron Anderson at 220 pounds.
Roy senior Damian Trujillo capped off an undefeated season with a pin in 4:58 over Wasatch junior Ben Bos in the 285-pound final.
Of the eight finalists, Wasatch will bring back Parker and runners-up Ritchie Heywood, Corbin Smith, Trevor Cluff, Jakob Discher and heavyweight Bos. After celebrating this title, it will be a good challenge — and a good run at a title defense — to have, Heywood said.
“It’s so fun to have that tradition back,” he added. “We’re excited.”
