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OREM — Every day when Bridger Ricks jogs past the big board filled with previous state champions in Box Elder High School's wrestling room, he thinks about it: the chance to join an exclusive club for four-time state champions.
Now that he's here, experiencing instead of day dreaming, may explain why he's wasting little time to accomplish his goal.
The Bees senior wrestled for a total of 43 seconds Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the 120-pound bracket at the 5A state wrestling tournament, pinning his opponents from Mountain View and Woods Cross to set up Thursday's semifinals.
"Every day when I'm jogging for warmups, I picture myself winning a fourth state title," Ricks said. "It keeps me motivated. I've pictured myself at this tournament over 100 times this season.
"Now that's real and it's here, it's pretty easy to stay motivated."
Winning is nothing new for Ricks, an all-star wrestler who is 45-1 on the year with 36 pins, per TrackWrestling. That would push his career record to 161-9 all-time, a record that includes three previous state titles — the first of which was perhaps his most difficult.
That was the one during his freshman year when Ricks was called for a stalling penalty in the final period before eking out a 7-5 overtime victory in front of a capacity crowd at Utah Valley's UCCU Center.
A year later, he doubled his haul with a pin. Last year, when the state tournament moved to high school sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he easily captured the 120-pound championship 9-4.
That brings us to Wednesday, when Ricks made short work of his opening rounds.
"It's a moment I've been working for my whole life," he said. "My whole high school career, it's what I've been building up for. Obviously, you still have to go one match at a time — every match is equally important.
"I just have to treat every match the exact same."
Wrestling continues in the 5A state tournament Thursday, with state semifinals scheduled for 11 a.m. MST. The championship finals are scheduled for 4:15 p.m. MST and will feature title matches in both boys and girls wrestling, together at the same site in Orem for the first time since girls wrestling was sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association in 2020.
Ricks' wrestling career will continue — he's looking at in-state Utah Valley as well as Western Wyoming, where his brother competes, among his offers. But first, he has business to attend: a chance to add his name to the 24 four-time state champion wrestlers listed in the UHSAA record book.
With two wins Thursday, he'll become the third Box Elder wrestler added to the list and first since Brock Hardy from 2015-18.
As he approaches his chance and his final state tournament, Ricks has one overriding emotion: gratitude.
"Honestly, it shows me how much I've taken this sport for granted sometimes. Thinking that I only have a day or two left, I'm grateful — for my teammates, my coaches, my parents. I'm grateful for the sport, and how much I've learned from it."
UHSAA 5A Boys Wrestlilng
- Feb. 16, 2021 | UCCU Center, Orem
Team scores
Uintah 144.5, Payson 135, Wasatch 105, Viewmont 53.5, Lehi 53, Box Elder 45, Mountain View 44, Spanish Fork 42.5, Maple Mountain 41.5, Stansbury 39, Salem Hills 34, Woods Cross, 34, Murray 31, Springville 30, Alta 21, Orem 19, Park City 17.5, Tooele 16.5, Bountiful 16, Timpanogos 15.5, Northridge 15, Hillcrest 9, Olympus 8, Brighton 7, Highland 7, Cedar Valley 6, Skyline 6, Timpview 3, Bonneville 1.
Thursday's semifinals
106 — Karson Shelley, Spanish Fork vs. Tyler Khoundet, Stansbury; Connor Knudsen, Timpanogos vs. Breyton Banks, Salem Hills.
113 — Michael Alexander, Uintah vs. Gable Stoddard, Mountain View; Aaron Garcia, Payson vs. Parker Hansen, Tooele.
120 — Bridger Ricks, Box Elder, vs. Parker Hayes, Wasatch; Jared Miller, Park City vs. Eduardo Cabrera, Payson.
126 — Spencer Lee, Viewmont vs. Heath Clyde, Wasatch; Ethan Boulton, Payson vs. Raiden Harrison, Uintah.
132 — David Wetzeler, Spanish Fork vs. Cody Burr, Mountain View; Ryder Robinson, Wasatch vs. Jackson Ricks, Box Elder.
138 — Jaxon Johnson, Uintah vs. Austin Kelly, Wasatch; Colton Theobald, Payson vs. Bridger Warren, Spanish Fork.
144 — Brady Merkley, Uintah vs. Layne Osborn, Payson; Colton Erickson, Woods Cross vs. Jacob Rhoades, Uintah.
150 — Luke Degrafenreid, Salem Hills vs. Alex Koyle, Spanish Fork; Dillon Dick, Uintah vs. Isaac Orrock, Murray.
157 —Moses Espinoza-Owens, Viewmont vs. Kelton Smith, Payson; Christian Slack, Wasatch vs. Chandler Thompson, Murray.
165 — Marcus Espinoza-Owens, Viewmont vs. Cameron Williams, Mountain View; Charlie Fassold, Wasatch vs. Dustin Rhoades, Uintah.
175 — William Price, Uintah vs. Josh Olson, Stansbury; Landen Shurtlieff, Payson vs. Joshua Biesinger, Maple Mountain.
190 — Austin Richens, Uintah vs. Chandler Loveless, Payson ; Will McCleary, Lehi vs. Andrew Jensen, Maple Mountain.
215 — Monsoon Morley, Salem Hills vs. Stone Combs, Park City; Cash Henderson, Woods Cross vs. Jett Swain, Uintah.
285 — Gage Howard, Uintah vs. Austin McNaughton, Wasatch; Isaac Terrell, Lehi vs. Nathan Bulpitt, Lehi.
UHSAA 5A Girls Wrestling
- Feb. 16, 2021 | UCCU Center, Orem
Team scores
Maple Mountain 81.5, Uintah 73, Northridge 66, Springville 61, Tooele 58, Mountain View 55, Jordan 51, Stansbury 47, Cedar Valley 30, Hillcrest 22, Alta 18, Timpview 18, Bonneville 16, East 14, Park City 13, Bountiful 11, Lehi 11, Provo 11, Woods Cross 11, Murray 9, Olympus 9, Payson 9, Highland 7, Salem Hills 7, Brighton 3.
Thursday's semifinals
100 — Jakailei Lujan, Uintah vs. January Langston, Payson; Emeri Mortimer, Springville vs. Rhiannon Towers, Olympus.
105 — Addyson Van Cott, Stansbury vs. Ellie Jensen, Maple Mountain; Lindsay Hansen, Tooele vs. Ivory Cazier, Mountain View.
110 — Talleigh Lujan, Uintah vs. Maria Marin, East; Cecibeth Santos, Northridge vs. Lilly Lake, Maple Mountain.
115 — Chanley Green, Uintah vs. Eliza Zimmerman, Hillcrest; AnnaLee Wright, Cedar Valley vs. Ariana McGee, Maple Mountain.
120 — Mikalah Whitehouse, Northridge vs. Valery Ethington, Springville; Alexia Woods, Cedar Valley vs. Sydnie Dick, Uintah.
125 — Isla Baeza, Mountain View vs. Julissa Miranda, Tooele; Izzy Clements, Springville vs. Hailey Holton, Northridge.
130 — Katelyn Wolf, Provo vs. Hadie Hood, Bonneville; Kaianne Sabagala, Timpview vs. Kathryn de Groot, Woods Cross.
135 — Esther Han, Mountain View vs. Maycee Young, Uintah; Cassandra Farnsworth, Maple Mountain vs. Annie Clanton, Northridge.
140 — Amelie Ledesma, Salem Hills vs. Jocelyn Dean, Mountain View; Feelicie Kobryn, Maple Mountain vs. Maeli Howard, Bountiful.
145 — Elleni Johnson, Murray vs. Ajah Rajvong, Lehi; Briona Love, Hillcrest vs. Savannah Malmgren, Tooele.
155 — Siena Fairbanks, Jordan vs. Madison Mayes, Cedar Valley; Hotaia Valeti, Springville vs. Alize Acosta, Stansbury.
170 — Hannah Babinski, Jordan vs. Casey Harris, Maple Mountain; Taimane Fiatoa, Timpview vs. Hayley Harris, Springville.
190 —Nya Seiuli, Maple Mountain vs. Riley Winters, Northridge; Angie Aguilar, Stansbury vs. Aurellia Ramos, Maple Mountain.
235 — Karla Pa Zapeda, Northridge vs. Katelyn Edgell, Brighton; Arianah Congur, Jordan vs. Maddison Tenney, Uintah.
