SMITHFIELD -- As expected, the Bees and Mustangs battled for Region 5 wrestling supremacy.
And as expected, it was a nail-biter.
And perhaps as expected, the Box Elder squad had just enough extra in the tank to rise to the top following two days of wrestling at Sky View High School.
Box Elder finished with 367.5 points, followed by Mountain Crest at 353.5. Logan was at 214, followed by Logan (214.5), Roy (70) and Bonneville (43.5).
And make no mistake, every school in this region placed wrestlers in a championship match or two. It's just that the Bees and Mustangs have the depth to earn titles.
The rivalry will be renewed in two weeks at the state 4-A wrestling championships at Utah Valley University.
Newly crowned Region 6 champion Clearfield will also join the list of title contenders after the Falcons won the league title.
Box Elder and Mountain Crest square off in four weight classes, and the Mustangs won three. Mason Kendrick topped Jake Smith (7-4) at 120, while Taylon Niederhauser edged Kohler Smoot 2-1 at 182. Later, Mountain Crest's Sylas Wells pinned the Bees' Joe Flores (1:23) at 220.
But the Bees had a 1-2 finish at 145, where Jake Tolman pinned teammate Matt Williams (5:35).
Box Elder's Breckin Gunter earned a hard-fought 7-5 decision over Mountain Crest's Drake Comer at 195. Box Elder's Shand Hardy earned a major decision (9-0) over Bonneville's Haydan Jackman at 113, and the Bees' Nick Sorenson won by major decision (13-2) over Roy's Danny Palmer.
Rasten Yeates pinned Sky View's Abraham Herrera at 152 (2:24), and the Bees' Rylee Reeves decisioned Logan's Jacoby Wildman 3-1 at 285.
Logan's Spencer McKay topped Box Elder's Britton Gunter (3-2) at 170. The Bees also earned third-place points from Kyle Smith (106), Mckay Parrish (138), KC Lowry (220) and Alex Werling (160), and a fourth from Teagan Hubbard (138).
Mountain Crest's Trevor Lowe won at 106, while teammate Brady Dart won at 126.
Quinn Hinckley of Logan topped Box Elder's Dante Winward (8-3) in the 132-pound match. The Grizzlies' Isaac Harrison won at 138, Logan's Talon Teeples was second at 126, and Logan Harrison was third at 113.
Bonneville's Dylan Mathis was fourth at 152.
Roy's Dustin Christensen was third at 195, and Zach Sakurada was fourth at 132, as was Tyson Stander at 145.
Sky View was led by Eric Hansen's second at 106.
Region 6
* FALCONS PUSH TO REGION CROWN: At Highland High in Salt Lake City, the Falcons pushed past the host Rams for the league title.
Clearfield tallied 348 points, just ahead of Highland with 338. The teams were tied with two matches to go. Cyprus was third at 302, followed by Bountiful (249.5), Woods Cross (143) and East (44).
The Falcons picked up wins at 106 pounds (Colton Thiel), at 113 (Christian Kodele), 120 (Zeth Porter), and 220 (Dakota Wickel), and runner-up placings from Logan Swallow (106), Alex Child (220) and Nate Bradshaw (138). Preston Olsen (132) was third as was Caleb Damschen (152)
The Falcons went 1-2 at 220 and at 106. In the 220-pound match, Wickel decisioned Child 7-4. At 106, Thiel pinned Swallow (5:22).
Kodele topped Daniel Cota of East, 11-5. while Porter decisioned Bountiful's Justin Maxwell 11-5.
At 138, Barnett edged Bradshaw 9-7.
Bountiful's Joey Barnett won at 132, Josh Barnett won at 138 and AJ Tovey won at 170.
Woods' Cross Tony Mendez finished second at 195.
The top wrestlers will now prepare for the state 4-A championships set for Feb. 15-17 at Utah Valley University's UCCU Center.
The Region 1 championships begin at 1:30 p.m. today at Syracuse High School. Action continues on Saturday with the semifinals at 5 p.m., followed by the finals at 7 p.m.
Also, the best 3-A wrestlers in the the top half of the state will meet at Ben Lomond today and Saturday to secure state positions. Action begins in the 3-A North Division tournament at 9 a.m. each day.
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