High school wrestling is at the midseason mark.

Some big changes this year are new weight classes, state tournament setups and the state tournaments returning to traditional venues.

In the past, the 6A and 5A boys wrestling tournaments were held concurrently at Utah Valley University. Now, the 5A boys and girls tournaments will be held over two days in February at UVU, with the 6A boys and girls tournaments happening on separate days.

Here’s a brief look at where things stand in northern Utah.

BOYS WRESTLING

6A

Last year, Layton went unbeaten in Region 1 dual matches, once again claiming the crown, though it was much closer in some matches than previous years.

Layton is again expected to be the top dog in Region 1 despite graduating some key wrestlers.

Layton has four wrestlers who finished in the top four at state last year in Jace Lemons (sophomore, 126 pounds), Ryker Brann (junior, 132), Andrew Crowther (junior, 157) and Kael Bennie (junior, 175). Freshman 113-pounder Geronimo Rivera, Jr. has also been an early standout for LHS.

If any team is going to challenge Layton, it’ll likely be either Syracuse or Fremont.

Fremont has four returning wrestlers who were top four at state last year: Cal Christiansen, Logan Hancey, Corbin Platt and Isaac Duran. Three underclassmen newcomers — Ridge Lindley, Treyson Hunt and Tucker Keller — have a combined 22-2 record, according to TrackWrestling.

Syracuse is anchored by 165-pounder Jordan Faifai, who is 18-0, and senior Zachary Phipps, who’s 15-3 at 175 pounds. Three more wrestlers — Gabriel Mabin, Zack Anderson and Connor Schwab — have 15-plus wins.

Syracuse and Fremont meet next Wednesday, Fremont and Layton face off on Jan. 19 and the Syracuse-Layton dual is Jan. 27.

Farmington enters the region and has two 20-win wrestlers in Sam May (20-1) and Hudson Palmer (20-3).

Davis has two good heavyweight wrestlers, Tayden Roundy and Kael Jenkins, plus the Darts added Farmington transfer Jacob Waddoups, last year’s 5A runner-up at 106 pounds.

Roy High figures to be more competitive in Region 2 than in Region 1. It’s early in the region season, but Roy did beat Kearns 42-39 in a dual match Wednesday.

At the 6A state level, it’s Pleasant Grove’s world and everyone else is living in it and fighting for second place.

5A

Coming off a state runner-up finish and another region title-winning year, Box Elder is the team to beat in Region 5, though the Bees are not as deep as previous years.

They brought back defending state champions Bridger and Jackson Ricks, but the region is more wide open than it has been in a while.

The team most likely poised to take advantage is Viewmont, with two middleweight wrestlers — Marcus and Moses Espinoza-Owens — who are among the top 25 wrestlers in Utah.

Northridge comes down from 6A and should compete well. The Knights return a state runner-up wrestler Ben Brown, who’s 16-3 at 165 pounds as of Thursday. Brigham Hill (17-6, 157 pounds) and Jake Speredon (14-2, 215) have also started well.

Realignment made 5A boys wrestling a gauntlet with 4A powerhouse Uintah joining Box Elder, Payson and Wasatch in 5A’s upper echelon.

4A

In realignment, 5A’s gain was 4A’s bane as it reduced the 4A classification to 13 schools. Bear River figures to have a good shot at second place in the region and in the state tournament behind Mountain Crest.

So far, five BR wrestlers have 20-plus wins — Carson Pond, Qwen Hess, Kwade Kosoff, Max Miller and River Smith — and the Bears have beaten Box Elder and Davis in dual matches this year.

3A

Morgan figures to be the top team in the region — which now includes Ben Lomond, Ogden and Layton Christian — and compete well at state with Juab.

The Trojans have defending state champions Blake Woolsey and Ryker Adams, plus a total of nine wrestlers at the 10-plus win mark this year, led by Woolsey’s 14-1 record.

GIRLS WRESTLING

6A

Though the 2020-21 season was girls wrestling’s first as a sanctioned sport in Utah, it happened during a bunch of the initial COVID-19 impacts.

This year, the girls wrestling state tournaments will happen at the same place and time as the boys tournaments. The sport continues to grow and more schools have teams this year.

Fremont was the runaway Region 1 champion last year. Depending on who you ask, either Syracuse or Fremont is this year’s favorite.

Fremont has three wrestlers who placed third or better at state last year. One of them, Brinlee Gines, is 9-0 as of Thursday.

Syracuse has a handful of good returners led by Adel Roennebeck and Hope Barton. Brylee Roennebeck is off to an 8-2 start.

The wrestler scoring wins left and right is Farmington’s Jessica Hacking, a junior who’s 16-2 in both the 170 and 155-pound weight classes.

Roy senior Lexus Bertagnolli is another name to watch in 6A. She took third place at state last year.

Northridge’s Karla Padilla Zepeda, center, stands on top of the podium as the 6A girls wrestling 245-pound weight class state champion on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, at Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs.

5A

Chronologically speaking, Northridge’s Karla Padilla Zepeda was the first 6A girls wrestling champion last season, as her title match was first and she won.

Now a senior, Padilla Zepeda is 14-0 this year (excluding wins by forfeit), all 14 wins are by fall and she’s established herself as one of the better wrestlers around.

Bonneville returns a senior, Hadlie Hood, who took fourth at the combined 5A, 3A-1A state tournament last year.

Region 5’s a little harder to gauge since some schools don’t field girls wrestling teams and the sport is still growing.

4A

One of the better girls wrestling teams so far is at Bear River.

The Bears have 11 wrestlers with double-digit wins as of Thursday, led by junior Josie Redman who is 21-0. Bella Gunderson is 19-1, Sophia Miller is 18-3 and Hailey Branch, who was fourth at state last season, is 17-2.

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