6A/5A state wrestling preview: Layton boys hoping to ‘get after it’
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- Layton High’s Geronimo Rivera Jr. has his arm raised by a referee after winning the 6A boys wrestling 113-pound state championship on Feb. 19, 2022, at Utah Valley University in Orem.
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- Layton High’s Kael Bennie, left, has his arm raised by the referee after winning the 6A boys wrestling 165-pound state championship on Feb. 19, 2022, at Utah Valley University in Orem.
SYRACUSE — Ask some of Layton High’s boys wrestlers about the 2022 state championship and their reactions vary somewhat.
One called it a humbling experience. Another wrestler said the tournament hurt.
The Lancers felt last year like they had the talent and depth to knock perennial team champion Pleasant Grove off the podium. The Vikings instead won by the slim margin of 9.5 points, 216.5-207.
“It humbled us because really we thought we were going to win, and we didn’t. You can’t really make up excuses for that, you can’t really blame anyone for that, it was just all our fault, just didn’t really show up at state,” junior Kaden Bennie said after Layton’s dual match win at Syracuse in January. “I didn’t show up. We were just kind of disappointed, but we’re excited to get after it this year.”
Sophomore Logan Crowther has a blunt view of last year’s tournament.
“I took second at divisionals, then I kinda choked at state,” Crowther said.
In the 126-pound bracket last year, Crowther lost in the quarterfinals, lost in the consolation round, didn’t finish in the top eight places in the weight class and scored 6.5 points for his team.
A deeper run either in the main draw or the consolation bracket, not just by Crowther but by any number of Layton wrestlers, could’ve netted more points, could’ve changed the team’s fortunes.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Whatever the feeling is, Layton’s determined to show up at this year’s state tournament this Wednesday and Thursday at Utah Valley University and “get the job done,” as Bennie says.
To the naked eye, not much has changed on Layton’s end a year later. The Lancers feature most of the same wrestlers as last year’s team and, once again, plowed through the Region 1 season and the “A” Divisional tournament.
The differences with team lie not totally with the moves they make on the wrestling mat, but within the approximately 7-inch space between their ears.
“Last year, we walked in like we were just gonna win it, we didn’t have to do anything. But this year we’re actually pushing ourselves every day instead of just going through the motions,” said sophomore Geronimo Rivera Jr., who won the state championship at 113 pounds last year as a freshman and is currently wrestling through a foot injury.
A year after the near miss, Layton appears to be one of the favorites to win the 6A wrestling team championship. Depending on who you talk to, the Lancers are anywhere from simply a contender looking to knock PG off the perch, to being the team everyone’s chasing.
“We haven’t let the hype get to us. We’ve been working hard through the whole year. I think we’ll do really good at state,” Crowther said.
The Lancers rolled Region 1 for a third straight region title and a sixth title in seven years. Five Layton wrestlers were divisional champions: Aiden Bastian (106 pounds), Rivera Jr. (120), Logan Crowther (132), Ryker Brann (144) and Andrew Crowther (165).
An additional six wrestlers — Kyler Pace (113), Noah Bull (126), Andre Oster (132), Jace Lemons (138), Ethan Hearne (175) and Kael Bennie (190) — finished second.
Ten wrestlers have 20 or more individual wins coming into the state tournament. One of them, senior Kael Bennie, is 34-8 wrestling at 190 pounds.
Bennie won the state title last year at 165 and so far this year won his weight class at the Layton Invitational in December, finished second at last month’s Rockwell Rumble, fourth at the prestigious Doc Buchanan Invitational in California last month and eighth at the prestigious Walsh Ironman in December.
According to Utah USA Wrestling, Bennie is the No. 7-ranked wrestler in the whole state, Layton is the No. 1-ranked team in 6A and many Lancers are highly ranked in their weight classes.
One thing tipping the scales in Layton’s favor is that perennial power Pleasant Grove, which has won five straight boys wrestling state titles and 11 of the last 12, has a new head coach this year and is going through sort of a down year.
In fact, Westlake beat PG in a dual match to win the Region 4 championship. Still, all eyes in the 6A boys tournament will be on Layton, and the Lancers know that.
“Mindset, mentality, just going in thinking I’m better than this guy, I’m gonna win, but don’t be too cocky about it or you’ll get humbled,” Kaden Bennie said. “When you step on that mat and the whole crowd — you just have to block that out, you just have to wrestle your match. You can’t think about, ‘Am I gonna get tired or not, am I gonna lose my energy?’ You just gotta go.”
6A/5A TOURNAMENT NOTES
The 6A boys and girls state wrestling tournaments are Wednesday and Thursday while the 5A tournaments are Friday and Saturday, all at UVU.
Along with Layton in the 6A boys tournament, a handful of area wrestlers enter the tournament as No. 1 seeds after winning at divisionals and several more are No. 2 seeds. The No. 1 seeds are Mason Carlson (Syracuse, 113 pounds), Jason Worthley (Fremont, 126), Gavin Regis (Syracuse, 138), Logan Hancey (Fremont, 157) and Ian Briskey (Weber, 285).
The No. 2 seeds are Kaleb Blackner (Roy, 106), Maximo Quintana (Roy, 113), Teague Brown (Syracuse, 120) and Tanner Giatras (Weber, 165).
Area wrestlers who enter the 6A girls tournament as Nos. 1-2 seeds are Kristina Kent (Davis, 100), Payton Gines (Syracuse, 100), Emily Ball (Syracuse, 105), Marlie Rigby (Layton, 110), Tatum Stanger (Layton, 110), Sabrina Jensen (Syracuse, 110), Aleena Navarrete (Weber, 115), Valentin Martinez (Davis, 125), Daeja Sundquist (Syracuse, 130), Ragan Julander (Clearfield, 135), Amelia Roennebeck (Syracuse, 140), Haley Diaz (Layton, 145), Ashlyn Packer (Syracuse, 155) and Chloe Colvin (Roy, 190).
In 5A boys, area wrestlers who are Nos. 1-2 seeds are Caleb Christensen (Box Elder, 126), Jackson Ricks (Box Elder, 132), Moses Espinoza-Owens (Viewmont, 165) and Marcus Espinoza-Owens (Viewmont, 175).
On the 5A girls side, Northridge has several highly seeded wrestlers, 21 qualified wrestlers overall and could push title-favorite Uintah in the team race.
Area wrestlers who are Nos. 1-2 seeds are Rachel Jones (Northridge, 105), Cecibeth Santos (Northridge, 115), Alisa Misselhorn (Northridge, 125), Breanna Clanton (Northridge, 140), Alexis Kirkland (Bonneville, 140), Hannah Bowler (Bonneville, 155) and Emma Aviles (Northridge, 190).
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.