1 / 6

Box Elder senior Cody Kaleikini, top, wrestles Roy junior Carter Rudolph in the Class 5A boys wrestling 285-pound title match on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

2 / 6

West Field senior Jason Worthley, top, battles Jordan's Myka Love in the Class 4A 150-pound title match at the boys wrestling state tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

3 / 6

Box Elder senior Mason Bingham, center, has his arm raised at the winner of the Class 5A 126-pound title match at the boys wrestling state tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

4 / 6

Box Elder senior Easton Connelly celebrates after winning the 157-pound title in the Class 5A state boys wrestling championships on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

5 / 6

Box Elder senior Mason Bingham (black uniform) wrestles Spanish Fork senior Kyler Spencer in the Class 5A 126-pound title match in the boys state wrestling state tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

6 / 6

Box Elder's boys wrestling team poses for a photo after finishing second at the 5A state boys wrestling tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Orem.

Jared Lloyd, For the Standard-Examiner

❮ ❯

OREM — They gave themselves a chance.

The Box Elder boys wrestling team put together a tremendous group effort in the two-day 5A state finals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in a one-point lead for the Bees over the defending champs from Spanish Fork.

Both teams had nine wrestlers competing in the finals, including four matchups where they would battle each other.

Box Elder held its own in those contests, winning two and losing two.

The problem was that in too many of the other matches, the Bees came in as underdogs to some talented Wasatch wrestlers.

“We had five guys that matched up perfect with Wasatch, which is unfortunate,” Box Elder head coach Jed Craner said. “We wish Spanish Fork would have matched up with them more, but that’s kind of the way it is. It’s just the luck of the draw.”

The Bees did get individual titles from senior Mason Bingham at 126 pounds, senior Easton Connelly at 157 pounds and senior Cody Kaleikini at 285 pounds, but Box Elder ended up just short of the necessary points to dethrone the Dons and settled for second overall.

“It was a fantastic tournament,” Craner said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. We had a few tough calls and tough losses, but all in all I’m really proud of the way that they wrestled. We had some fight back and help the team race and we got really close to it.”

Bingham said the Bees squad pushed each other to be its best and that made for a great community.

“This team has been really fun,” Bingham said. “I think our mindset has been really good and everyone is just having a fun time. We focus less on the wins and losses and more on what we expect of ourselves. It’s hard sometimes but I think we push through well.”

Bingham squared off against Spanish Fork wrestler Kyler Spencer in the 126-pound finals in a battle of wills.

“Most of the time you just go out and wrestle but I put a lot of thought into that match,” Bingham said. “But it was fun. Going in it was pretty stress-free, actually.”

Points were at a premium in that contest with neither Bingham nor Spencer scoring much. In the end, though, Bingham found enough to get a 2-0 win.

“It’s kind of surreal, actually,” Bingham said. “But it’s just fun to go out and compete.”

Connelly had the most dominant performance in his 157-pound final, routing Spanish Fork’s Jaxon Sorenson on his way to an 18-2 tech fall victory.

Kaleikini faced Roy junior Carter Rudolph for the 285-pound title and proved up to the challenge, securing a solid 7-1 decision.

Box Elder’s Ryker Winward (106), Kolvin Thompson (132), Bostyn Tucker (138), Blake Buckway (144), Eli Jurgens (165) and Logan Cefalo (175) — as well as Roy’s Kaleb Blackner (120) — also reached their weight-class finals but finished as runners-up.

Spanish Fork tallied 331 points and the Bees were just behind at 319.5. Roy secured the No. 6 spot (75.5 points) in the team table.

Craner said that even with all the highs and lows, the best part of the state tournament is seeing the kids push themselves to be their best.

“The highlight is just to see kids grow, see the kids put forth effort in the offseason and in the season, and have it come to fruition,” Craner said. “It’s just awesome to watch the work that they put in and see that they get to reap what they sew.”

Although Uintah dominated the 4A ranks, one area athlete earned a spot at the top of the podium as West Field senior Jason Worthley beat Jordan’s Myka Love in the 150-pound finals on a 19-3 tech fall.

5A FINAL MATCHES

106: Easton Shelley (Spanish Fork) 42-5 won by fall over Ryker Winward (Box Elder) 33-12 (Fall 4:48)

120: Karson Shelley (Spanish Fork) 47-3 won by tech fall over Kaleb Blackner (Roy) 32-4 (TF-1.5 3:37 (17-0))

126: Mason Bingham (Box Elder) 43-6 won by decision over Kyler Spencer (Spanish Fork) 38-9 (Dec 2-0)

132: Benjamin Kohler (Wasatch) 43-7 won by major decision over Kolvin Thompson (Box Elder) 37-10 (MD 11-3)

138: Daxton Bonner (Wasatch) 36-10 won by tech fall over Bostyn Tucker (Box Elder) 36-11 (TF-1.5 2:42 (22-6))

144: Max Richins (Wasatch) 28-15 won by fall over Blake Buckway (Box Elder) 30-13 (Fall 2:47)

157: Easton Connelly (Box Elder) 39-13 won by tech fall over Jaxon Sorenson (Spanish Fork) 35-11 (TF-1.5 5:10 (18-2))

165: Ryker Olson (Spanish Fork) 39-6 won by decision over Eli Jurgens (Box Elder) 29-7 (Dec 9-3)

175: Wyatt Hanssen (Wasatch) 45-9 won by tech fall over Logan Cefalo (Box Elder) 33-11 (TF-1.5 4:08 (20-4))

285: Cody Kaleikini (Box Elder) 41-7 won by decision over Carter Rudolph (Roy) 35-6 (Dec 7-1)

4A FINAL MATCHES

150: Jason Worthley (West Field) 42-3 won by tech fall over Myka Love (Jordan) 38-6 (TF-1.5 2:19 (19-3))