Only two – Army commits Gavin Regis and Elijah Hawes – were in action at the Wrestling Against Cancer Duals in Provo, where the Lancers claimed 11 matches to defeat Timpanogos 54-18 on Tuesday, but Layton’s senior five have a bit of history in front of them as the season officially begins.

Ten Lancers walked away with victories in Tuesday’s season opener: Seniors Regis (165 pounds), Hawes (190 pounds), Treyden Christensen (144 pounds), Weston Lawrence (285 pounds), Connor Kennedy (215 pounds), junior George Mansfield (175 pounds), freshman Ry Talbot (144 pounds), sophomore Isaac Ireland (138 pounds), sophomore Patrick Stark (120 pounds), and sophomore Carson Altice (106 sophomores).

Layton, led by former UVU wrestler and Layton alum Adam Fager for 11 years now, has won the 6A state title three consecutive years, and the possibility of a fourpeat is all to real as Layton reloads as one of state’s deepest lineups again this season.

Layton’s five signees return a combined record of 182-30 from their respective junior seasons.

“For the last four years, I’ve confidently said that I think this is our best graduating class that we’ve ever had at Layton,” Fager said. “That was before some of them were here yet – I can’t tell the future; I (didn’t) know they were going to come here, but I’ve been impressed by this senior class for a long time.”

Defending champions Noah Bull (a two-time state champion), committed to Nebraska, and Lander Bosh, committed to North Carolina State, are back to put a wrap on their Lancer careers. New to the program is Grand County transfer Austin Paris, committed to Wyoming and a three-time state champion in 2A.

MatsScouts, a national aggregate for high school wrestling, ranked Layton 46th nationally in the preseason; The Lancers received a high of 29th by the same evaluators a year ago. The state tournament is one thing, but punching your ticket to the national picture is another.

Nationally-evaluated tournaments in Fresno, Reno and Fargo, North Dakota, represent the next step after Utah’s state championships in February.

“We want to go compete against the best guys in the nation,” Fager said. “Not even because we expect to win or we want to win; it’s because we know it’s going to prepare (them) to be the best leaders (they) can be. My purpose as a coach is to help everyone become their best potential self, and we have leaders on this team that I believe embody that.”

Last year, UVU freshman Gavin Rivera stacked his fourth state title as a Lancer inside his future home venue, the UCCU Center in Orem. He’d pass up two Big 10 offers, and another from Big 12 wrestling member North Dakota State, to stay home with the Wolverines.

Fellow graduates Logan Crowther, Cole Fenwick and Aiden Bastian all took up offers from Iowa Western following last year’s state title. This season, Fager plans on adding three or four more college commits to his current tally of five.

College wrestling is the next step for many of Fager’s products, which attracted the likes of Paris when gearing up for his senior year following his commitment to Wyoming.

“You can just see from going from one place to another how it’s truly different,” Paris said.

“Mentally, you can, but nerves-wise, you just can’t. When it really hit me, at least, was at the state after winning when you’re all piled up on top of each other. In Moab, for starters, the school is 400 kids. We hardly had a wrestling room. Coming up (to Layton), with how many kids are here, it definitely feels way bigger, and everything feels more intense.”

With seven individual titles in tow, Layton is after its seventh all-time team title this season and the fourth of Fager’s tenure as head coach. A fourth consecutive title would put the Lancers on track for seventh all-time (neighboring Weber is currently tied seven ways for sixth all-time with five).

But no number of titles ultimately shapes his wrestlers into men, Fager said. He’s advocating for their futures, which ultimately someday won’t include wrestling.

That message is echoed by his five signees, Hawes in particular.

“I don’t just value wrestling,” Hawes said. “I value school and my family, and I think that’s the important thing. Something I want to leave behind is just letting everyone know that wrestling – it was really important in life, but there are other values and other things you need. Wrestling’s really temporary, but it’s a very valuable thing you can have.”

The case for high school sports often includes an improvement in academics and general life skills, as cited in a June article published by the National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS.

While high school sports offer a range of opportunities, Bosh wouldn’t do anything else – with anyone else.

“You’re on for six minutes – you don’t just play and then stop – it’s the whole six minutes here in a fight,” Bosh said. “You have multiple fights throughout the day (and) you can’t rely on anyone else.”

Layton regular season schedule

*Indicates home event

Dec. 3… Pleasant Grove Dual*

Dec. 4… Bishop Gorman Dual*

Dec. 5-6… LIT*

Dec. 9… Wasatch Dual

Dec. 10… Westlake Dual

Dec. 11… Morgan Dual

Dec. 12-13…. Corner Canyon Cup

Dec. 16… Box Elder Dual

Dec. 19-20… Reno Tournament of Champions (Reno, California)

Dec. 19-20… Viewmont Invitational

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.