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Show A10 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 orts SP Covering what matters most Region Wrestling REGION CHAMPS: Kaleb Ashworth (right), Eric Kitchen (below) and Tom Clark (below right) all walked away from the Region 4 tournament as region champions. Maritza Allen / Spanish Fork News AIR TIME: Morgan Meservy jumps over a Carbon defender for the shot. SH buries Dinos Shaun Peterson STAFF WRITER The Skyhawks got out to a hot start Wednesday, Feb. 4 as they led Carbon 13-5 after one, thanks to big man Riley Hanks, who had six points in the first. Hanks kept it going in the second too, along with some great passingfromhis teammates, and Salem was able to break the Carbon press and get some easy buckets. With just over four minutes left in thefirsthah0, Hanks made back-to-back lay-ups to give Salem a double-digit lead, 23-12. Carbon fought back hard to end the half and narrowed the Skyhawks' lead, 27-20. London Simonsen, who had been quiet in the first half, came out strong for Salem's first possession of the second half and canned a three-ball to give his team momentum and restore their double digit lead. With Salem up 34-20 early in the third, Carbon came back as the Dinos went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to five. Salem was able to hold off the run with a slim 41-35 lead heading into the final period. In the fourth the Skyhawks got early buckets from Dustin Belliston and Riley Hanks, but Carbon came back, proving they weren't going to make it easy for the Skyhawks. The Dinos stayed within striking distance throughout the fourth, and with just 30 seconds remaining Carbon drained a threepoint bucket to cut Salem Hills' lead to five. The Dinos were then forced to foul, sending Salem guard Seth Muhlstein to the line. The second free throw hit the front of the iron and that's when Riley Hanks made another great play as he got the offensive rebound, forcing the Dinos to foul again. Senior Gus Dewey hit one of two free throws, ending Cardon's last-ditch effort. Riley Hanks had an impressive night with 22 points, 12 boards and seven blocks. Gus Dewey had a great night coming off the bench as he was in double figures with 11. Lady Eagles Samantha Beck / Spanish Fork News BATTLE OF THE EAGLES: The Lady Eagles of ALA welcomed the Lady Eagles of Layton Christian Academy Wednesday, Feb. 4. ALA jumped out to an early lead, and by ha I ft I me led LCA 19-8. But the visiting LCA Eagles came back to tie it up 2 2 - 2 2 In the third and end the quarter with a 2 6 - 2 2 lead. The fourth quarter was a fight to the finish, but ALA pulled out the victory, 37-35. Above, Sydney Whitworth sends a pass around her LCA defender. Barry Dalton / Spanish Fork News Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News Spanish Fork places second in Region 4 Namon Bills EDITOR In the finals, Mitch Kay at 103 lbs., Travin Gardiner at 119 and Matt Anderson at 125 all faced Pleasant Grove After a full day of wrestling Friday, opponents. Kay and Anderson were Feb. 6 at the Region 4 tournament, pinned, while Gardiner lost by decithe finals looked a lot like a dual meet sion, 8-5. between Spanish Fork and Pleasant Kaleb Ashworth got some momenGrove. Five of the final matches pitted tum going for the Dons, defeating wrestlers from the two schools against American Fork's Andy Kitchen at 135 each other. The tale of two cities ended lbs. Along with Spanish Fork's James with better times for PG, as the Vikings Biesinger, Gentry Houghton and Luke took the region crown with 257.5 points Olson, Ashworth was named Academto the Dons' 202.5 second-place finish. ic All Region. The junior showed his Spanish Fork put nine wrestlers in the smarts on the mat, going for points at final round, with Kaleb Ashworth, Tom every occasion, and won the match by Clark and Eric Kitchen finishing as re- major decision, 11-1. gion champions. At 140 lbs., two Spanish Fork wresA number of Don wrestlers breezed tlers, Tom Clark and Taylor Edwards, through the first round with quick met in the finals. Clark faced a similar pins. Spanish Fork finished the round situation last year when he lost the rein third place, but only 1.5 points be- gion title to teammate Hadley Thorpe. hind PG. SF took the lead in the sec- This year he seemed to have something ond round, finishing 3.5 points ahead to prove as he dominated the match against Edwards, winning 8-3. of the Vikings. Thorpe also made it to the finals at 152 lbs., and faced PG's Alex Nicholes. Thorpe battled for almost three full rounds before he was pinned with less than a minute remaining. At 171 lbs., Dan Gillie faced Lone Peak's Zane Mendenhall, named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler in the upper weights. Mendenhall lost region and state titles to Spanish Fork's Kyle Weight last year, and he wrestled the entire tournament like a man on a mission. He went into the final round with intensity and managed to pin Gillie in the first round. In Spanish Fork's last match of the evening, Eric Kitchen faced PG's Parker Dawe at 215 lbs. Both grapplers struggled to establish dominance, and Kitchen called for injury time after the second round. His ability to return to See WRESTLING • A8 Salem Hills sends nine wrestlers to state Namon Bills EDITOR The Salem Hills wrestlers traveled to Juan Diego High School Feb. 6-7 for the "super region" wrestling tournament for 3A schools from Regions 8 and 9. Although Salem didn't land any grapplers in championship bouts, the team had three third placefinishersin Chase Wilson, Alex Gibb and Phillip Sorensen. At 103 lbs., two Skyhawks, Chase Wilson and Spencer Davis, squared off at the top of the consolation bracket It was a close match, with both wrestlers trading control throughout. Wilson asked for injury time during the match, but managed to come back and win. Both wrestlers qualified for state. Craig Findlay took on Delta's Kody Smith for third place at 119 lbs. Findlay had lost in the second round, but fought his way back with falls in three straight rounds to face Smith. But the Rabbit dominated this match, winning by major decision, 11-1. At 135 lbs., Jacob Bracken faced Juan Diego's Anthony Martell for third. Martell gained the upper hand early, and Bracken fought to make up the deficit, but fell short, losing Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News TIGHT SPOT: Salem's Alex Gibb didn't spend much time in this position, defeating Carbon's Cole Hunter 13-3. 12-7. At 140 lbs., Salem's Alex Gibb faced off against Carbon's Cole Hunter for third place. Gibb took control from the outset and dominated his opponent to take the 13-3 win by major decision. Phillip Sorensen, the last Skyhawk wrestler to compete for third place, took on Juan Diego's Jake Doughty at 189 lbs. With coaching help in the corner from his brother and former SFHS wrestling standout, Dave Sorensen, the Skyhawk manhandled his opponent, taking an 11-3 major deci- sion victory. Salem Head Coach TJ Brindley said there were some tough losses in the semifinals, which prevented the three third-place finishers from competing in the finals, but he gave his wrestlers credit for continuing to fight for third. "We lost three heartbreakers in the semi-finals. ... Those three losses were very hard for me to take — we were so close to winning all three of those matches," Brindley said. "To these three wrestlers' credit they all came back, shook off the loss and con- tinued to wrestle well and take third place. Sometimes after a tough loss wrestlers will feel bad and not come to wrestle the next match, but these guys showed a lot of guts and wrestled well." Salem qualified nine wrestlers for state: Chase Wilson 3rd place, Alex Gibb 3rd place, Phillip Sorensen 3rd place, Spencer Davis 4th place, Craig Findlay 4th place, Jacob Bracken 4th place, Mckayd Gordon 7th place, Derek Mangelson 7th place and Json Mcdaniel 8th place. The state 3A wrestling tournament will be held at UVU, Feb. 12-14. |