The Sky View men’s wrestling team finished fourth out of six teams this weekend in the Region 5 Tournament held at Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum. In a tournament that came down to the wire for the top few teams, the winner was decided in the final championship round.

The Box Elder Bees went into the finals with a very small lead with the Mountain Crest Mustangs chomping at the bit just slightly behind. It looked like Mountain Crest would have a chance to pull ahead having sent 4 more wrestlers to the final championship round than the Bees were able to qualify. Mountain Crest’s thirteen finalists battled valiantly but were unable to overcome the depth and skill of the Box Elder grapplers as the nine competing Bees registered victories in seven matches to finish on top.

Valley teams represented Region 5 well making up three of the top four spots. Mountain Crest, Logan, and Sky View finished second, third, and fourth respectively this weekend. Logan sent four wrestlers to the championship round, while Sky View sent one, Brayden Anderson at the 145 pound weight class.

For Sky View’s Brayden Anderson the last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions as he has experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in down-to-the-wire matches. Anderson is the defending state champion at the 145 pound weight class, and as such has had a huge target on his back throughout this season. He started the year with a loss in the championship round at the tournament in Wyoming to which the Bobcats make an annual trip. Following that tournament he rebounded and was enjoying an undefeated season from that point forward, including an undefeated Bobcat Brawl.

Then Anderson was invited to compete in the Utah High School All-Star duels where he was matched up against “Preece Super Ranking’s” top Utah 145 pound prep wrestler, Jacob Falk, from West Jordan. The two highly competitive and evenly matched wrestlers were all tied up at 1 point a piece as the clock ticked down to the final seconds of regulation, and it looked like the match would head into overtime. However, the referee who had warned each wrestler about stalling, blew his whistle and awarded Falk a point for an alleged stalling violation against Anderson, with literally one second left on the clock. The controversial call gave Falk the last second victory with a 2-1 final score.

Anderson would redeem that loss less than a week later at the Richardson Memorial tournament held each year at Box Elder High School. Matched up against Falk in the finals the competatively matched wrestlers faced off in a contest that went to double over time. Forced to maintain control from the top position Anderson was able to hang on to a single leg hold that kept Falk from escaping, and sealed the victory for Anderson.

Anderson then went on to score the only victory in a duel at Sky View against powerhouse wrestlers from Box Elder. Anderson registered another last second victory over the Bees 145 wrestler, Nick Sorenson, when a last second point sealed the win at 3-2.

Matched up against Sorensen in the final championship round in the regional tournament this weekend Anderson came up short in a 5-0 match that Anderson struggled to gain control of his opponent. The loss placed Anderson in second place at the tournament.

Anderson will have an opportunity for redemption once again this weekend when the team heads to the Sectional Tournament to decide who will go to the State Championship Tournament.

Mountain Crest will send twenty five wrestlers to the divisional tournament that will be held at Box Elder High School this weekend. The Sky View and Logan High teams will each send nineteen wrestlers to the tournament.

Those who placed in the regional tournament for Sky View and that will be wrestling for the Bobcats this weekend will be:

Sky View Wrestlers

• 103 lbs. – Skyler Jones – 5th
• 112 lbs. – Anthony Munoz – 7th
• 125 lbs. – Hayden Humphreys – 7th; TJ Thacker – 8th
• 130 lbs. – Taylor Redd – 6th
• 135 lbs. – Brandon Burger – 6th; Dalton Childs – 8th
• 140 lbs. – Abraham Herrera – 4th
• 145 lbs. – Brayden Anderson – 2nd; Tyson Holden – 6th
• 152 lbs. – Graham Parkinson – 7th
• 160 lbs. – Josh Jones – 6th
• 171 lbs. – Tanner Stephenson – 6th; Joe Humphreys – 7th
• 189 lbs. – Chet Anderson – 3rd; Thomas Lundquist – 7th
• 215 lbs. – Klay Kelsey – 5th; Seth Degraffenreid – 7th
• 285 lbs. – Jaren Balls – 5th; Caleb Hull – 8th

The northern divisional qualifying tournament (Sectionals) will be held this weekend at Box Elder High School, followed by the State Championship Tournament that will be held the UCCU Center, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah. The 4A and 5A matches will take place on February 9th and 10th.