Senior Kayden Robertson and sophomore Carson Whitney are division champions, both having taken first in their weight classes at the 3A Divisionals, which took place on Friday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 3, in Richfield.
Robertson went 4-0 at 138 pounds, pinning his first three opponents before winning the division title match by majority decision of Carbon’s Bradley Judd.
“Kayden did really good,” Grand wrestling coach Dennis Wells said, noting that this win was more decisive than a win Robertson got over Judd earlier in the season.
Whitney also went 4-0, beating American Leadership Academy’s Sage Mortimer, a girl, in the final.
“I told him he had to take the crowd out of the match, not give them anything to cheer about, because the crowd wanted the girl to win,” Wells said. “He had to treat her the same as if she were a boy.”
Wells said both Robertson and Whitney will contend for state championships this weekend.
Senior Gage Hansen placed fourth in the heavyweight division, going 2-2. Wells said that Hansen had the upper hand in both matches he lost, before making one mistake in each match to cost himself victories.
The Red Devils qualified four additional wrestlers for the state tournament, giving them seven total. Andrew Miller also took fourth at 195 pounds, going 1-2; Malachi Ricks took fifth at 113 pounds, going 2-2; Trea Meyer took fifth at 182 pounds, going 3-2; and Jimmie Johnson took eighth at 120 pounds, going 1-3. Grand scored 167 points despite filling only seven out of 14 weight classes, taking seventh out of eight teams.
The UHSAA Utah State 3A Wrestling Championship tournament is scheduled to take place on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, at Utah Valley University in Orem.
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