Austin Wright Paris, son of Wyland and Holly Wright, has been chosen as a finalist for Utah Elementary School Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling Utah. Paris is a fifth grader at HMK Elementary School.
Paris finished the 2017-18 wrestling season with a record of 226 wins and 17 losses with 38 championship titles.
Some of his major accomplishments this season include winning state titles in folkstyle, freestyle and greco, earning him the Utah Triple Crown for the second consecutive year.
He was the champion wrestler at the Beehive Brawl, Cosmic Clash, Western Regional Preseason Open, Monster Match Nationals, Grand Canyon Nationals, Who’s Bad National Classic, New Mexico National Showdown, Wild West National Championships, Rumble in Reno, Terminator World Championships, USA Western State Championships and the Ultimate Summer Series Championships.
He also won the Rocky Mountain Nationals in folkstyle and freestyle, and in doing so he earned himself the RMN Tri-State belt, RMN Triple Crown, RMN World belt and the prestigious RMN Ring Of Fame.
Paris was named “Outstanding Wrestler” at the Who’s Bad Nationals, New Mexico Showdown, Rumble in Reno and Terminator World Championships.
He had a great year wrestling for multiple dual teams. For Team Utah, he went 10-0 at the Aces duels in Idaho, and also went undefeated at the Heartland National duals in Iowa and in doing so, he earned All-American status. He also went undefeated at the Ultimate Summer Series duels in San Diego.
He also wrestles for a club with Colorado POWA. He went 9-1 at the Virginia National duals, where once again he earned All-American status. He also traveled with POWA to Wildwood, New Jersey, to participate in the Wildwood National duals where he went 7-3. He went undefeated at the Rocky Mountain National Duals in Denver for POWA.
For his champions dual team, he went undefeated at both the Legacy Junior High duals and the Christmas Clash Elementary duals.
Locally, he was able to bring home a state title from the 1A-4A Junior High State Championships for Red Devils wrestling.
Paris said it is a great honor to be selected as a finalist for the third year in a row.
After winning it last year, he knew that to win it again he had to put in the work. He hopes that his record, and all the championships that he won this last year, will speak for themselves. He also wants to thank all of the local residents who voted for him last year, for helping him to bring home last year’s Elementary School Wrestler of the Year award. He said that he loves to put Moab on the map for youth wrestling.
Paris would also like to thank those who nominated him this year, and his coaches, Craig Lamont, Jade Rauser, Adam Urenda, Jason Ramsdell and Beacham Bosh for making him work hard and teaching him many life lessons.
To vote for Paris to win Utah Elementary School Wrestler of the Year, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3QQ56DD to vote by the morning of Sept. 18. The link is also available on the Red Devil’s Wrestling Moab Facebook page: Devil’s Wrestling Moab.
Paris completes for Utah Elementary School Wrestler of the Year
