Although practice just started on Nov. 5, there is a lot of excitement leading up to the wrestling season for the Emery Spartans. Head coach Kirk Christiansen is grateful for his dedicated coaching staff and they all have high expectations for the team due to last year’s state results.
Based on Emery’s returning players, the team is ranked third in state. A few of these returners are Devin Kelly, Aiden Mortensen and Jared Allen, the last of which qualified for state last year as a freshman.
Coach Christiansen is also expecting some newcomers to come in and make an immediate impact. Bryon, Jess and Sid Christiansen are all incoming freshman that were the junior high state champion, reserve state champion and state placer, respectively.
Each weight class has not yet been determined. The biggest question mark coming into the year will be who will wrestle in the upper weight divisions. As far as the lower division, coach Christiansen is not concerned.
“Up to 170 pounds, my boys can wrestle,” he said.
A new rule this year will benefit the Spartans is that teams are no longer limited to two participants in each weight class at state; whomever qualifies can go. This will be huge for Emery as they are “stacked in the 106 weight class,” according to Christiansen.
The Spartans expect Union and Carbon to be tough in region competition, and Morgan and Delta are expected to be stiff competition in state. Coach Christiansen is excited for the challenge.
“We have a big shot at region and high placements at state,” he said.
A complete schedule of all matches is available at https://www2.etvnews.com/events-calendar/.