The Carbon wrestling team competed against seven other teams this past weekend, honoring Dave Smith. Coach Smith was named coach of the year in 10 different seasons and coached three state championship teams. He was inducted into the Utah Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Smith coached 54 individual state champions as well as 11 All-Americans.
From a recent article, Matthew Landvatter summed up Dave Smith’s legacy. “Dave was a giant of a man, a pillar of strength and a great example of hard work, dedication and love for so many of us. He touched so many lives with his kindness and caring nature and he left a mark on this world that will never be forgotten and can never be erased.”
Carbon entered two teams in the tournament, 26 athletes total, both placing fourth and fifth, respectively. San Juan’s team was the top performer of the weekend while Orem took the second spot, followed by Monticello.
The Dinos had many duels throughout the weekend, starting with the Carbon 2 squad facing Cedar Valley. Cedar Valley would get the win, 50-27. Trevor Jones, Brax Tapia, Jack Vigor, Jace Barlow and JJ Ruden would all receive wins in the duel.
Next up was Monticello. The Dinos kept it competitive, but fell short with a 45-30 loss. Tapia, Barlow and Ruden would all get their second wins while Kaden Donathan and Daxtyn Mower would grab some wins as well.
The Dinos snagged their first duel win against Juan Diego, winning 42-31. Tapia, Barlow and Ruden would receive their third straight wins. Mower, Donathan and Vigor received their second wins, with Gage Lefler getting a win as well.
Carbon made easy work of American Fork, getting a big margin win, 54-18. Alex Urrutia and Andrew Kifer would get their first win while Jones, Tapia, Vigor, Barlow, Donathan and Ruden would all add to their win totals.
Carbon’s other team would have three duels for the weekend. Their first was against American Fork, who only had two wins against Carbon. Kaden Winterton, Ben Simms, K’ysin Lopez, Curtis Allen, Preston Martinez, Jeovany Hernandez, Eleke Lang, Gavin Fausett, Vaylan Unsworth and Jared Simmons would all get wins in the duel.
Next up was Cedar Valley, who would turn the tables on Carbon with the victory of 59-19. Ashdyn Densley earned his first victory while Lopez, Martinez and Lang also got wins over their opponents.
Carbon then faced Orem in its most exciting duel of the day, tying the Dinos 42-42. The tie breaker, which is based on which team has the most near falls, went to Orem in the tough battle. Densley, Simms, Martinez, Hernandez, Fausett and Unsworth would get some more wins. Jeff Pugliese received his first win of the weekend.
Lastly, the Carbon teams faced off against one another. Carbon would end up besting Carbon 2 in a competitive battle, 42-33. Densley, Lefler, Jones, Lopez, Allen, Urrutia, Tapia, Martinez, Barlow, Lang, Fausett, Mower and Simmons would all win their respective bouts.
Barlow and Tapia ended the tournament with an impressive eight pins each. Martinez wasn’t far behind with six pins while Donathan, Urrutia and Ruden all had solid performances with five pins each. Vigor, Fausett, Hernandez and Simmons had four pins on the weekend. Lang and Allen had three each as well.
Next up, the Dinos will attend the Viewmont Invitational this weekend for another packed weekend of wrestling.
