OREM – Zayden Rowley of Desert Hills and James Wilson of Cedar City were among those who advanced to the state Class 3A wrestling semifinals on Friday. Both boys won two matches to move two steps closer to their goal of a state championship.
Wilson won his 145-pound match 6-3 over Snow Canyon’s Weston Jeppson in the championship quarterfinals. Rowley won his 126-pound match 13-9 over Lance Gustafson of Stansbury.
“I pushed myself, set my goals and every day at practice I worked hard,” Rowley, a freshman, said of the steps he has taken to reach the semifinals at Utah Valley University.
“That was the fourth time I’ve wrestled that kid,” Wilson said of his win over Jeppson. “I’ve beaten him but it has been close every time.”
Southern Utah wrestlers advanced to the championship semifinals in all but one of the 14 weight classes. Others who advanced to the championship semifinals include R. Ball of Canyon View and Randall Donn of Pine View at 113, Brady Lowry of Canyon View and Kaden Hafen of Snow Canyon at 120, Chance Bundy of Desert Hills at 132, Hobbs Nyberg of Dixie at 138, Tanner Terry of Desert Hills at 145, Brady Jones and Liam Williams, both of Desert Hills, at 152, Eric Gourde of Canyon View at 160; Quaid Murray of Cedar City at 170; Cutler Thomas of Dixie and Tanner Nelson of Snow Canyon at 182; McCrae Murray of Cedar City at 195; Nate Ellis of Cedar City at 220 and Koalman Kimber of Cedar City and Bundy Sewell of Desert Hills at 285.
Bear River leads the team race with 110 points. Juab is second at 95 with Cedar City third with 72. Morgan has 69 and Desert Hills has 67.5 to round out the top five.
The semifinals and finals are Saturday at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University.
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