OREM — Brady Lowry of Canyon View, Liam Williams of Desert Hills and Desmond Wise of Snow Canyon are among the 14 athletes ranked No. 1 at their weights heading into this weekend’s Class 3A state wrestling tournament.
Competition at Utah Valley University’s UCCU Center in Orem on Friday and Saturday. State championship finals will begin on Saturday about 5 p.m.
“Region 9 is a battle all season,” said coach Luke Payne of league champion Cedar City. “Hopefully we can go up and represent Southern Utah well. I hope we peak at the state tournament.”
Several teams head to state with at least one wrestler in each weight. Desert Hills heads to Orem with the most at 17. Cedar City has 16; Southern Divisional champion Juab has 15 while Canyon View and Snow Canyon have 13 each.
The rankings of the members of the Utah Wrestling Coaches Association have no bearing on the tournament itself but provide a benchmark. Only one wrestler per team can score at each individual weight. Lowry is considered the favorite at 120 pounds with Williams No. 1 at 152 and Wise the top pick at 285 pounds.
What is more important than the rankings is the seeding each wrestler earned at last weekend’s divisional tournament. Cedar heads to state with four divisional No. 1 seeds, including Quaid Murray at 170, McCrae Murray at 195, Nathan Ellis at 220 and Koalman Kimber at 285.
“Our four No. 1 seeds have set themselves well for state,” Payne said. “Overall our Southern Division kids are good wrestlers.”
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