Layton celebrates its 6A wrestling championship win at UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2023. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
OREM — Raising his arms triumphantly after a victory in the 144-pound championship match, Layton wrestler Ryker Brann felt jubilant.
Not only did the senior finish off his high school career with an individual state title, but his championship helped the Lancers roll to their first Class 6A boys wrestling state title in six years.
Brann defeated Copper Hills' Zachary Nope 15-6 and Layton snapped Pleasant Grove's five-year win streak with 272.5 points Thursday night in the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University.
"It's even more than just my individual title. Having the team work and bond to get here feels really good," said Brann, who improved to 35-7 on the year. "We've all worked so hard in the room. We've been friends since we were 7 years old, and it means a lot to take state in a dominant fashion this year."
The Lancers sent five wrestlers to the finals, including titles by Brann and a second by sophomore Geronimo Rivera at 120 pounds.
That was more than enough to lead Layton its first team title since winning the 5A championship in 2017, the last team not named Pleasant Grove to win Utah's largest classification..
Pleasant Grove got state titles from Jacob Carson (126), Bradlee Farrer (150) and Trevyn Gates (215) to finish second with 178 points. Westlake (153) finished third, followed by Corner Canyon (149) and Mountain Ridge (129).
The Lancers almost snapped the Vikings' streak a year ago before Pleasant Grove pulled away for a 216.5 to 207-point victory. But as soon as Layton's wrestlers were back home, they went back to work to finish the job.
"We came back after last year's state tournament, and worked twice as hard," Brann said. "We wanted it this year. We knew we had the ability to do it, and we trained hard to do it."
In the 6A girls tournament, Celeste Detoles (135), Emmy Finlinson (145) and undefeated Lizzie Raleigh (155) each won a third-straight individual championship to help Westlake cruise to a 3-peat team title.
Ashley Cannon (125) and Keilikki Nau Rarick (235) added a second-straight for the Thunder, who rolled to 289 points with another title from Hailey Pigg (140).
"Westlake's built an incredible girls team, and we've been working really hard," Detoles said. "It's really nice to get here. It feels like we're in a really strong room every day."
Copper Hills finished second with 175.5 points, followed by Syracuse (167), Corner Canyon (162) and Mountain Ridge (119).
UCCU Center, Orem
Layton 272.5, Pleasant Grove 178, Westlake 153, Corner Canyon 149, Mountain Ridge 129, Syracuse 113.5, Lone Peak 107, Fremont 102.5, American Fork 77.5, Herriman 72, Weber 45, Farmington 41, Bingham 37, Hunter 36, Roy 36, Riverton 32.5, Copper Hills 31, Granger 31, davis 29, Kearns 27, Cyprus 25.5, Skyridge 25.5, West 9, West Jordan 7, Clearfield 3.
106 — Hanks Jacobson, American Fork, d. Kaleb Blackner, Roy, 17-4.
113 — Mason Carlson, Syracuse, p. Lander Bosh, Mountain Ridge, 2:38.
120 — Geronimo Rivera, Layton, d. Korbin Chuchran, Westlake, 9-3.
126 — Jacob Carson, Pleasant Grove, p. Jason Worthley, Fremont, 5:37.
132 — Kyison Garcia, Mountain Ridge, d. Logan Crowther, Layton, 8-4.
138 — Tege Kelley, American Fork, d. Josh Fish, Westlake, 3-0.
144 — Ryker Brann, Layton, d. Zachary Nope, Copper Hills, 15-6.
150 — Bradlee Farrer, Pleasant Grove, p. Brayden Robison, Westlake, 1:46.
157 — Logan Hancey, Fremont, d. Banks Love, Bingham, 9-7 (OT).
165 — Tanner Giatras, Weber, d. Kaden Bennie, Layton, 5-3.
175 — Carson Gundy, Herriman, d. Leimana Fager, Corner Canyon, 13-10.
190 — Kael Bennie, Layton, d. Cayaen Smith, Lone Peak, 5-1.
215 — Trevyn Gates, Pleasant Grove, d. Mahkyi Smith, Lone Peak, 3-2.
285 — Cooper Mumford, Lone Peak, d. Martin Lake, Granger, 5-0.
Westlake 289, Copper Hills 175.5, Syracuse 167, Corner Canyon 162, Mountain Ridge 119, Layton 107, Riverton 100, Cyprus 96, Davis 92, Taylorsville 83, Weber 72, Herriman 64, Granger 52, Pleasant Grove 49, West 48, Hunter 44, Farmington 41, Skyridge 41, Fremont 32, Clearfield 30, West Jordan 25, Kearns 23, Roy 7, Bingham 3.
100 — Kristina Kent, Davis, p. Payton Gines, Syracuse, 3:23.
105 — Emily Ball, Syracuse, p. Mina Trinh, Riverton, 3:42.
110 — Madelyn Nielsen, West, d. Marlie Rigby, Layton, 5-4.
115 — Aleena Navarrete, Weber, p. Bella Butterfield, Riverton, 1:57.
120 — Brooklyn Pace, Copper Hills, p. Erin Fuller, Layton, 1:17.
125 — Ashley Cannon, Westlake, d. Kimberly Chaparro, Granger, 15-0.
130 — Daeja Sundquist, Syracuse, p. Madison Sherman, Skyridge, 5:08.
135 — Celeste Detoles, Westlake, p. Alejandra Martinez, Davis, 3:24.
140 — Hailey Pigg, Westlake, d. Chloe Shumway, Westlake, 4-0.
145 — Emmy Finlinson, Westlake, d. Isabella Morgan, Corner Canyon, 7-2.
155 — Lizzie Raleigh, Westlake, p. Ashlyn Packer, Syracuse, 3:35.
170 — Anya Hatch, Copper Hills, d. Clarion Fager, Corner Canyon, 9-8.
190 — Cheyenne Ruiz, Taylorsville, p. Rachel Johnson, Riverton, 1:40.
235 — Keilikki Nau Rarick, Westlake, d. vs. Elena Kamai, West, 11-5.
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Sean Walker
A proud graduate of Syracuse University, Sean Walker has covered BYU for KSL.com since 2015, while also mixing in prep sports, education, and anything else his editors assign him to do.
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