Bucks claim first wrestling trophy in 22 years

by Anna Thayn

It was an exciting night for Monticello Buckaroo wrestling on February 16 at the 2008 Utah State Wrestling Championships. Elusive trophy’s were won, traditions continued, champions were crowned, underdogs claimed victory, and history was made.

Coming into the tournament as a huge underdog, expected to place no higher than fourth, the Buckaroos showed their mettle and brought home a silver trophy. It was the first team trophy the Bucks have earned at the State Tournament in 22 years.

Nine Buckaroo wrestlers walked in the Parade of Champions this year, representing the most medals won by a Buckaroo team since before the move to the 2A ranks in the 1990’s.

Two Buckaroos ended the year standing atop the podium as state champions; freshman Colton Musselman and senior Aaron Butler, one standing at the beginning of his high school career and the other at the finale.

At the end of the day, Aaron Butler made history for Monticello High School by marching through his opponents to a fourth state championship.

Butler is the first Buckaroo to win four state titles, and only the 17th in Utah Wrestling history. Butler also continued what has become a Buckaroo tradition, earning an award for Outstanding Tournament Wrestler.

His is the seventh time a Buckaroo has brought home the award in the past eight years. Butler has won the prestigous honor twice, having received it in 2007 as well.

Butler made it look easy, winning by fall in each of the early rounds. In the finals, the pressure was on as Butler was the center of attention in the arena. He earned a quick takedown and let his opponent up, setting the tone just the way he likes it..

Butler continued to take his opponent down and show his dominance throughout the first period, In the second he earned an escape, but his opponent kept him from scoring again.

Going into the third, Butler was leading 7-2, and he quickly turned his opponent putting three near fall points on the board before letting him up and taking him down a final time. Butler finished his final match in Buckaroo orange and black with a pin in the final period.

Colton Musselman dominated his weight class, earning pins in each of the first two rounds to earn his spot in the finals.

Musselman faced teammate Ricky Wilcox in the championship match for the second week in a row. Both Buckaroos battled hard, with Musselman earning the early lead, and maintaining it throughout the match.

Wilcox fought hard, scoring several times, but wasn’t able to put enough points on the board to counter the quick moves of Musselman, who earned the win by fall with just :08 left in the match.

Musselman is the only freshman to win a state title in any classification in 2008, setting himself up as the only member of the Class of 2011 with a chance at four championship titles.

On his way to the finals, Wilcox won in a nailbitter, 7-6 in the first round, before he dashed the hopes of a returning state champion from Rich, defeating him in an exciting and hard fought battle, 4-2, and earning a spot in the finals.

Senior Trevor St. Clair brought home a well deserved second place medal from the tournament. St. Clair was strong in the early rounds, winning by fall in both early matches, including an upset against the second ranked wrestler in the weight.

In the finals, St. Clair got behind early, but worked hard to overcome his deficit in the final two periods. Unfortunately, a bad roll put him further behind and he was uanble to overcome the point spread despite his best efforts and lost match 9-6.

Jesse Barton came out strong for the Bucks, also earning a second place medal for his trophy case. Barton earned dominating wins by fall in each of the first two rounds.

In the finals, he faced a returning State Champion. Barton came out strong, going right to work and looking to score, but his opponent got the takedown, and Barton could not fight off the bottom, losing the match by fall.

David Boyle, Quanah Lee, Chase Randall and Rhett Adair each earned well deserved third place honors.

Boyle put up a big 9-2 win in the first round before a loss put him in the consolation bracket, where he battled back with an 8-1 win.

In the consolation final, Boyle had the crowd on the edge of their seats in an exciting 1-1 battle that went to overtime where he got the takedown and the win.

Lee earned a fall in the first round before a second round loss sent him to the consolation rounds. He came back to put a 10-2 win on the board in the do-or-die round.

In the final, Lee fell behind by one when his opponent escaped early in the second round, but Lee took him down to his back and earned the pin with only one second left in the period for the win.

Randall came back strong after a first round loss, and won by fall in each of the next two rounds to earn a spot in the consolation finals. Randall scored first, and despite not being able to turn his opponent, controlled the match on his way to a 7-1 win.

Adair won by fall in the first and third rounds to earn his spot in the consolation finals. With no score in the first period, Adair got behind early in the second when his opponent reversed him, but Adair fought back, getting the escape and the takedown before the period was over.

In the final round, Rhett reversed from the bottom, put his man on his back quickly and earned a fall for the win.

Buckaroos earning one win at the tournament are CJ Cordasco and Jeremy Grisham who each earned a win by fall, and James Musselman, who defeated teammate Nolan Black in a close 7-2 match.

Also wrestling for the Bucks were Jacob Regalado, Nolan Black, Kevin Anderson, Adam Mitchell, Tyrel Shupe and Ronald Robinson.