Monticello High School wrestling team wins Moab Invitational for the fourth straight year

The Monticello Buckaroo wrestlers kicked off their new season in grand fashion December 6-7, bringing home the championship trophy from the Moab Invitational for the fourth year in a row.  

The team earned 345.5 points on their way to the title, out-pacing second place Carbon by just 5.5 points and Gunnison, who finished a distant third at 296 points. The tournament had 14 teams attending.

Fifteen wrestlers competed for the Buckaroos in two divisions at the tournament. As a team, the MHS earned 103 wins on the weekend, winning 76 percent of their matches.  

The team earned 56 of their wins by fall and three technical falls. The Buckaroos look strong to start the season despite having a smaller team with a large number of underclassmen. 

Leading the way for the Buckaroos with a first place finish in the A division was senior Zach Cecil. Also finishing first for the Buckaroos in the A division were Josh Wheeler and Paxton Christensen. 

Cecil was 8-0 on the weekend with six falls and a technical fall. Wheeler was 6-0 with four falls and a technical fall, and Christensen was a perfect 7-0 with all wins by fall. 

Earning strong second-place finishes in the A division were Brevin Olson, Robert Musselman, Tuff Adair, and Dillon Slack. 

Olson was 7-1 with five falls and a technical fall. Musselman finished 5-1 with all five wins by fall. Adair had four wins by fall and finished 5-1 on the weekend. Slack was 5-2 with all wins by fall 

Eldean Lammert finished with a fourth place medal with five wins, followed by Tyler Thayn in fifth with two wins, Logan Draper with a win, and Oakley Adams in sixth with a win. 

Cameron Bailey rounded out the Buckaroos in the A division with an eighth place finish and a win. 

In the B division, Shane Lewis and Javlin Robison each earned first place medals and JD Keyes finished with a fourth place medal. Lewis earned five wins by fall and was 5-1. Robison was a perfect 8-0 with all wins by fall.

Paxton Christensen and Javlin Robison led their divisions with the most falls in the least amount of time. Each earned eight falls on the weekend.  

Others at the top of the stats lists were Robert Musselman second place for fastest fall with an eight-second pin and Tuff Adair in eighth with a 15-second pin.  

Josh Wheeler and Brevin Olson were one and two for fastest technical fall and Zach Cecil grabbed ninth in the same category. 

The Buckaroos will travel to Nephi, UT for the Juab Tournament this Friday and Saturday, December 13-14.

Wrestling fans should mark their calendars for next Wednesday, December 18, when the Bucks host Cortez High School at 7 p.m.

It’s the only home dual before the holiday break.