Week 3 Wrap-up

 Andrew Bartholomew Champion @ 132 pounds

 All Varsity Team placers form L-R
Cameron Hunsker 1st 106
Andrew Bartholomew 1st 132
Jackson Wilson 2nd 126
Morgan Palmer 6th 145
Tanner Durfee 7th 160

 Cameron Hunsaker Champion @ 106

 All placers both Varsity and JV minus two wrestlers.

JV and Extras showing their medals and JV Absolute Champions plaque.

Wow what a great week of wrestling. We started the week off with the first annual dual against Spanish Fork @ the Battle of the Forks. We had a great showing against a team with multiple state placers and even a 2X Returning State Champ. We wrestled tough and provided some good entertainment. Cannot wait for this dual again next year.

We then wrestled against another tough team in Herriman. We again wrestled tough, lost a few that we should win next go around, and won a few that were close. Both Herriman and SF are great teams with great wrestling traditions. It is teams like this that we continue to strive to become.

The culminating event of the week came at the Viewmont Invitational Wrestling Tournament (VIT). Wow what a great showing we had there. With perennial powers like Viewmont, Delta, Millard, Payson, and many others, we represented ourselves well. The coaches decided that we wanted to only enter 6 of the 12 Varsity wrestlers in the Varsity competition. 5 of the 6 placed in the top 7. As a Varsity team we tied for 7th place with Millard, whom is a powerhouse wrestling school. We had the best showing at the Viewmont invite that I have ever seen AF have. We were led by 5 of our team captains placing in the tournament.

At 106 pounds Cameron Hunsaker had the best tournament of his AF folkstyle career. He had tough matches in the quarters, semis, and finals; ultimately winning the gold. He wrestled with great mat sense and also utilized the clock to his advantage. He showed all in attendance why he deserved to be crowned Champion.

At 126 pounds Jackson Wilsons semi-finals match allowed him to avenged a loss from the first week of the season. He dominated the Olympus High standout from beginning to end. Then in the finals Jackson lost a tough battle to the a Delta High standout. Cannot wait until later in the season when we can wrestle him again.

At 132 pounds senior Andrew Bartholomew also had a dominating performance. He wrestled great and advanced to the finals against an opponent from Payson whom we lost to the 2nd week of the season. Andrew showed great poise as he wrestled very confident and smart. In the end Andrew was also crowned Champion.

2 others wrestlers placed in the top 7. They were Morgan Palmer at 145 pounds placing 6th and Tanner Durfee at 160 pounds placing 7th. They both had some great close matches and in the end were able to win enough times to place at this prestigious event.

As for the JV tournament we wrestled very tough. We had some great matches and in some cases even had to wrestle our own teammates. Over all the official team scores showed our JV team in 5th place. Great job guys. We had one champion in TJ Larsen whom defeated AF's own Kalin Godwin in a hard fought battle for 1st and 2nd. Freshman Tony Brady @ 113 pounds had a great showing and ended up placing 5th. Tayler Durfee also wrestled well as a freshman and placed 3rd. Senior Craig Johnson at 132 pounds placed 3rd as well. Again and 152 pounds Junior TJ Larsen took 1st and Senior Kalin Godwin placed 2nd. At 160 pounds Senior Austin Bradford placed 3rd. At 195 pounds we also place tow wrestlers. Seniors Dallin Slade and Riley Smith placed 3rd and 4th respectively.

The VIT staff also tallied up all points for all JV and Extra wrestlers entered per team. They gave one team champion award for the team with the most overall points scored thought-out the two day event. The AF JV and Extras were crowned the first ever JV Absolute Champions. Great job to all of our wrestlers. Now it is time for some R&R (but not to much as the season is only half over).

Please be safe for the Holiday break, and plan some time to workout each day until practice resumes on Friday morning at 7am. Lets not let the holiday break set us back on finishing strong for the end of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for all the support you have been.  Also visit Shaegoodwin.com for videos and pictures previous events. Please remember to order FAN GEAR ASAP. We extended the time due to multiple requests. Show your team support by ordering your fan gear for family, friends, and anyone whom may wear it.

The following was written by Kolter Atkinson, a student at AFHS:

The wrestling team at American Fork High School, home of the Cavemen, just opened their 2013-2014 season on Thursday against the Lehi Pioneers. As the matches drew near the you could feel the tension rising in the room as they all got ready to show what they were made of and hopefully leave with a victory. Some of the cavemen were able to do just that.

The night started with the Junior Varsity and Exhibition matches and they did not disappoint. The first win of the night for the Cavemen came from Craig Johnson, a senior in his third season of wrestling, in a match that was full of action in a power struggle. Craig was able to dig deep and find a way to pin his opponent with only one second left in the first period. Craig also went on to win his second match of the night 11-0. Other great matches from the Cavemen JV came from Dalton Nelson, TJ Larsen, and Alex Strasburg. All three were able to assert their dominance because of all of the hard work that they have put into the sport. Dalton, a junior, was able to show off his takedown skills as he to won his match 20-9. TJ and Alex, both juniors, were able to demonstrate how hard they’ve worked over the offseason and both walked away from the night victorious. TJ, Dalton, and Craig were all able to walk away from the night with a 2-0 record and a smile on their face.

Varsity also had its highlights such as sophomore Cameron Hunsaker bringing the Varsity team it’s first win of the season at the 106 weight class. Following Cameron, Taylor Durfee, Jackson Wilson, Andrew Bartholomew, and Austin Bradford were all able to bring American Fork victories as well. Taylor, Jackson, and Andrew were all takedown artists last night and were all able to win their matches by a substantial amount. Taylor won 10-1, Jackson earned 17-4, and Andrew won by a score of 12-4. Austin and Cameron weren’t necessarily showing off their takedown skills but instead showed everybody their ability to assert their dominance on top. Austin was able to slug it out for all 3 periods and winning by a score of 8-4. Cameron decided that he wanted to end it early and earned the quick pin in the first period.

Both teams wrestled their hearts out and it was a great event to see. If you have the opportunity to come and see these boys wrestle I know you won’t be disappointed. 

The team also traveled to the Syracuse Scuffle tournament on Friday and Saturday. They had 9 matches over the course of the two days. The team looked very good this early in the season. The Varsity team ended the 9 duals with 6 wins and 3 losses. Two of the three losses came due to an injury to the Heavyweight Dakota Blanco on Thursday vs Lehi. That injury leaves the Cavemen at a disadvantage because of the forfeit (which equates to 6 team points in favor of the opponent). We had 2 varsity wrestlers remain undefeated on the season: Senior Andrew Bartholomew and Sophomore Cameron Hunsaker.

They ended up 4th over all in the team standings.

The JV and Exhibition wrestlers (anyone not Varsity or Junior Varsity is called Exhibition 1, 2, 3...) also showed very well at the tournament. We had 5 JV wrestlers go undefeated: Kyle Poulsen, Spencer Murdoch, TJ Larsen, Craig Johnson, and Nathan Tobler.

The next dual for the Caveman wrestlers is at home against the West Lake Thunder on Wednesday, December 11, and it promises to be an exciting matchup. Go Cavemen! They will then travel to the Juab Winter Classic Friday and Saturday.