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.