What a great few weeks of wrestling for the Cavemen. Starting the first week in January we had two wrestlers compete in annual All-Star Classic. Cameron Hunsaker and Andrew Bartholomew. The following day we traveled to Provo to square off against the Bulldogs. The Cavemen came away victorious on all levels. The final varsity score was 53-18.

The following week proved to be a test for the cavemen and their conditioning. Wow what a fun filled week of wrestling that was. We started the week off with a bang up at Brighton High School. The Bengals became food the starving Cavemen. The final score ended up 55 - 24. The cavemen dominated from top to bottom as of the Bengals 24 points, 12 came from two forfeits by the the cavemen. So in all fairness of the 12 matches wrestled the cavemen won 10 with 8 of those by pin. This set the stage for Thursdays match with Lone Peak and the Knights.

This match is a battle every year going back and forth. The match started out with what looked like what would be a win for the Knights by a blowout. After only 6 matches the Knights led by a score of 26 -6 (12 points coming from forfeits). But that was not the end of the Cavemen. The Cavemen proved too strong for the Knights winning 6 of the remaining matches (5 by pin). This was enough to seal the deal for the Cavemen. The final score was 40-33 for the Cavemen wrestlers. Congrats on a great victory. It is always great to beat the Knights, especially on their turf.

The wrestlers then traveled to the Rumble Wrestling Tournament. This is the most prestigious wrestling event hosted in the state. There were 70 teams from Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, and Idaho. There were many multiple time returning state champions and qualifiers from all states represented. The cavemen had their ups and downs. But in the end they crowned 1 champion (the first ever for AF wrestling at this event) in Cameron Hunsaker at 106 pounds. They also placed 1 other wrestler in the top 8 in Andrew Bartholomew (7th place) at 132 pounds.

What a great week of wrestling. This week the Cavemen will be tested as they host the 3 time State Champs from PG. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE.

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.

Varsity, JV, ...

Here is the list of wrestlers that are still on the team and the ranking order. The first name listed in each weight class will be our Varsity wrestler, 2nd name Junior Varsity, and then all exhibition wrestlers listed in order. In parenthesis each of the wrestlers grades will be listed. There are a few that have not ranked that are not listed, but we will add them as they become eligible or rank.

106
Cameron Hunsaker (9)
Jentry McGary (10)

 113
Jackson Wilson (10)
Trent Wray (10)

120
Jacob Tam (11)
Craig Johnson (11)
Nevada Larsen (9)
Dalton Nelson (10)
Nathan Tobler (9)

126
Andrew Bartholomew (11)
Tyler Ferguson (11)
Ryan Brown (10)

132
Kolter Atkinson (10)
Porter Johnson (9)
Ryan Bartholomew (11)

138
Morgan Palmer (10)
Shawn Nicholes (9)
Spencer Murdoch (10)
Ian Galbraith (11)
Tim Fannin (9)

145
TJ Larsen (10)
Jason Warnick (11)
Logan Sondrup (10)
Grant McKenna (12)
Timmy Hunsaker (11)
Clint Steele (10)

152
Tanner Durfee (11)
Austin Bradford (11)
Garron Carmona  (12)
Simon Alcala (12)

160
Kalin Godwin (11)
Jacob Knapton (11)
Joe Osmun (9)
Sam Riehle (12)
Dallin Hendry (9)

170
Sam Bateman (12)

182
Kenny Cordova (11)
Nathanael Rybin (10)

195
Alex Strasburg (10)

220 
Casey Golding (9)
Daniel Liebelt (11)
Dakota Beverage (10)

HWT
John Smith (9)
Dakota Blanco (10)

Conditioning Class Last week before Season Starts

Here is a video of the wrestling team in the conditioning class last week. Still need to work on some of the form, but not to bad overall. Wrestling season starts tomorrow at 2:45.                                                                                                                               

Forms needed for First Practice

I wanted to send a reminder out to everyone about the forms that you need to have completed and turned in before you can practice on the 5th of November. We will need a Tryout Checklist and a current Physical Form. HERE is the link to the tryout checklist and HERE is the link to the Physical Form. Also you should have paid the $90 fee to the finance office before the 2nd week of practice.

W.O.W.

Something new this season that I hope to implement consistently throughout the season and into the summer is our W.O.W. program. What is the W.O.W program you might ask? It stands for Wrestler Of the Week. Each week as coaches we will try and evaluate each wrestler and their efforts, improvements and overall dedication to becoming the best wrestler they can. The number of wrestlers each week will vary, but the outcome will always be the same; and that is improvement as a wrestler and person.

Throughout the past several months I have been watching and identifying each wrestler and his abilities and strengths. I have come up with two wrestlers for this week and hope that each of these young men realize that their efforts and dedication have not went unnoticed.  Let me introduce to you our official W.O.W's of the past few months.

Our first W.O.W is Jackson Wilson. Jackson is one of the many young men deserving of this award. Jackson is a self motivated young man who is wrestling pretty much non stop. He travels to UVU 6 days a week to workout with Justin Ruiz. He works out on his own each evening, and also leads the team each day in the conditioning class. Jackson, as one of only a few returning Freshman Varsity starters from last season is well on his way to again going to the State Tournament in February.

Our second W.O.W of the past few months is Kolter Atkinson. Kolter, also a returning starter from his Freshman year, is also very deserving of this honor. Kolter returns this season having worked very hard starting clear back last March. He was one of only a handful of our wrestlers that chose to wrestle in the Freestyle and Greco season. Unfortunately an injury plagued his summer plans. But even his injury did not stop him fro wanting to improve. Kolter would come to workouts and do modified lifting as to allow his injury to heal. Once healed, Kolter and his father would come in quite regularly after our morning workouts to drill. I have seen great strides in his mental toughness, as well as his technique.

Thank you Jackson and Kolter. I look forward to seeing who else will be our future W.O.W's. Be on the lookout as we begin a new season. I am sure the competition will be very surprised at the improvements these two young men have made. I also see great things going on as a team as well. 

The Final Countdown

Today begins the final 2 week countdown to when the official season starts. Who is going to be our team leaders? Who will be varsity at all of the different weight classes 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, Hwt? There will be new comers like Cameron Hunsaker, Porter Johnson, Tanner Green and many others. Then we will return Seniors like Sam Bateman, Grant McKenna, and Gage McGary. We will also have other potential star power in Tanner Durfee, Andrew Bartholomew, TJ Larsen, Logan Sondrup, Morgan Palmer, Dalton Nelson and many, many others.

Will the Cavemen crown their first State Champion in 20 years, and if so who will it be?

These questions and more will all begin to be answered over the course of the next few weeks. We will have an answer to all of them as the season goes on.We have worked hard all summer long, and even at the start of the school year; waiting, anticipating, preparing for the next few months of battle. I believe the CAVEMEN are ready!

Youth camp and Mettle is #1

We started our youth wrestling camp last night. It was very good to see all of our future wrestlers out there. We had about 40 youth there. I also wanted to let you know of something else that we received yesterday. Our feeder program, Mettle Wrestling was honored by USA wrestling. It was given a banner to hang in the wrestling room as one of the top 50 teams in the country. We also received a certificate stating that we were not only in the top 50 club in the US but that we were the Largest club. We had 265 wrestlers in our club last year. It is great to see the growth that our club has seen over the past few years. About 1/2 of those in Mettle wrestling will eventually wrestle here at AFHS. Congrats to our club for their #1 ranking.

Annual Fundraising/Donation Campaign

Hopefully by now you have heard about our annual fundraising campaign that we are starting this week. All of our wrestlers will be coming up with a list of people they know who would be willing to donate to our team. We are looking for individuals, families, and businesses that love what we are doing as a team to build great young men. We are excited to have the help of all of you in our efforts to fund this program as we continue to build this program.

If you or anyone you know may be willing to donate $25 or more to our program please click on the donate button to the right on our blog. We appreciate any and all donations. We are trying to reach a goal of $10,000, but know that we cannot do it without your help. Thanks again and we hope to see you at our duals and tournaments cheering the caveman on.

2012 - 13 Schedule

Click HERE to see the 2012 - 13 American Fork High School Wrestling schedule. Make sure if you have any questions that you contact Coach Spencer.

Also be sure to friend us on facebook and follow us on twitter at @afwrestling.

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Welcome the 2012 - 13 School year

Welcome back. The school year is here. We are excited to get going. Thanks to all of those that were disciplined this summer and made time to attend our camps and weight training sessions each week.

I also wanted to let all of you know about our new twitter account. Be sure to follow us on twitter: @afwrestling
I am learning the ropes on all this social media stuff, so if you have any ideas on how to help us market our team and sport let me know.

Be sure that all of you 9th graders get in the 1st semester conditioning class. Come see me for details. All 10 - 12 graders should also be in the class but for an entire year.

Caveman Wrestling Camp and Toughman Olympics

There is still time to register for the Caveman Wrestling Camp and the Toughman Olympics. Spread the word to all wrestlers (AF and Non-AF) about the wrestling camp. Spread the word about the Toughman Olympics to all 9 - 12 graders from any school. Awards will be given away for the events at the Toughman Olympics. Follow the links below for more info. 

Click HERE to see the schedule and to register for the Caveman Wrestling Camp

Click HERE to see the event schedule and to register for the Toughman Olympics

Wolf Pack Duals in Salina

We left on Monday and got back Thursday afternoon. What a camp. We had about 13 or more matches (duals style) in 3 days, then had a single elimination tournament on Thursday. A great amount of mat time. They boys wrestled well, and learned a few moves along the way. We had 13 boys along for the ride.

We stayed at the Johnson (Morgan Palmers) family Ranch up Salina Canyon. What a great place. All the boys stayed on a bunk house and the Palmer family cook most of the meals. Great food. A big thanks to the Palmer/Johnson families for hosting us and feeding us.

Hopefully all of the boys that went learned something new and bonded with the others that went. I think we will make this an annual summer excursion. We may take an extra day next year and plan a hike or fishing trip or something not wrestling related.

Thanks to all the boys who attended and I hope to see all of you on Monday morning at our weight training session. Remember to bring running shoes, as well as wrestling shoes for technique after weights is over.

Delta Wrestling Camp Notes

What a success, again! 
We ended up taking 8 of our wrestlers and 1 cousin of a wrestler to the Millard County Camp earlier this week. The head technician was Mark Ironside. I would recommend you watch some of his matches on line. Great wrestler. He taught us some great things from all positions. He talked about what separates a good wrestler from a great wrestler is usually one thing, and that is that they not only can take anyone down, escape from anyone (which is what a good wrestler can do), but that they can apply Constant Grinding Pressure from the top position.

He also taught his famous sit-back series. Very good technique to add to our arsenal. He also taught about the front head and arm (short offense)  from the standing position.

Over all it was a great experience. All boys enjoyed the trip and I hope they feel like it was worth the money. We did spend both nights at a new location, which was a blast. It is a recreation type center, with racquet ball courts, basketball courts, baseball fields, pool tables and more. It was great. I think we will do that again next year.

Now we are off to the Wolf Pack Duals in Salina on Monday morning through Thursday of next week.

Links To Caveman Camp and Toughman Olympics

Click  Here for the link to the Caveman Wrestling Camp Flyer and Registration form.

Click HERE for the link to the Toughman Olympics Registration/Waiver Form.

Summer Camp Information

Summer Camp Information

Starting on Monday June 4 our wrestling team will be traveling down to Millard County for the annual Terry Brands wrestling camp. What a fun and enjoyable time we have there. This will take place at Delta high School on the 4 - 6th.

We will then leave again on Monday the 11th for the Wolf Pack Duals in Salina, UT. This will be a new experience for our team as we try this new camp/wrestling meet. This will be held the 11th - 14th at Blackhawk Arena.

We will then have a week of strength and conditioning training. We will workout Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:45 am (yes that is bright and early).

The following week we will host our 2nd annual Caveman Wrestling camp. This year we are adding a new addition to our camp. We are teaming up with the National Guard for the 1st ever Utah County Toughman Olympics. This will be a true test of skill, speed, strength and stamina. Please help us spread the word on Facebook, twitter, and all other social media sites. This camp will take place on June 25 - 27, 2012. The Utah County Toughman Olympics is for all 9 - 12 grade athletes.



Email Coach Eric Spencer for details @ evspencer@gmail.com

2011-2012 Wrestling Schedule

Nov. 7 Wrestling Practice Start Date
Nov. 12 Body Fat Testing 830 am at PGHS (meet there w/ picture ID)
Nov. 19 Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser 11 am – until finished
Nov. 22 Meet the team night
*Nov. 24-27 *Thanksgiving Moratorium
Nov 30 AF @ Westlake
Dec. 2-3 Titan Duals (Syracuse High School)
Dec. 8 AF @ Lone Peak
Dec. 9-10 Maple Mountain Duals
Dec, 14 AF @ Lehi
Dec. 16-17 Viewmont Invitational
*Dec. 23-27 *Christmas Moratorium
Dec 28 – 31 Practice Each Morning @ High School
*Jan. 1 *New Year Moratorium
Jan. 4 AF @ Provo
Jan. 5 Pleasant Grove @ AF
Jan, 12 Bingham @ AF
Jan. 13-14 Rocky Mountain Rumble in UVU (Varsity)
Jan. 13-14 Rocky Mountain Rumble @ Mountain View (Jr Varsity)
Jan. 19 Riverton @ AF
Jan. 20-21 Delta High School Duals
Feb. 1 JV & Open Region @ Bingham
Feb. 8 Region Tournament @ PG
Feb. 15-16 State Tournament @ UVU
Weigh-in: 4:30 P.M.
J.V. Matches: 5:00 P.M.
Varsity Matches: 7:00 P.M.

*Moratorium- On these dates practices and/or competition cannot be held. These are the best days to plan vacations.

Rankings

Our team finished its rankings the past two days. There was an excitement in the room that you could feel. The intensity was great and we had some really close matches. Now it is time to prepare for our first match on November 30 at West Lake in Saratoga Springs. We will then head to the Titan Duals at Syracuse High School that weekend.