Morgan alumni wrestlers Find postseason success

March Madness wrapped up Monday, April 8 with UConn winning back-to-back NCAA Men’s basketball titles, but the real story of March for wrestling fans is March Matness! The NCAA Wrestling Tournament wrapped up this year on March 23 with Penn State claiming its 11th title in 13 years under the direction of Heber City-native Coach Cael Sanderson.

Post-season wrestling is the prize wrestlers of all ages grind for all season, and this year three Morgan High wrestling alumni advanced to their schools’ post-season wrestling tournaments, and two advanced to the National Junior College Wrestling Championships.  

2018 Morgan High graduate Chase Trussell competed in the Big 12 Wrestling Championships for Utah Valley losing a tough OT battle just before the placing rounds. Snow’s Will Korth (2022 MHS graduate) and Rylee Creasey (2023 MHS graduate) both placed at their West District Championships and advanced to the National Junior College Wrestling Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa where Creasey placed fourth and earned All-American honors.

Chase Trussell wraps up six years wrestling for Utah Valley University

At the completion of the Big 12 Championships,  Chase Trussell wrapped up his six-year wrestling career for the Utah Valley Wolverines. Trussell, a three-time state champion for the Trojans who graduated in 2018, redshirted his freshman year, earned a Covid year and just completed his fourth year as a major contributor at UVU. 

In the Big 12 Championships, Trussell wrestled five matches, and three of them were tight overtime battles. In the opening round, Trussell beat the No.6 seed from Northern Iowa, 4-1 in overtime (SV-2).  In the quarterfinals, he fell 5-0 to Missouri’s Zach Elam, who ended up placing third in the tournament. In the consolation bracket, Trussell won his first match, 3-2, in overtime again (TieBreaker) and then fell to the No.7 seed from West Virginia, also in overtime, 4-1 (SV-1).  

Trussell came into the tournament, 8-5, due to a shortened season. He had to have surgery to repair a broken kneecap and missed the front end of the season. After receiving clearance, the heavyweight who wrestles a light 238 (285 is the maximum in the heavyweight category) put together a solid season and impressive run at the tournament.

“It was a great tournament,” Trussell said. “There were some fun overtime matches. Wrestling lighter as a heavyweight, I like to bide my time and tire out the big guys. Then, I can make my move.”

“I am proud of how I wrestled, and I left it all out there. I’ve loved my time at UVU. I’ve had great coaches, and I’ve accomplished all of the goals I set for myself,” he said.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned as a college wrestler is that if you put your mind to something, a goal, an aspiration, you can achieve a lot. There is nothing as hard as wrestling in a D1 college wrestling room,” he said. “If you can do that, you can do anything!”

“I graduated last year with my BS in Psychology,” said Trussell. “I did my associate’s in Criminal Justice and earned my Certificate in National Security Studies the past year. For a kid who didn’t love school in high school, I’ve learned to take academics seriously.”

After completion of the school year, Trussell will begin the year-long process of applying to work for the DEA, seeking a job with forensics, sting operations, and other responsibilities within the field.

Trussell is grateful for the choice he made to stay close to home to wrestle in college. “My family has supported me in wrestling since I was 8, and now I’m 24,” he said. “I wanted them to be a part of it. I’m so grateful for their support, for the support of my coaches at UVU – Greg Williams, Ethen Lofthouse, and Erkin Tadzhimetov, for the UVU staff, athletic director, administration, and for the UVU President Astrid Tuminez.”

“It’s impressive that our UVU President showed up to every home match,” he said. “She hasn’t missed a match.”

Trussell shared three pieces of advice for any wrestler who wants to wrestle in college.

• Trust your coach. “Kudos to Coach Rock. I owe him a lot. He had faith in me, and I started to listen to him my sophomore year, and it made a huge difference in my wrestling when I trusted my coach.”  

• Travel to a lot of big tournaments to get your name out there. “Utah has good wrestling, but go to the big national tournaments, get your name out there, and compete against the very best to get better.”

• Great practice partners make you better. “Get better practice partners. I was lucky in high school to have Wyatt Ekblad and Owen Pentz to wrestle with. I also traveled to find other good partners. It makes a huge difference.”

He also added that “all good wrestlers are good in the classroom. Learn to take academics seriously. There is a reason we are called student-athletes with ‘student’ before ‘athlete!’” λ