Junior High and Middle School Wrestlers Place at 1A-4A State Tournament, McCrae Meibos-top placer-wins second
Jan 26, 2023 10:54AM ● By Liisa London Mecham
Morgan’s McCrae Meibos earns two points at State. Meibos finished second in the 106 pound bracket.
The Morgan Wrestling Club’s 4th-8th grade wrestlers traveled to Richfield Jan. 20 and 21 for the 1A-4A Boys Junior High/Middle School State Tournament. Of the 40 boys in the 4th-8th grade wrestling group, 17 made the trip and 10 of the 17 wrestlers placed in the tournament.
First year head coach Jarret Jorgensen praised his wrestlers’ hard work and improvement. “These guys have worked hard all season,” he said. “They have all made big improvements, and I’m really proud of them.”
With a young team, only one eighth grader and seven total junior high wrestlers, Jorgensen is excited for the next year to watch the wrestlers continue to build on their progress. “The state tournament is not like any other experience,” he said. “It can be very overwhelming. Anyone can beat anybody, and it showed at this tournament. To succeed, you just need to go out there and wrestle. Whoever wants it more is going to win.”
Morgan’s highest finisher was McCrae Meibos with a second place finish in the Middle School 106 pound weight class. Meibos advanced to the finals with a semifinal win by decision 6-0 over Millard. In the championship bout, Meibos lost a 7-2 decision to Delta.
At 93 pounds in the Middle School Division, the Trojans had three wrestlers who earned a spot on the podium. Ryker Thomson placed third with a major decision 14-1 over his teammate Taven Clark, who placed fourth, in the consolation bracket finals. Jessie Little finished sixth with a loss in the 5th Place Match.
Beckett Lott, 86 pounds-Middle School, advanced to the semifinals but fell by pin to Snow Canyon. In the 5th Place Match, he won by decision 9-8 over Millards Crew Griffiths for the second time in the tournament.
Also placing fifth in the Middle School Division was Krew Venz at 96 pounds. Venz also advanced to the semifinals but lost by decision 4-0 to Bear River. In the 5th Place Match, he picked up a big 10-4 win by decision over Millard.
At 150 pounds, the boys’ final Middle School placer was Cole Toone. Toone claimed fifth place with victories by fall in the quarterfinals and 5th place match over Millard wrestlers.
Junior High placers include Desmond Cadena, Trey Larsen and Kwayde Meibos. Cadena and Larsen both secured fourth place while Meibos took sixth. Cadena (93 pounds) advanced to the quarter finals, but he lost by fall to Millard. He then won three matches in a row in the consolation bracket, two by fall and one by decision 6-2, to progress to the 3rd Place Match. In the consolation finals, Cadena was pinned by Carbon (4:28).
Larsen (96 pounds) picked up a quarter final win by tech fall 16-1 over Canyon View before losing by fall in the semis. A victory by fall (:45) in the consolation semis put him in the 3rd Place Match. He fell by pin to Millard’s Cal Bray (3:35).
As the teams’ lone 8th grader, Kwayde Meibos (124 pounds) wrestled tough in the consolation bracket after a loss in the quarter finals to come back and earn a spot on the podium. After opening with a win by fall, Meibos was pinned in the quarter finals (:50). He picked up a 3-2 decision over Bear River and a pin (2:58) over Beaver to advance to the consolation semis. He lost by fall to Juab in the consolation semis, and he also lost by fall in the 5th Place Match to finish up his junior high career with a sixth place medal.
Other junior high wrestlers wrestling in the tournament were Zack Galbraith (132 lbs), Traysen Gines (104 lbs), Macen Fearn (93 lbs) and Sam Woolsey (80 lbs). Kade Keller (80 lbs), Weston Judd (70 lbs) and Carter Little (57 lbs) rounded out the Middle School wrestlers.
As a team, Morgan, with only 17 wrestlers, placed 13 out of 36 teams. Some of the larger teams had over 50 wrestlers participating in the tournament, and every wrestlers’ points added to the team total.
Overall, Jorgensen was very pleased with his team’s performance. “The future looks really good. I’m looking forward to next year and to making a big jump in the team scores. Our wrestlers are really improving.” Jorgensen can’t wait to get back on the mat for Spring Freestyle wrestling. Freestyle practice will start the week of Feb. 28. All athletes are welcome to come give wrestling a shot.
