BEAR RIVER HIGH - By Cari Doutre, Headliner Publisher, December 15, 2021
Hosting their own tournament, the Bear River Duals, on December 11, the Bear River High School girls' wrestling team finished in second place behind defending 4A state champions and Region 11 rivals, Mountain Crest High School.
The Lady Bears had several wrestlers go undefeated at the tournament where both the Bear River 1 and Bear River 2 teams took on five duals in one day. Bear River and Mountain Crest were the only two schools at the tournament with enough wrestlers to put together two full teams. While some schools at the tournament were unable to fill every weight division with a wrestler.
Nine schools total competed in the Bear River Duals on Saturday.
Bear River High individual results:
(Senior) Hailey Branch (130), 5-0
(Senior) Sophie Miller (120), 5-0
(Junior) Josie Redman (140) 4-0
(Sophomore) Rachel Epling (110), 2-0
(Junior) Sadie Hardy (100), 2-0
(Freshman) Rhees Hatch (155), 2-0
(Sophomore) Bella Gunderson (120), 3-1
(Junior) Crislyn Potter (155), 4-2
Photo coverage of Saturday's Bear River Duals, courtesy of John Fronk, can be found below.
Earlier in the week the Bear River girls' wrestling team traveled to Layton High School on December 7, for a tri-meet against American Leadership Academy and Layton High. The Bears beat American Leadership Academy (a public charter school in Spanish Fork) 57-24. They also brought home a win over Layton High 60-18.
Just two days later, the Lady Bears joined the Bear River High boys' wrestling team for a non-region dual against Davis High School on December 9, at home. Wrestling side-by-side on different mats, the girls' team from Bear River dominated over Davis High by a score of 66-12.
The Lady Bears fielded a full team and gained points for being unopposed. In those matches that actually had enough Davis High wrestlers, the Lady Bears were able to come away with four falls at the varsity level from Rachel Epling, Samara Ward, Josie Redman and Rylie Smith. A number of wrestlers had wins at the junior varsity and in exhibition matches and included Arissa Carter, Makynlie Nelson and Sydnee "Sydvicious" Nielson.
Next up for the Bear River High girls' wrestling team is a trip to Northridge High School on Wednesday, December 15. They will also take on the Jody Warren Duals at Weber High School December 17-18, their last competition of the year before heading into winter break.
Photos by John Fronk
