BEAR RIVER HIGH – By Mark Hirschi, Headliner Sports Writer, December 15, 2021
The Bear River High School boys’ wrestling team continued to dominate the Quad Dual, as per tradition. This year’s competition was held December 7. For years the Bears have been competing in the quad duals with Jordan High Highland High and Hunter High. They retain the traveling trophy, and have done so since 2012, with this year marks their 9th straight win.
The Bears were able to handle Highland High an easy 72-6. They then went up against the winner of the Jordan High vs. Hunter High dual and met up with Hunter High beating them 45-27 – even with several team members out of the lineup.
Following up that win, both the Bear River High boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams hosted Davis High for a dual on December 9. The boys’ team was able to come away with a 42-36 victory over the Davis High Darts.
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The Bears gained momentum with the match of the night in the 190-pound weight division between Bear River High senior Kaeson Burn and Geovanni Thomas from Davis High, where Burn came away with a late pin.
Several Bears helped the team to victory by getting the fall and included Ty Hawkes (132), Broncs Rinderknect (144), Dustin Douglas (150), River Smith (175) and Daxton Bingham (106). Kaden Ward (113) was unopposed gaining another six points for the Bears.
The Bear River boys wrestling team then traveled to Nephi on December 10-11, to compete in the dual tournament the Juab Winter Classic.
The Bears were able to dominate their first two duals defeating South Sevier High 66-12 and North Summit High 58-15. Those wins put the Bears in the stacked Gold Bracket wrestling many of the top teams in the state.
Bear River was able to get a win against Salem Hills Hill 57-19, unfortunately that would be their only win in the eight-team pod. River Smith (175) led the Bears with a 7-2 record. The Bears were fighting some sickness and injury and had several wrestlers wrestling out of their weight class to fill in for those who could not wrestle.
The results for the rest of the Bears are as follows:
Keaton Smith (106), 4-3
Daxton Bingham (106), 3-3
Waylon White (113), 1-1
Kaden Ward (113), 2-0
Max Miller (120), 6-3
Chet Kunzler (126), 3-6
Ty Hawkes (132), 2-7
Tyson Hirschi (138), 4-5
Broncs Rinderkinect (144), 2-3
Kaaloa Southwick (144), 1-3
Dustin Douglas (150) 3-6
Ruger Smith (157), 2-7
Skyler Yeates (165), 2-7
Kaeson Burn (190), 2-0
Max Anderson (215), 4-5
Carson Pond (285), 6-3
Next up for the Bear River High boys’ wrestling team is a home dual against cross-country rivals the Box Elder High Bees on Wednesday, December 15, starting at 7 p.m.
Check out Bear River Live’s livestreaming coverage on the link below.
Photos by John Fronk and Melanie Smith
