"Mountain Crest beat us pretty well last week and and we've got to learn from our losses," Morrill said. "You know, we say greater later, meaning you've got to learn from this. ... You've got to analyze (each loss), you've got figure out what's going on and I thought (our guys) responded pretty well (compared to) how we did last week. So, it was a good effort tonight."

The Bobcats were positioned to get off to a solid start as Bryce Brindza pulled out a 10-7 victory over Riverhawk Tyler Hess in the first match, which was contested in the 138-pound weight class. Up next for Sky View was Parley Thacker, a returning 4A state placer and consolation bracket finalist from last weekend's prestigious Richardson Memorial.

Indeed, the visitors had a legitimate chance to win the first two bouts, but Welker (144) had other plans. The senior secured an early takedown, rode Thacker the remainder of the first round and came through with another takedown late in the third round to secure a 5-3 win. Thacker never stopped battling and got a late reversal, but the damage had already been inflicted by Welker.

"I felt good about riding him out in the first period because one thing that has helped with that is my conditioning," Welker said. "We condition really hard and I work extra hard after practice to keep my conditioning up. And then that extra takedown in the third period, it gave me a cushion so that when I was on top riding him out I knew that if I did end up getting up a reversal that (I was still in good shape to win)."

That was the first of eight straight victories for the Riverhawks — three by fall, two by forfeit and three by decision — who raced out to an insurmountable 39-3 lead. The third win was by Twedt, who looked good en route to prevailing over Richardson Memorial medalist Hans Herrmann, 10-7, at 157 pounds. Twedt came through with two takedowns and a reversal, and took a commanding 7-2 advantage into the final round.

"It was huge," Morrill said. "I knew those would be probably the matches of the night or the key matches and, yeah, Parley is really tough, so I'm really proud of Sam for pulling that out. ... Yeah, that was a huge win and Dylan as well. He's been wrestling better lately, becoming a little more offensive so, yeah, Dylan wrestled great as well. Two big wins for the team."

Four Riverhawks were triumphant in pinning fashion in Peter Jeppson (150), two-time returning 4A medalist Owen Munk (165), Caysen Dana (285) and Jack Semadeni (126). Jeppson was tied at 4-4 in the early going of the second round, but got a quick reversal and pin when his opponent was riding too high.

It's been a memorable past six days for Dana, who mentally bounced back after losing a 5-1 lead to Mountain Crest's Hunter Hammer a week ago. The standout junior regrouped by pinning his way to a Richardson Memorial title — the first Ridgeline wrestler to accomplish this feat.

"As a coach, you love to see that, a short memory, shaking off a loss of a match he should have won, but he makes a mistake and gets pinned," Morrill said. "He shook that off and the sweetest part of that was he beat the Weber kid, who had beat him, and then beat the Box Elder kid. So, two great wins by Caysen just shows his resilience to come back and beat guys he lost to."

In addition to Twedt and Welker, the Riverhawks got a hard-fought 2-0 win from Seth Montierth (215) over Conner Wabel. Montierth was sharp from the top position.

Ridgeline's Draycin Nelson (120) fought his way out of a first-round cradle and came through with a nice 15-7 major decision over Josh Miller. Miller scored the first five points of the duel.

In addition to Brindza, the Bobcats got a narrow triumph from Collin Miller (132) over fellow returning 4A medalist Hudson Mosher. Miller, who placed third at the Richardson, had a 7-1 lead in the third round and held off a late charge by Mosher.

Sky View's other two wins were by fall from Howdee Merrill (106) and Kayson Leak (113). It was a gutsy performance by Leak, who narrowly avoided getting pinned for approximately 95 seconds in the first round. The freshman got a reversal in the waning seconds of the first round, came out with a vengeance in the second and finished off his pinning combination at the 2:53 mark.

OTHER REGION DUALS

Green Canyon traveled to Crimson Gym and fended off a rejuvenanted Logan squad by a 39-34 scoreline, while Mountain Crest left Garland with a statement-making 48-19 win over Bear River.

The Wolves and Grizzlies emerged victorious in seven bouts apiece — each team forfeited once — but the visitors picked up more bonus points. Green Canyon got pins from Tyler Payne (144), Jackson Landon (190), Ethan Kunzler (285), Daxton Reese (126) and Aaron Shumway (132), plus a nailbiting 4-2 triumph from Easton Darley (120) over William Pearce.

"The team performed well," GC head coach Dirt Howa said. "We had to fill a couple varsity spots with kids that haven't wrestled much varsity and they stepped up to the challenge. Logan came out strong and pushed us to the last three matches, with us trailing 34-24. Easton Darley picked up a decision win. Daxton Reese came up huge with a pin at 126 in the second-to-last match of the night, bringing the team score to 34-33 (for LHS) before Aaron Shumway sealed the win with another pin."

Ryan Mano (157), Ryan Lazzari (165) and Kaid Stearns (215) were triumphant by fall for the Grizzlies, who got victories by decision from returning state medalists Cooper Redd (138) and Payton Redd (113), plus a comfortable major decision from Alan Lazzari (150).

"I've asked them to compete in everything we do and be tough all year," LHS head coach Rocky Lunceford said. "Tonight they competed and wrestled tough. Cooper Redd got us off to a great start and was aggressive the entire match. It was great for us to get Alan and Ryan Lazzari back into our lineup. I can always count on them in the middle of our lineup to be tough and win. Payton Redd with what I thought was the match of the night wrestled a solid Quinn Richards. Payton kept attacking and got the takedowns when he needed. Payton has been outstanding these last few weeks. This team decided today that they can hang with anybody and we look forward to the rest of our region matchups. It was sad not to be able to get the win, but Logan is here and only getting better. Love these kids and I can't wait to see where the rest of the season takes them."

Meanwhile, the Mustangs rolled past the Bears by going 9-4 in contested duels and winning another by forfeit.

Cayden Chalmers (106), Zack Halligan (113) Dontay McMurtrey (165) and Sam Schroeder (190) secured pins for Mountain Crest — Schroeder late in the third round over a fellow returning state placer. Mountain Crest's Carter Nelson (120) earned a dominant 14-3 major decision over fellow reigning 4A champion Daxton Bingham.

"Carter looked impressive," MC head coach Jay Tovey said. "When he attacks, he can beat anybody. Last year around this time he really got focused and had a good end of the season. I think he has the potential to do the same thing this year."

Easton Evans (126) and Jace McBride (157) also prevailed by major decision for the Mustangs, who got decision wins from Bridger Thalman (175) and Hammer (215). MC's Tanner Tolman (132) only lost by two points to Richardson Memorial champ Max Miller.