In a talented field of 18 schools, the Riverton boys wrestling team finished in the middle of the pack at the Class 6A state meet. Riverton placed ninth as a team at the state championships, held Feb. 16–17 at Utah Valley University.

The Silverwolves improved on last season’s 16th-place showing at state. 

Riverton garnered 67.5 points at the two-day event, three better than 10th-place Bingham and 12 behind eighth-place Syracuse. Impressively, Riverton sent 16 wrestlers to state, 11 of whom scored points for the team. 

Individually, the biggest news for the Silverwolves was the performance of freshman Samuel Moody. In the 106-pound class, Moody won first place, winning the championship match 12-9 over Tanner Telford of Corner Canyon. Moody won in the semifinals by fall in just 1:18 to reach the final round. Moody skipped his quarterfinals matchup because his opponent was injured. In the first round, Moody took care of Evan Foster of Davis by the score of 21-6 in a technical fall. Moody’s big championship win capped a successful year for the ninth grader, who went 43-9 overall during the regular season. 

And he still has three more years to wrestle for Riverton.

In the 138-pound class, Riverton’s Carter Olson placed seventh. The senior went 26-15 on the year and 3-3 at state. Gage Watt, a 190-pound senior who went 38-10 on the year, placed fourth for Riverton. He won his first match 18-5, followed by a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals. After losing in the semifinals by fall to the eventual state champion, Watt won in the consolation bracket by fall in 2:50 before losing by fall in 2:58 in the
third-place match. 

Also for the Silverwolves, sophomore Calin Olson (115 pounds), junior Jacob Roy (144), senior Ryker Church (150), senior Kalob Baker (157), sophomore Sterling Johnson (165), junior Dylan Shafizadeh (175), junior Riley Hunstman (215) and senior Samuel Lee (285) got points for the team by winning at least one match at state. 

With Moody returning for his sophomore year next season, there’s some excitement around Riverton wrestling. Five other point-scorers, along with five other state participants, are back next season. Easton Rolson, a 106-pound freshman, and fellow ninth grader Bennett Neilson at 150 pounds, join Moody as the future of Silverwolves wrestling. Rolson had a stellar mark of 41-10 on the year, while Neilson was 22-10. λ