WRESTLING IS OFTEN IN THE GENES!
WRESTLING IS OFTEN IN THE GENES!
The beautiful thing about athletics (and life) are the threads that bind one generation to the next.
And with the 2007 Utah All-Star Classic fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles etc. have left their mark on these current wrestling All-Stars. As the proverb goes, “the fruit doesn’t fall too far from the tree” and in this case it is a good thing.
In the 2007 All-Star dual you’ll see the sons of successful wrestlers of the past. One example is Brighton’s Ky Lucero who is the son of two-time state champion David Lucero, who wrestled for Cyprus HS in the early 1980’s. His father is also an assistant coach at Brighton HS.
Lucero will take on Shayne Bonner of Wasatch HS, whose father was a state champ at Wasatch, also in the 1980’s, and wrestled Lucero’s father David during that span. Bonner’s father also coaches in the Wasatch HS program. The sons are bigger than their fathers who wrestled at 119 pounds in their senior seasons as the younger Lucero and Bonner wrestle at 135 pounds and will square off at the All-Star classic to continue this Lucero—Bonner family feud of sorts.
Mitch Sanderson will take the mat in this year’s All-Star Classic. Sanderson is a two-time returning state champ and in his corner will be his father Kelly, also a state champion from yesteryear at Pleasant Grove HS. His brother McKay wrestled in this event and Mitch is also the first cousin of former UVSC Head Wrestling Coach Cody Sanderson, Iowa State Assistant Coach Cole Sanderson, Olympic gold medalist and current Iowa State University Head Coach Cael Sanderson, and Cyler Sanderson, who wrestled in this event four times and now is wrestling for his coaching brothers at Iowa State. Mitch’s uncle Steve Sanderson will coach four wrestlers in this year’s event at Wasatch HS. As for Mitch will take on Wade Eldrege whose cousin Casen wrestled in the All-Star event a few years back.
And so the many examples of bloodlines leading to wrestling success continue.
Monticello’s Aaron Butler is following his brother Andy’s footsteps by wrestling in the All-Star dual while his father and other brothers have brought home scores of wrestling medals and 10 individual state titles. Another interesting brother connection will be Adam Fager taking the mat for Layton HS with his brother Noah in his corner as the school’s new head coach.
Paul Tate of Highland High School will coach his son Taylor in this year’s All-Star dual, the older Tate a wrestling legend at Tooele High School in the 1970’s. Two three-time state champs will wrestle in this event, each coached by their father.
Weber HS Head Coach Jody Warren will coach his son Shay and Davis HS Head Coach Alan Porter will coach his son Sean, who will take on Springville’s Jason Chamberlain in the 2007 All-Star Classic’s final “feature” match of the night. Chamberlain is nationally ranked and recently won the Reno Tournament of Champions, and his father Kent was his junior high coach.
One interesting match-up will take place at 171 pounds where Jared Ruppe of Uintah HS will wrestle Provo’s David Ojuka. Both are connected to the wrestling tree of Dennis Preece, the Hall of Fame Coach who coached at Uintah, Cyprus and Skyline High Schools. Preece coached Scottt Ruppe, a three-time state champion for Uintah in the mid 1970’s and Jared’s father. Preece also coached his son Brian at Skyline High School in the early 1980’s. The younger Preece recently retired as the Head Coach of Provo HS and coached Ojuka in his first three seasons as a wrestler. The younger Preece, as an All-Star committee member who helped put these match-ups together, couldn’t help but put Ruppe up against Ojuka.
I’m sure this author has missed many other generational threads that exist out there in the litany of All-Star wrestling stars that will take the mat this Tuesday January 9. So whether you come to follow Copper Hills’ David Williams follow in the footsteps of his father Henry, a state champion at East High School and former heavyweight at BYU, or some other son, brother, cousin etc. of former Utah wrestling fame, the 2007 All-Star classic promises to be great entertainment!
Article Done by Brian E. Preece
2007 All-Star Committee Member