Deseret Morning News: July 16, 2007

Utah, Ohio Wrestlers to Meet

DRAPER — A Utah all-star wrestling team will be facing an all-star team from Ohio Thursday, 6 p.m., at Juan Diego High School. The dual meet will feature 21 of Utah's best young wrestlers from across the state, pitted against top athletes from Ohio, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

The dual format is unusual, with the Utah All-Star team being built trying to match the age and weight of Utah athletes to the age and weight of the respective Ohio All-Star opponent. As the host team, the Utah wrestlers will determine if the match will be in freestyle (the international Olympic style of wrestling) or folkstyle (the style wrestled in high schools and colleges in the United States).

At the beginning of the dual, six wrestlers named Intermountain Champions will be recognized. These athletes competed in four tournaments in Utah and Idaho, accumulating points, to name Intermountain Champions in each of the seven age divisions. Six of the seven recipients were from Utah.

All-American Honors

Twelve-year-old William Kilpack of Sandy was named All-American by USA Wrestling in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling at the Kids National Championships held in Green Bay, Wis., July 6, 7. Kilpack, who just completed his sixth-grade year at Sunrise Elementary School, was the runner-up in freestyle in the 90-pound weight class in the Novice Division (11 and 12 year olds) at the USA Wrestling Kids Nationals and placed fourth in the Greco-Roman tournament.

The top eight placers received All-American honors.Earlier in the season, Kilpack was crowned champion in both styles in the 90-pound weight class at the USA Wrestling Western Regional Championships held in Klamath Falls, Ore., in June. In Oregon, he wrestled 15 matches and won 14 of them by fall or technical fall.  This followed taking gold medals in freestyle and Greco-Roman at both the USA Wrestling-Utah and AAU Wrestling Utah state championships in April and early May.

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