The Kemmerer High School wrestling team took the first step toward defending their 2A State Wrestling Championship over the weekend, competing at the ultra-competitive Wasatch Intermountain duals in Heber, Utah.

While the Rangers were without an individual champion, seven wrestlers earned at least five wins, with most wrestling eight matches on the weekend. Kemmerer finished 4-4 as a team, with dual wins over Canyon View (42-31), Wasatch Duals (51-27), Lone Peak (40-34) and Mountain Ridge (51-24). The Rangers’ four losses were to Payson (63-12), Pleasant Grove (47-25), Wasatch (51-26) and Fruita Monument (44-27).

“It went pretty well – we wanted to wrestle that kind of competition early, get us ready for the year,” said KHS head coach Darrell Bullington. “We didn’t have any undefeated kids, so that tells you the level of competition our kids were faced with. We went 4-4 in duals – there were a couple of swings here and there, where we could have won the dual. We had a pretty good dual against Fruita, and against Wasatch, we were in that dual until late, and had three swings go the opposite way. For a first tournament, I thought we wrestled well. We obviously have a lot of things to work on, get us ready for this Friday.”

Kemmerer returns three state champions from last season, all of whom wrestled at the Wasatch Duals. Riggen Walker – defending state champion at 145 pounds – led the charge in Heber, posting a 6-1 record at 150 pounds, while Roany Proffit went 6-2 at 126 pounds. Karl Haslem – defending state champion at 120 pounds – had perhaps the toughest draw in Utah, going