Girls basketball falls to a tough Grantsville team

By Jackson Woolsey

To finish out January, the Morgan High School girl’s basketball team had the tough task of facing one of the top teams in the 3A classification, the Grantsville Lady Cowboys, who boast a 19-2 overall record and are unbeaten in region play. In their first meeting at Grantsville, the Lady Cowboys had complete control over the game and got the 4060 win over the Trojans, giving them their first loss in region play.

This time, the two teams met in Morgan with the region title on the line. Each quarter was a battle as each team traded baskets. The first quarter was slow for the Lady Trojans as they only scored 6 points compared to Grantsville’s 16.

In the second, Morgan picked up the intensity and outscored Grantsville 17-13. The sparks came in the second half. The Lady Trojans kept their momentum going into the third, scoring 18 points. Morgan’s defense held Grantsville to only 9 third-quarter points.

It was a big fourth quarter by Grantsville to give them the edge over the Trojans. The game came down to the wire, and with only a minute left, Morgan’s Kadence Wardell got a steal and followed it with an easy layup to bring the game within two, but it was the scrappy defense by the Lady Cowboys that put the game away. The final score at Morgan High was 63-58 in Grantsville’s favor.

Alyvia Jaffa and Amaya Rogers both scored in double figures, Jaffa had 20 and Rogers finished with 12. l

(1:26) in his final match to place seventh.

At 120, Ryler Jorgensen opened with a fall but lost in the semifinals before wrestling back to the third place match and placing fourth. Dilyn Pentz (120) pinned his final opponent to place seventh (1:53). Brayden Porter (126) and Tyson Pace (132) finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Maverick Guymon, wrestling at 132 pounds, opened with a win before falling in the quarters by decision 3-0. He won three matches by fall in the consolation bracket before meeting his quarter final opponent for the second time in the tournament and suffering a second loss. Guymon earned fourth place. In the 138 pound bracket, Taite Toone placed fifth with a pin (1:20) in the 5th Place Match while at 144 pounds Donavin Gibson finished fourth and Skyler Crowther sixth.

At 150 pounds, Rylan Crowther lost by decision 8-5 in the semifinals and came back to win third by fall (1:03). Also at 150, Joseph Belinski took fourth with three wins in the consolation bracket before a loss to Crowther in the 3rd Place Match.

Morgan wrestlers Krew Galbraith

WARDELL from page 1 remains. One of her favorite parts of wrestling has been “the people that I meet. I’ve met so many really nice girls and coaches from other teams that have encouraged me. It’s hard to be the only girl wrestler at Morgan and to fight to overcome the stereotypes against girl wrestlers. Meeting other girls and coaches who think girls wrestling is cool has been so great.”

She has compiled a winning record during the season, participating in duals against Green Canyon, Juab and Summit Academy and in the MC Filly and Lady Hawk Rumble tournaments.

Wednesday, Feb. 1, she participated in the Divisional Tournament in Morgan and earned fourth place in the 120 pound bracket, punching her ticket to the 3A State Tournament that will be held Feb. 15-16 in Richfield. In her opening match against Kanab, she won by decision 8-6. In the semifinal, Wardell fell to Grantsville’s Brielle Fawson, a 2022 state champion, by fall (3:57). Wardell rebounded and won her consolation semifinal match by pin in 1:16 over Union’s Addisynn Meryhew. In the 3rd Place Match, she lost by tech fall to Grantsville’s Reagan Pitt.

Jacobson said, “Lorie wrestled well at divisionals and is now off to State. We are looking forward to her doing well. She is a returning state placer, and she works hard to be better. She not only practices with the Morgan High Team, but she also gets outside coaching. It’s been difficult for Lorie and the team because she didn’t have any workout partners close to her weight.”

Wardell would encourage any girl who is considering wrestling to give it a try, and she hopes to see the girls’ wrestling program grow at Morgan. “Personally, I would tell any girl that wrestling is life changing. I used to struggle with anxiety and depression, and wrestling has benefited me so much mentally as well as physically. It will change you as a person, and it is definitely and Gabe Toone placed fourth and sixth at 165 pounds, and Lance Toone (175) added a fifth place finish as well. worth it.”

At 190 pounds junior Ezra Cadena had the upset of the tournament as a number 15 seed. In his opening match, he pinned Odgen’s Braxten Shobe, the number two seed, in 1:08. He continued his success in the quarterfinal match with another pin over Providence Hall (1:44). After a loss in the semifinals to Delta, Cadena went on to place fifth. The Trojan’s final qualifier was heavyweight Lane Henderson, who placed fifth.

Morgan’s two alternates are Sim Wardell (138) and Carter Meibos (157). They both placed ninth in their weights and will wrestle at state if other wrestlers fail to qualify.

Several coaches spent hours and hours helping the boys to progress and grow. In addition to Head Coach Dustin Rock, there are six additional coaches who work tirelessly with the wrestlers to help them perfect their craft. John Rock, Zeth Porter, Ed Kinsey, Chris Payne, Jarett Jorgensen and Jeff Holtry all work as assistant coaches with Dustin Rock to develop these wrestlers.

Wardell is the daughter of Sim and Drea Wardell of Enterprise. When not on the mat, she loves showing pigs, farming and riding horses. She is involved with FFA at Morgan High, and after high school, she plans to attend Snow College and study Animal Science. She also isn’t shutting the door on wrestling. Snow College has a girls' team, and Wardell is open to exploring possible future wrestling opportunities at Snow.

“I’d love to see more girls in Morgan come out and wrestle,” she said. “It’s a great sport, and I hope more girls in Morgan can have the opportunity to participate in such a great sport.” l