By DUSTIN ARMBRUSTER
Hays Post Sports
PARK CITY - Hays High boys wrestling left Park City with five medals from the 5A State Wrestling Championship.
Seniors Jaxson Chartier and Johnny Rigler were the Indians' top finishers in third place.
Rigler won his first two matches at 190 pounds to reach the semifinals where he lost a 14-1 major decision. He then picked up his second victory by fall in the consolation semifinals to make the third place match. Rigler ended his prep career with a record of 44-6 following a win by sudden victory.
Chartier also made the semifinals before losing his first match of the championships at 215. He opened the tournament with a fall then a 12-6 decision. His semifinal loss came in a 4-0 decision. Chartier bounced back with a pair of wins. The first by decision score of 7-2 and then a 59 second fall to claim bronze and finish he career at 41-14.
Archer Amrein concluded his first season in a Hays High singlet with a fourth place finish. He won his first round match by fall but fell in the quarterfinals by the same result. Amrein then won three straight matches, two by fall and onw with a 1-0 decision. Those consecutive victories put Amrein into the third place match where he lost by fall. The sophomore finished the season with a 49-8 record.
Tanner Geist placed fifth at 285. The junior opened the two-day tournament with a third period fall and then a three overtime 3-3 victory. Geist the lost back-to-back matches in the semifinals and and consolation semifinals. He won the final match of his season with another tiebreaker victory. Geist finished the season at 43-6.
Gaven Deneault earned a sixth place medal with a 3-3 record. He opened the state tournament with a 17-2 tech fall victory. A loss in the second round put Deneault on the backside of the bracket where he won his next two matches by a 15-0 tech fall and pin in 1:24. Denault came up just short in the consolation semifinals by a score of 7-6 and in the fifth place match 11-6. He finishes the season at 35-20.
Ethan Branaman and Grady Lind each went 1-2 at the state tournament. Branaman ends the season with a 19-27. Lind's record finished at 34-21.