After the 2025 1A state wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8, Panguitch took home its sixth consecutive state title, with a group of boys that love hard work.
Jacob Marshall, Randy Marshall, Cameron Atkin, Braxton Atkin, and Shad Partridge have wrestled for their entire high school careers. For many wrestlers, friends were an important part of that.
“The number one reason is for the friends that do it with me,” said Braxton, who won the championship in 150 pounds. “And the coaches are a big part of why I stuck with it.”
This year, Braxton pinned down his fourth state wrestling championship, becoming the first in Panguitch history to do so. He said it’s the people around him that make wrestling fun and state an exciting place to be.
Shad, who took 2nd in 157 pounds, agreed with him. “I love the sport and the friends you make,” he said.
Most members of the team also appreciated how difficult of a sport wrestling can be.
Wrestlers spend weekday afternoons in one muggy, sweaty room, practicing technique, wrestling each other, and then doing a workout on the top. Jacob, who won the championship in 190 pounds, said Panguitch’s practices really “push you to the limit.”
“I enjoy being able to go work hard for something and have the outcome be what I deserve,” he said. “If you skip out, it shows. Our coach always says wrestling picks out the weeds in the garden.”
Wrestling is also mentally demanding. It takes mental toughness to wrestle another person for six minutes. “Mentally it’s just all on you,” said Randy, who took second in 144 pounds. “You can’t rely on anyone else. You prepare alone. You wrestle alone.”
But that’s what makes wrestling satisfying. “I think that it’s probably just because it’s really hard, so it’s really rewarding,” he said. “It feels super good to win, knowing the other person has had to go through all that too.”
The placings (1-3) and team scores for the 2025 1A state wrestling tournament are listed below:
Boys Individual Placings
| 106 lbs: 1st – Mitch Dodds (Panguitch) 2nd – Cutler Netto (Milford) 3rd – Kyler Bunker (Piute) | 150 lbs: 1st – Braxton Atkin (Panguitch) 2nd – Trenden Thompson (Milford) 3rd – Branden Bateman (Altamont) |
| 120 lbs: 1st – James Houston (Panguitch) 2nd – Chaz Thacker (Altamont) 3rd – Scott Wakefield (Rich) | 157 lbs: 1st – Colton Barnes (Milford) 2nd – Shad Partridge (Panguitch) 3rd – Keaton Huff (Altamont) |
| 126 lbs: 1st – Boston Thompson (Milford) 2nd – Max Albrecht (Panguitch) 3rd – Tristan Lovell (Tintic) | 165 lbs: 1st – Kole Fullmer (Panguitch) 2nd – Wilkes Weston (Rich) 3rd – Mccrey Beal (Altamont) |
| 132 lbs: 1st – Dillon Ivie (Altamont) 2nd – Cameron Atkin (Panguitch) 3rd – John Leber (Monticello) | 175 lbs: 1st – Tavon Black (Monticello) 2nd – Crosby Saign (Wayne) 3rd – Jackson Wright (Panguitch) |
| 138 lbs: 1st – Gage Bird (Altamont) 2nd – Trexton Spaulding (Milford) 3rd – Parker Hallows (Wayne) | 190 lbs: 1st – Jacob Marshall (Panguitch) 2nd – Kacey Stewart (Milford) 3rd – Bailey Weston (Rich) |
| 144 lbs: 1st – Judd Netto (Milford) 2nd – Randy Marshall (Panguitch) 3rd – Elijah Byrd (Escalante) | 215 lbs: 1st – Maverick Albrecht (Panguitch) 2nd – Tyson Wheeler (Monticello) 3rd – Boedy Morrison (Piute) |
Boys Team Scores
- Panguitch, 236.5
- Altamont, 166.5
- Milford, 166.5
- Monticello, 107.5
- Rich, 85
- Wayne, 52
- Tintic, 50.5
- Piute, 44.5
- Bryce Valley, 18
- Escalante, 16
- Whitehorse, 5.5
- Telos, 3
- Monument Valley, 0
The girls tournament is still combined with 2A. The placings (1-3) and team scores are listed below:
Girls Individual Placings
| 100 lbs: 1st – Madaleigh Grimstead (Tintic) 2nd – Lauren Stewart (Wayne) 3rd – Jacoy Farnsworth (Duchesne) | 130 lbs: 1st – Ariana Jones (Duchesne) 2nd – Lainee Sawyer (Panguitch) 3rd – Clara Peterson (Millard) |
| 115 lbs: 1st – Martha Comacho (American Leadership) 2nd – Leah Ivie (Duchesne) 3rd – Alexa Marshall (Panguitch) | 135 lbs: 1st – Mckenlee Sprecher (Duchesne) 2nd – Heidi Marshall (Kanab) 3rd – Kieran Mooney (Panguitch) |
Girls Team Scores
- Duchesne, 213.5
- Enterprise, 158.5
- Rich, 124
- San Juan, 91
- American Leadership Academy, 78
- Altamont, 75
- North Sevier, 59
- Panguitch, 46
- Beaver, 39
- Kanab, 37
- Millard, 33
- Monument Valley High School, 29
- South Sevier, 26
- Tintic, 25.5
- Utah Military Academy, 20
- Wayne, 19
- Grand County, 18
- Parowan, 16
- StJoseph, 9
- Whitehorse, 4
- Water Canyon, 3
- Escalante, 0
- Piute, 0
Braxton and Jacob also tied in the upper weight class for outstanding wrestler, which Braxton agreed was a cool thing to share with a team member.
The senior boys have all been to state all four years. And they had a few different takeaways from it.
Shad said, “You look forward to state your whole life and you actually get there. Everybody’s watching you — however many people there and there’s just one mat.”
Cameron, who took 2nd in 132 pounds, enjoyed “going out on the mat and the crowd there cheering you on in the final match.”
Randy said, “It’s fun to see you and the team all your hard work come to fruition.” It was fun to see the end come, he said, with all the soda-drinking and enjoying friends on the bus ride home, but it’s also kind of hard.
For Jacob, what made state special was “getting to be there with people who are there for the first time.” Being there all four years, it starts to get a little less cool after a while, he explained. But all the excitement comes back for him in “getting to see those freshmen experience it for the first time.”
– by Abbie Call
Feature image caption: The Panguitch team with their sixth consecutive state championship trophy after state wrestling on February 8, 2025.
Abbie Call – Cannonville/Kirksville, Missouri
Abbie Call is a journalist and editor at The Byway. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. Her favorite topics to write about include anything local, Utah’s megadrought, and mental health and meaning in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with family, quilting and hiking.
Find Abbie on Threads @abbieb.call or contact her at [email protected].