The Carbon High Dino wrestling team heads to Delta on Thursday for the region tournament after wrapping up the regular season with a victory over Union, the fifth ranked team in the state, on Dino mats last Friday night. Victory is a mild word however; it was actually a true pounding as the Dinos racked up a 52-18 victory.
Winners included Zac Burdick, Tyson O’Neil, Cody Bunderson, Cameron Dansie, Shay Timothy, Keenan Atwood, Derek Wood, Derek Howa, Chas Henry and Andrew Christensen.
Headed into region means something different than many of the duel meets the team has been competing in so far this year.
“I think we may not only be the surprise team of the region but of state as well,” said head coach Dave Smith before he headed off for Delta on Wednesday morning. “We have been much better in the tournaments this year than in the duel meets we have gone to. I think we can finish in the top five teams in the state.”
Dansie and Timothy are almost sure things for strength in the state tournament. Ranked highly in the state and both on and off nationally, they are the center of a team that gets a great deal of strength from each others victories. That was apparent Friday night when Union was ahead early and then one Carbon wrestler won and the others got excited and psyched up.
“Our best kids are as good as anyone in the state,” says Smith. “We lost to Delta earlier, but things have changed. We just keep getting better.”
Region 8’s tournament will run through Friday and then the state meet will take Feb. 15-16 at Dixie.
[dfads params='groups=4969&limit=1&orderby=random']
[dfads params='groups=1745&limit=1&orderby=random']