Bowen Shines At State with Third Title

The Soda Springs Cardinals sent six wrestlers to the state tournament last weekend inside the ICCU Dome in Pocatello.  The six Cardinal wrestlers, five boys and one girl, would all represent Soda Springs well.  Of the six wrestlers, four would place and make the podium.  

Abbiegail Krupp would be the lone female wrestler for the Cardinals.  She would work hard but fail to grab a win and would be eliminated in the second round.  The Cardinal’s other wrestler who failed to place would be Owen Miller.  Miller would perform well winning his first match by decision 6-4.  Miller would fall in his second match before winning his third by decision 13-6.  He would need to win his next match in order to place.  Unfortunately he would lose by technical fall and be eliminated.  

Cole Garbett would take home sixth place after going 3-3 in his matches.  Cole would win his first match then be sent to the consolation bracket after dropping his second.  Cole would win his next two matches before ultimately getting beat in the fifth place match on the bracket.  

Zayden Garbett would place fifth in his weight bracket.  Zayden would fall in his first bout and be put in the consolation bracket.  From there Zayden would look good as he would win his next three matches.  Two by fall and one by forfeit.  In his next match he would have a rematch with his opening round opponent where he would once again lose to the older more experienced wrestler.  From there he would wrestle in the fifth place match where he would win by pinning his opponent. 

 Elijah Dilworth would have a terrific tournament as he was one of the wrestlers thought to contend for the state title in his weight.  Elijah would make short work of his first opponent pinning him in under one minute.  In the second round he would once again look very good and eventually pin his opponent once again.  That win would put him in the semi final just one win away from wrestling in the championship match.  In that semi final match things would be a little more competitive as Elijah would get the victory by decision 14-7.  This would put him in the championship where he would face a senior from Clearwater Valley.  The match would go all three rounds and be competitive throughout.  In the end Elijah would run out of time and come up just short losing by decision 8-6.  Elijah would earn the second place spot on the podium and will undoubtedly return next year as one of the favorites once again. 

 Even with the success of these wrestlers all eyes would be on Tucker Bowen.  Tucker would enter the tournament seeking his third consecutive state title.  Tucker, who has recently signed to wrestle at the University of Wyoming, would be the favorite to win his weight class.  Tucker would meet expectations as he would dominate his first two opponents winning both matches by technical fall  with scores of 20-5 and 17-2.  Tucker would ease up slightly in his semi final match as he would win just by major decision 13-2.  That would put him in the championship match right where he planned to be when the weekend began.  In the title match Tucker would look very comfortable despite never having wrestled his opponent before.  Bowen would once again dominate his opponent and complete the three-peat winning by technical fall 18-3.  As that final whistle blew Tucker would immediately jump up and run to the edge of the mat.  

Many in attendance did not understand where he was going or what he was doing.  You see, when Tucker was a freshman just starting out his high school wrestling career he was matched up in a tournament with a wrestler named Lucas.  Lucas is from Bear Lake and has special needs.  During that match Tucker could have easily won in very little time but understanding the situation Tucker made the match go for the full three rounds.  When the match ended, Tucker had a request for the ref.  He asked if the referee would please raise both wrestlers’ hands when indicating who won.  From there a special bond developed between Tucker and Lucas.  Anytime the two friends were at the same wrestling meet the two would wrestle each other.  This continued each year even as they moved into completely separate weight classes. 
In the spring of 2023 Lucas would graduate and Tucker would spend his final season without being able to wrestle his friend Lucas.  The two friends had only briefly seen one another on a few occasions since last season.  That all changed this past weekend when somehow in the mass of humanity that filled the ICCU Arena Lucas spotted his friend Tucker.  After catching up ,Tucker made the decision that he would love to share his final high school title with his buddy Lucas.  So when Tucker ran to the edge of the mat immediately following the ref’s whistle it was to signal Lucas to come join him.  Tucker had completed his goal of winning a third state title.  However, as the two young men stood on the mat together with their hands raised high the only title Lucas cared to give Tucker was that of friend.