By Rich Winter

| Special to The Tribune

With six individual titles, two team titles and more than 600 career wins, Payson wrestlers Mitch Brown, Jed Mellen, Zac Loveless and Cole Ford are the heart and soul of a Lions team that will be aiming for a third team title in four years.

With Payson, Uintah, Spanish Fork and Tooele dropping from 4A to 3A this season, the Lions will be part of a wild weekend in Orem as teams battle for supremacy in what could be the toughest 3A tournament in history.

Photos

• 
• 

At a glance

—

Grapple-for-all

With such a deep field, the 3A tournament is setting up to have some outstanding head-to -head matches. Payson senior Mitch Brown is going for a fourth state title, but Wasatch’s Morgan Sweat looms large on the other side of that bracket.

Payson finished sixth in 4A wrestling in 2007. Since then, the Lions have been one of the best teams in the state. Payson was third in 2008, first in 2009 and 2010 and third in 2011.

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

"Looking at the number of qualifiers from Delta, Wasatch, Uintah, Cedar, Canyon View and Bear River, it looks like it’s going to be close," said Payson coach Chris Loveless. "Obviously our top guys need to step up and do well, but ultimately it will be the team that has the most guys step up."

While a team title is the ultimate goal, Payson has a number of intriguing storylines within the team. Senior Cole Ford looks to get an individual title after finishing third, fourth and second in three previous state meets, while junior Jed Mellen looks for his second championship.

Senior Mitch Brown is seeking to become the first Payson wrestler to win four state titles, and the coach’s son, Zac Loveless, is going for his second state title after an overtime loss in 2011.

"Mitch and I set a goal of winning four when we were freshmen, so losing that match was tough," said Loveless. "I think about that match a lot when I’m training and it fuels me, makes me want to work harder."

The team title will probably come from the quartet of three-time defending champion Delta, three-time runner-up Wasatch, a very strong Uintah squad and Payson.

Delta qualified the most wrestlers (20), but had only two region champions while Payson qualified 17 with four region champs in the southern regional. Wrestling in the north regional, Uintah and Wasatch each produced four region champs while qualifying 17 and 15 wrestlers, respectively.

On paper it’s a dead heat.

"We need to step up and get wins and score points," said Loveless. "If we get someone on their back, we’ve got to get pins, and if we’re ahead in a match, we can’t let people back in matches."

Winners of the last three 3A team titles, Delta coach Josh Wright figures the 2012 team champion will come as a result of whichever kids respond the best after incurring their first loss.

"State titles are won in the trenches," said Wright. "It’s crucial for the guys that lose that first match to come through the back door and score points."

For Payson that help could come from high finishes from Riley Loveless, Hagen Loveless or Dalton Judd, wrestlers who finished either second or third in the south regional.

"Our upper weights are a little stronger than they were last year, but we need points from everyone to have a shot," said Jed Mellen.

The 3A tournament gets under way Friday, with championship action scheduled for Saturday evening.