BY SHAIN GILLET
Clipper Sports Editor
BOUNTIFUL — The Viewmont Vikings wrestling team may not have won a state 5A title last season, but they did get the attention of a school that’s back on the radar screen.
Brandon Ripplinger will continue coaching outside the wrestling circle for Viewmont.
Last season, he led the team to a second-place finish behind the Pleasant Grove Vikings.
That accomplishment points to a possibility that Viewmont will be one of the teams to beat this season in the 5A class.
Viewmont’s second place finish last season was the highest finish for the Vikings in two years.
In 2010, the Vikings completed a run of three straight 5A titles. They fell to the bottom half of the standings after the 2011 campaign.
Ripplinger, now in his seventh season as coach, is slowly guiding this year’s squad to follow up on last year’s success.
With a good crop of wrestlers coming back, the Vikings are once again being mentioned with other top wrestling schools as a favorite to win the title.
Leading the charge for Viewmont on the lighter end of the scale will be seniors Devin Porschatis and Tanner Luke, who each finished in the top six individually last season.
Porschatis started off on a strong note last season, earning a 35-11 record and finishing sixth in the 5A tournament.
Luke, at 113 pounds last season, finished second behind Alta’s Matt Findlay for the Vikings and was one of a handful of Viewmont wrestlers to finish in the top six.
The team included a single state champion.
Luke Gibbs will be back as a junior this season, and could wrestle for the 152 or 160-pound weight class.
With the 138-pound weight class now empty, one of theses top Viking wrestlers could move down a class.
*Editor’s note: The Nov. 15 print version of this story listed wrestlers who will not be returning to the team and listed wrestlers in incorrect weight classes.
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