Garbett Wins State Title!

At the beginning of every new sports season high school athletes set goals and have ambitions to make their dreams of becoming state champions come true.  For a lucky few those dreams become reality.

Last weekend as the Idaho State Wrestling Championships kicked off at the ICCU Dome in Pocatello, Caribou County had sixteen athletes competing.  For some it was their first trip to state while others were hoping to improve on past performances.  Each wrestler had their own road to state, with some even being among the favorites to win the state title in their respective weight classes.  One of those potential favorites was Soda Springs junior Cole Garbett.  This was not Cole's first trip to state.  Cole has qualified for the state championship meet every year he has been in high school.  As a freshman Cole wrestled in the 152lb weight class and had a very brief state experience losing his first two matches and was eliminated from the tournament.  The next year as a sophomore Cole fared quite a bit better.  With another year came growth of both the physical type as well as in his skill set.  Cole was now competing at 170lbs and was able to pick up a few wins.  In the end Cole just made the podium finishing with a 3-3 record and placing sixth overall.  

That brings us to this season.  Another year of growth and Cole now towered over many of his coaches and teammates.  Cole was now competing in the 215lb weight class.  As the season began he did not have the attention of most of the state but it would not take long for that to change.  Before long Cole had cracked the top five state rankings in 3A.  From there he continued to climb the rankings until he finally reached the number one spot just before the end of the regular season.  This put him as the favorite in his weight bracket at state.  Cole made very quick work of his round one opponent pinning him in just twenty-two seconds showing off his strength and no doubt intimidating at least some of the other wrestlers in the bracket.  In the quarterfinals Cole had to break a sweat with the match going a whole one minute and sixteen seconds before earning another pin.  In his semi final match Cole and his competitor actually had to enter into the second period before Cole earned the victory this time by way of a technical fall.  Meaning he was up by fifteen points essentially mercy ruling his opponent.  That win put Cole into the championship match where he faced Rigin Dixon of Challis.  Cole was still considered the favorite but Dixon was no push over having racked up forty-seven wins during the season.  As I observed several wrestlers prepare for their championship matches that day I noticed that each athlete had a different way of approaching the match.  Some seemed super hyped up and energetic while others looked like they had butterflies in their stomachs, seeming a little unsettled and anxious.  I read Dixon as the latter.  As for Cole as I have watched him throughout the season he is the type of kid that doesn't show his cards.  Cole always appears to have a very cool demeanor, very business-like.  If it wasn't for the atmosphere and the thousands of fans in the arena you would never know that Cole was wrestling in the biggest match of his career.  As the match began the two competitors briefly circled one another before Cole took his shot.  Cole had quickly earned the lead with a takedown and went to work on getting in position to get Dixon on his back.  It took a couple of attempts but Cole did get Dixon on his back and put on the squeeze.  Just one minute and thirty one seconds into the match the referee slapped the mat and Cole Garbett was a state champion.  For the first time all weekend Cole showed some emotion raising both hands to the sky  before running and jumping in his coach's arms.  Cole now adds his name to the growing list of state champions out of Soda Springs and Caribou County and the good news is he still has one more year to compete so stay tuned for more great things coming from him. 

In addition to Cole’s state championship the following athletes all placed and represented the county well.

Elijah Dilworth (Soda Springs) 190lbs 2nd Place

Simon Krupp (Soda Springs) 106lbs 6th place

Jack Eddins (Grace) 144lbs
3rd Place

Bella Eddins (Grace) 126lbs
4th Place

Josie Newby (Grace) 145lbs
3rd Place

Skyla Cloud (Grace) 152lbs
4th Place