Monticello High student athlete wrestlers earn All-State honors

Four wrestlers representing Monticello High finished third or better at the 1A state tournament on February 10.
As part of an effort to honor winter All-State athletes, the San Juan Record is proud to present these outstanding wrestlers in special profiles featuring photos and comments from their coaches.
Profiles of additional All-State athletes will appear in upcoming issues of the Record once the teams are named by the Deseret News.

Zac Thayn
1A wrestling ~ runner-up
Monticello Senior | 144 Pounds
40 wins ~ 13 losses

Head Coach Kent Adair: “Zac had a great senior season. He won a lot of matches and placed high in a lot of tournaments. He got really confident and started to execute moves really well. He is a great leader on the team. He wrestled hard in every match, even if he was behind and the outcome was grim. He was the hardest worker in the room this year.
“Zac improved every week in some facet of his skills. He had the opportunity to be in the finals twice in his high school career. He wrestled really hard in the finals and the fact that he was scoring points at the end of the match shows that he was still working until the final whistle. We will really miss his leadership in the room.”

Thomas Fullmer
1A wrestling ~ runner-up
Monticello Senior | 165 Pounds
22 wins ~ 6 losses

Head Coach Kent Adair: “Thomas improved a lot during his high school career. He perfected some moves that he believed in and was effective with them often. He had a lot of injuries in high school and that limited his time on the mat each year.
“He always wrestled hard with a lot of intensity. He was a three-time state placer and was able to wrestle in the championship match his senior year which was a great accomplishment.”

John Leber
1A wrestling ~ runner-up
Monticello Freshman | 120 Pounds
34 wins ~ 12 losses

Head Coach Kent Adair: “John is a gamer. He never thinks he’s out of a match regardless of the score. He always believes he can come from behind and win with a fall. It’s a great trait to have. He’s done a great job for us this year in a lot of matches.
“He has won some really tough, gut matches, especially at divisionals. We were glad to see him be able to wrestle the state finals. He is a very exciting wrestler to watch and we expect to see great things from John in the next three years.”

Arturo Gutierrez
1A wrestling ~ runner-up
Monticello Freshman | 106 Pounds
24 wins ~ 19 losses

Head Coach Kent Adair: “Arturo improved greatly throughout the season. He worked hard to fix some problems he was having and his confidence grew. He learned dedication and discipline through making weight each week. He became a solid wrestler for us.
“He has a great attitude and is a lot of fun to be around. He had a great finals match at the State Tournament. Several times we thought we were going to be able to win the match. It was close until the end. As he continues to improve we expect him to be a great wrestler for us.”