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Steamboat Springs — Hayden wrestling coach Ty Zabel said there's just something different about the Vernal, Utah, Tournament of Champions that his team is headed to this weekend.

"There will be a lot of Wyoming teams there, too," he said. "Those Utah and Wyoming boys, they're something else. We'll run into some big, big boys."

The two-day tournament will be even larger than the state meet and attract some of the top athletes in the region. Zabel is confident the talent on his team will remain the same. That's a good thing for the Tigers.

"We'll run into some big boys, but we're going to get some medals over there," he said. "We're a small school, and we're only going over with 11 kids. But skills wise, we are going to hold our own."

Leading the way for the Tigers will be Coy Letlow, wrestling at 189 pounds. Letlow has won each of the three tournaments Hayden has entered and is undefeated on the season.

Keeping his record perfect will be a challenge, as Letlow will toss his lot in with wrestlers from the large schools in and around Salt Lake City.

Zabel, however, refused to rule out another clean sweep.

Letlow is "undefeated, has three tournament wins and is ready to go," Zabel said. "He's had some tough luck down there in the past, but he's tuned up."

Mitch Doolin also could be poised for a run in the deep field. He placed fourth at the tournament a year ago.

The tournament will be the team's first after a two-week holiday break. Still, Zabel doesn't expect to see much rust and said his squad took advantage of time away from competition.

"The kids were really good about coming in and working out," he said. "I was pretty surprised with the shape they were in when they showed back up.

"We're pretty excited about this tournament."

The Steamboat Springs High School team also will make the trip to the Utah tournament.

Rams head to Eagle Valley

Soroco will be the smallest school at Saturday's tournament at Eagle Valley. That doesn't mean the Rams will be intimidated.

"You've got to wrestle the best to be the best," Soroco coach Jay Whaley said. "It doesn't matter the size of the schools. Every tournament is intense this time of year."

The Rams expect to field all six of their wrestlers for the first time this season. Nick Ovard, a 140-pound freshman, will take to the mat for the first time, and Whaley said the two-week vacation helped the rest of his team regain its strength.

"We needed it," he said of the holiday break. "It's a tiring sport, but they came back from the time off ready to go and working hard in practice."

Whaley said what he saw from his team before the break gives him confidence they'll be strong after it.

"We saw what we were looking for," he said about his team, composed of freshmen and sophomores. "Even in the matches the kids lost, they were doing a lot of good things. They're still making mistakes, the kind of mistakes a young team makes, but they're wrestling well."

- To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com