KAYSVILLE — The Viewmont wrestling team is battling in hopes of earning its third consecutive state 5A championship (it would be its 6th in 7 years).

And as has been the case for the last several years, much of the adversity to earning that title comes right within Region 1. The 5A No. 1 ranked Vikings had an early showdown with last year’s runner-up Davis Darts (currently ranked No. 10 in 5A).

The Vikings grinded out an impressive 48-12 win over the Darts and a 48-17 win over Layton in the three teams’ first tri-match of the year.

The Vikings jumped out on the Darts as they picked up a 6-point forfeit at 103 and 6-point pin by Kanchi Abe at 112. Doug Hutchinson captured the match at 119 to push the lead to 15-0 before Davis’ Brett Naylor picked up a 10-3 win at 125 to make it 15-3. David DeCarolis won for the Vikings at 130 and Joe McKay of Davis picked up the 135 win.

In the evening’s most exciting match, Davis’ Andrew Silotti edged Vikings Tyler Larkin 5-4 at 140 before the meat of the Viking lineup slammed the door shut on the darts.

Viking defending state champ, Danner Kjar picked up a pin at 145 and Mitch Rasmussen won by pin at 152.

Mitch McCloy picked up a 5-1 win at 160 and Sam Jensen pinned his opponent at 189.

Tate Wangsgaard edged Miles Flake in another thriller, 1-0 at 215 and payback came when Landon Simonson earned a hard-fought 1-0 over Richard Buys at 275.

The Vikings hosted No. 2 Alta Wednesday night. This weekend the best wrestlers in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming will take part in the Viewmont Invitational.