BOUNTIFUL — It took big wins from a couple of newbies, but the Viewmont High wrestling team’s 5A No. 1 state ranking remained intact as the Vikings held off No. 2 Davis 33-27 Thursday night.

“This was a good measuring stick for many of our wrestlers in the intensity of that environment,” said Viewmont coach Brandon Ripplinger who has yet to experience a defeat as the Viking’s leading man. “Matches like this are great because you know very quickly where you stand and what the next step is for improvement.”

Viewmont’s Andrew Kimber started things off with a pin at 160 before Sam Jensen pulled off a surprise win over Davis’ Landon Bybee, 6-5 at 171.

“After getting beat by Landon at the Layton Invitational, Sam made some key adjustments and they worked for him,” Ripplinger said. “ Sam is turning into a great wrestler. He is very coachable and works his tail off with his training partners, Mitch Rasmussen and Josh Moore.”

At 189, Viking Austin Thompson picked up a pin at the 1:12 mark of the second round. This was followed by Zach Dorigatti’s 2-0 win at 215. At that point the score was 18-0 in favor of Viewmont, but the Darts were ready for the challenge.

John Lindsay edged Ronnie Wyman in a thriller, 3-2 followed by Parker Nielsen at 103 winning 3-0 and Brett Naylor’s pin at 112 had cut the Viking lead to 18-13. At 119, Davis Zak Baker picked up a hard fought win over Viewmont’s Keni Sato to cut the lead to 18-16. Viking Mike Winger’s pin at 125 pushed the lead for Viewmont to 24-19 setting up one of the most exciting matches of the night.

At 130 it was Smoot vs. Smoot as cousins Todd of Davis and Josh of Viewmont squared off. Todd came away with a 10-8 win. Caleb Ward of Davis was 11-2 at 135 and Braiden Hart of Davis then picked up a 13-4 victory to give the Darts their first lead of the night at 27-24.

“I was very proud of the way our guys fought back after we fell behind,” said Davis coach Neal Porter. “I knew we were starting out at an area where we weren’t as strong as we are in the lower weights so things sort of played out the way I thought it might.

“I was real proud of the way John (Lindsay) wrestled Wyman,” Porter said. “John is one of our captains and has been working extremely hard. It was nice to see him get that win and get us going. The other guys in the lower weights did what I expected.”

Viewmont’s Ikerus Abe picked up a 19-7 win at 145 and teammate Mitch Rasmussen picked up a quick pin at 152 to secure the Viking win.

“Despite being early on in the season, I felt that as a whole, our conditioning was where we want it to be for now,” Ripplinger said. “We've still got some kinks to work out in our technique and our lineup, but that will come.”

Both coaches acknowledged the positive rivalry between the two teams.

“There’s no team we want to beat more than Viewmont, but no team that we get along with and respect more than them,” Porter said. “It’s great because each team pushes the other team.”

Said Ripplinger, “So many rivalries are filled with severe dislike for the other team, but I think these two programs are different. We respect each other and push each other in a good way. Davis is a good opponent.”

Davis and Viewmont, along with Bountiful will be at the Viewmont Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

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