Over the past several seasons, the Viewmont boys wrestling program has been one of the best in Class 5A. 

The Vikings placed sixth last season at the 5A state tournament and have consistently been near or in the top five in recent years. Head coach Luke Gibbs expects his team to once again compete well at state and throughout the season. He said every wrestler on the team needs to work hard and buy into the team goals and culture.

“Our team's success this year rests on their belief in themselves and their willingness to put in the work,” he said. “We have great wrestlers; we have a great program, and when everyone starts to believe in their potential and really trust the process, we're going to shock some people.”

Several team members have a chance to place at state. Gibbs will rely on these, and other, wrestlers to lead the squad. He singled out Alex Lindquist, a junior 132-pounder; Tate Ripplinger, a senior at 138 pounds; Jake Redd, a junior in the 165-pound class; and senior 175-pounder Will Millet. 

“It's just the amount of work they've put in,” Gibbs said about what makes these wrestlers so good and so important to the Vikings. “As you look at our team, the amount of success our guys have is directly correlated to the amount of time they've put in during the offseason and outside of normal practice hours. We have summer camps, lifting, freestyle and Greco season, and the guys on the top of the list generally have gone to everything.”

Gibbs said a strong contingent of wrestlers “are going to surprise a lot of people this year.” He likes what he has seen out of junior 144-pounder Spencer Rees, junior 150-pounder Tennyson Daly, junior 157-pounder Cale Christensen and fellow 157-pounder junior Forest Evans. Others to watch for include junior Cash Rigby (165 pounds), Sophomore Kellen Wood (190), sophomore Mack Youngberg (215) and junior Kaleb Djambov (215). 

Viewmont has a blend of experienced upperclassmen and younger wrestlers who are hungry to prove themselves. Gibbs is impressed with how eager the team is to learn and improve each day. 

“We have some great captains and leaders on the team who are driving the team to a great place,” he said. “They have come to me and said, ‘We need to work harder,’ which is music to a coach’s ear. We also have a really young team, which means many underclassmen will have a lot of varsity matches this year, which will really push our guys to level up.”

Gibbs said he believes his team is capable of beating anyone in 5A, but it will require dedication and hard work. Regardless of what happens this season, he loves coaching this group. 

“My favorite part is just working with the wrestlers and watching them become great young men,” he said. “Our program has always produced top-tier teams and wrestlers, but we also focus on producing great people. We have a resilient team that has gone through a lot of change and even a pandemic, and we’re just starting to get back to some normalcy, but they’ve battled through it all.”