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Orem • Owen Pentz is a tough dude. According to his coach, Dustin Rock, the Morgan High senior caught a badger with his bare hands this summer.
"The kid is crazy. There is no other way to describe him," Rock said. "His dad had never seen a badger before, and they live out in a small town called Croydon, and they were out in the fields and he saw a badger and went and caught it and showed his dad. That's the kind of kid he is."
Pentz breezed into the 182-pound semifinals at the Class 3A state wrestling meet Friday, spending a total of 2 minutes, 47 seconds on the mat to earn a pair of pins. He took down Snow Canyon's Christopher Stoddard in 1 minute, 40 seconds to open his state tournament then needed just 1:07 to pin Cedar City's Hayden Giles. He will face North Sanpete's Keegan Eliason in Saturday's semifinal.
Pentz helped Morgan into third place after Day 1 with 84.5 points. Juab led the team standings with 116.5 points, followed by Bear River with 96 points.
But Pentz almost didn't make it to the state tournament. When he felt pain in his abdomen two days before the esteemed all-star dual in January, the reigning state champ at 170 struggled it off.
"I could walk around and do chores outside, but I felt like I had a gut ache," Pentz said.
The pain intensified the next morning at practice. He couldn't move without an injection of sharp pain. He decided to head for the emergency room, and when he arrived, the doctors said his appendix was inflamed and needed to be removed immediately. A ruptured appendix can be a life-threatening condition.
Committed to Fresno State and considered the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state of Utah for any classification, the senior's status on the mat instantly was put into jeopardy.
"It was scary 'cause we were going in for surgery and the surgeon was like, 'You'll probably be out for the rest of the season,' " Pentz said. "That ruined all my hopes, but then we went in for a two-week check up and she said, 'Give me one more week and you'll be back.' "
Undergoing surgery midseason is difficult enough, but returning to the physical shape needed to compete at a high level requires an unwavering dedication.
Two weeks removed from his surgery, Pentz started his regimen of intense conditioning, whether that was wind sprints or exchanging pizza and burgers for chicken and rice.
His wrestling partner, Chase Trussell, who wrestles in the 220-pound division, encouraged Pentz to take his time before returning. He continued to push him in practice, but Trussell told him to "be smart about it and not come back too quick and reaggravate it or hurt yourself again."
Pentz returned shortly before the Class 3A state tournament started Friday at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University with only 15 matches under his belt. He won all 15.
"He's come back with more fire and more intensity than I've seen from him in a while," Rock said. "He hated missing the all-star dual. He hated missing the rumble. He's a kid that craves competition. For him not to be able to wrestle — he's hungry."
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Day 1 team standings
1. Juab, 116.5; 2. Bear River, 96; 3. Morgan, 84.5; 4. Desert Hills, 78.5; 5. Stansbury, 56.5; 6. Canyon View, 54.5; 7. Cedar City, 51; 8. Ridgeline, 45.5; 9. Snow Canyon, 43; 10. Union, 40; 11. Hurricane, 38.5; 12. Logan, 35; 12. North Sanpete, 35; 14. Tooele, 22.5; 15. Carbon, 21.5; 16. Richfield, 18; 17. Pine View, 16.5; 18. Dixie, 15; 19. Grantsville, 12.5; 20. Juan Diego, 8.5; 21. Ben Lomond, 4; 22. Park City, 1