About half of Tooele High's wrestling team will have a shot at placing at the state tournament this year and two or three of them are capable of winning state titles, according coach Gary Coffman. Two Tooele wrestlers, Monte Schmaulhaus and Isaac Brown, have combined to win 28 matches so far this seaon with no defeats.

After participating in several meets away from home in December, Tooele wrestlers will have a chance to showcase their skills at home this weekend when Tooele hosts the 16-team Best of the West Tournament at Tooele High School. The meet will include several of the state's top wrestlers and will run from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The finals will start at approximately 2 p.m. on Saturday. Powerful teams visiting Tooele to compete in this mega-meet include Carbon, Wasatch, Spanish Fork and Cyprus. The Pirates' Matt Brown, wrestling at 145 pounds, is a two-time state champion and ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Five of Tooele's top wrestlers include Jake Golden 123, Daniel Goode, 135, Monte Schmaulhaus 152, Zeb Hansen 160 and Isaac Brown 215.

Golden is a junior who has recorded a 10-4 record.

Goode placed second in state last year at 140 and is wrestling at 135 this year. He is one of the team's hopefuls for a state championship. Goode has compiled a 12-2 record thus far and each time he lost it was by only one point.

Schmaulhaus is 14-0 on the year and placed fifth at state last year. He already has defeated the No. 2-ranked wrestler in his classification by 14 points.

The coach said Zeb Hansen is another wrestler who could finish near the top at state. "He's a real tough wrestler, but didn't wrestle the first part of the year. He has a good shot at placing at state," Coffman said.

Isaac Brown at 215 has yet to taste defeat with a 14-0 record. Chris Heaps is also wrestling well at 140 with an 8-6 record and Glen Kummer has compiled a 9-5 record at 171.

Other wrestlers who have competed on the varsity level this year include Timothy Namony at 103, Jake Prather 112, Ben Nelson 119, Derik Vigil 119, Jesse Bissigger 130, Thomas Manning 140, Austin Hansen 145, T.C. Tate 189 and Joel Spendlove heavyweight.

"Many of our wrestlers have been wrestling at higher weights during the first part of the season which will make us tougher in the lineup later on in the season," the coach said.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com