$1.50 February 22, 2024 | Vol. 3 Iss. 07
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‘Singing in the Rain’ MHS Theatre Department presents classic musical
MORGAN COUNTY NEWS
page 3
Covering Your Community Since 1929
Sargent and Korth bring home wrestling titles
NEWS BREAK Paul McCartney’s stolen bass returned Lost around 1972, Beatles bass player Paul McCartney’s 1961 Höfner electric bass guitar was finally found and returned to the music icon. After years of research and the involvement of many different people, the instrument was tracked down to the family of a former pub owner, who acquired it from an unnamed thief. The bass guitar sat in the attic for years as it would have been impossible to sell. The family themselves contacted McCartney’s studio, and after two months of verification, it was confirmed as the missing instrument.
Outspoken Putin critic dies
ZAK SARGENT won his first state championship after placing second last year. Sargent won 5-3 in his final match.
Photo by Jessica Jorgensen
By Liisa London Mecham
I
n 2023, senior Zak Sargent and junior Drew Korth both finished the State Tournament with silver medals. Saturday night when they left the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, both had upgraded to gold. Sargent, who finished the season with a 50-7 record, scored two takedowns in his championship match to win his first title by decision 5-3. After being forced to sit out for part of the season due to injury, Korth, 38-2, won his second state championship, 16-10 after building a 13-4 lead after two periods. The Trojans advanced four wrestlers to the finals and placed 10 wrestlers on the podium. In the team race, Juab won for the eighth straight year with South Summit placing second and the Trojans third. In addition to Sargent and Korth, junior Ryler Jorgensen and sophomore Blake Woolsey were state finalists. Sargent wrestled with the ferocity and intensity of a man on a title mission, Sargent opened with a takedown
early in the period. Union’s Deagan Davis got an escape later in the period to come within one. Neither wrestler scored in the second period, and Sargent opened the period with a point awarded for Davis stalling to go up 3-1. Sargent didn’t quit and earned another takedown with 34 seconds remaining to give him the 5-1 advantage. Davis escaped with nine seconds remaining and Sargent got slapped with a stall call with one second remaining to bring the final score to 5-3. After placing third as a sophomore, second as a junior, now as a senior, Sargent claimed his title! After a loss to Richfield’s Dayson Torgerson in the finals last year, Korth (144) was able to avenge the loss on his sibling, Drexton Torgerson, and win the title this year, 16-10, and earn him the distinction of a 2x State Champion. In 2021 Korth won the title at 113 pounds. In his match, Korth went up 4-2 by the end of the first period, and then he increased his lead to 13-5 heading into the final round. Torgerson attempted to take down Korth and narrowed the lead
to 15-10 before Korth closed out the remainder of the period to win. Junior Ryler Jorgensen (126) also advanced to the finals bout. Jorgensen went up against Ladd Holman, son of Juab Coach Joel Holman. Although he is a freshman, Holman came into the finals with a 45-8 record. In the final match, Jorgensen fell 7-0. Jorgensen advanced to the finals on a 5-3 sudden victory overtime win over Holman’s teammate Drake Johnson. In the quarterfinals, Jorgensen defeated Emery’s Dixon Peacock, 2-0, and he pinned his opening-round competitor in 1:39. Sophomore Luke Woolsey(132) pushed to the finals with an opening round pin (4:34), a quarterfinal pin (5:12), and a major decision in the semifinals (18-6). His opponent in the finals, Cooper Blackett, a Juab senior, was a familiar foe as Woolsey faced him at Morgan a few weeks before state in the
WRESTLING on page 7
Services for people with disabilities available in Morgan County By Linda Petersen MORGAN — At the invitation of City Councilmember David Alexander, representatives of Roads to Independence shared what the organization does at the Feb. 13 Morgan City Council meeting. “There are people that we know that could use the services that are available,” said Alexander who has been involved with the nonprofit organization for more than 10 years and is currently co-chair of its board of directors. Roads to Independence representative Kellie Spencer then gave an overview of the organization and its services. The organization, which has more than 300 clients and many more who
SERVICES on page 3
ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE will hold a resource fair in Morgan on March 16.
Courtesy image
Alexey Navalny, Russian human rights activist and critic of Putin and the Kremlin, died Friday, Feb. 16 in a Russian prison. Many, including Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, have blamed Russian president, Vladimir Putin for the figure’s death. Hundreds of Russian citizens have been arrested since his death for holding protests, memorials, and vigils in his honor. Meanwhile, Russian forces had also captured the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on the eastern front of the country, which some experts believe could be the precursor to a large-scale incursion into the heart of the country.
Franke and Hildebrandt sentenced for child abuse Business partners Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were both sentenced to four terms of one to 15 years in prison. Franke, made famous by her now-defunct “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, made national headlines, and throughout the court process fully admitted her guilt. Franke claimed that she perpetrated the abuse because she thought her children were “possessed”. Hildebrandt, the owner and founder of Connexions Classroom, a mental health and counseling service in Orem, also pled guilty, and claimed, as did Franke, to love the children they had abused. Judge Walton, who presided over the case said that the two seemed, “detached from reality”.
Murder Charges in Chiefs shooting Two men were charged with murder and other felonies for their roles in the mass shooting in Kansas City that resulted in one death and a number of injuries, including nearly a dozen children. Both were charged with murder, although it was determined that Dominic Miller’s firearm was the source of the bullet that ultimately killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan. Lyndell Mays was also charged, and have been in custody since the shooting, which resulted from a argument with a third individual that spiraled out of control into an armed brawl. Two separate defendants are facing resisting arrest and gun charges from the same incident.