January 11, 2006

PORTLAND, Oregon - Utah Valley State picked up a much needed dual win over Portland State Wednesday night in Oregon, 30-15. It's the first dual win of the season for the Wolverines (1-6), who have faced some tough competition in three Top 20 D-I opponents.

"It's what we needed," said UV head coach Cody Sanderson. "The guys are happy and they're excited to get out there again." 

Utah Valley State went up 6-0 after picking up six points by forfeit. Justin Rawle made it 9-0 after he topped Adam Duryee in a 7-4 decision and Tanner Cowan gave UV a big 14-0 lead when he scored a 20-5 tech fall over Shane Evenhus.

"Tanner wrestled really well. This should help his confidence and hopefully give him the edge he needs to pick up a couple more wins this week," said Sanderson. 

The Vikings fought back though after Chris Feist got by Devin Siddoway 10-7 and Brian Lemmon pinned DJ Meis.

The Wolverines' Ivan Bigney scored a 7-2 decision over Sean Murphy to put UV up 17-9, before a forfeit at 197 pounds got PSU within two points. 

Heavyweight Dallin Norton came up huge for the Wolverines when he scored a major decision over Joey Nobriga, clinching the win for Utah Valley. 

Talon Vickers then topped Bricen Yakabe 9-3 to round out the victories on the mat for the Wolverines..

Utah Valley State star wrestler Erkin Tadzhimetov got the night off after winning by forfeit at 133 pounds, as did 141 pound freshman Daniel Polkowske.

Utah Valley will compete in the Oregon Classic in Redmond, Oregon on Friday. They are scheduled to take on Division-III Pacific at 1:30pm MST and Oregon at 3:30pm MST.