February 11, 2006
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OREM, Utah - Utah Valley State senior wrestlers Erkin Tadzhimetov and Ivan Bigney both finished their home careers with wins on Saturday as the Wolverines (7-9) defeated Portland State 30-17 in front of 603 fans on senior day.
Bigney scored an 8-5 win over Karras Kavilas at 184 pounds while the 133 pound Tadzhimetov moved up to 149 and pinned Adam Duryee with 1:04 left in the 2 nd period.
Both coaches shifted wrestlers around different weight classes, forcing Tadzhimetov to have to move up if he was going to be able to wrestle.
"I wanted (Erkin) to wrestle in front of the home crowd in his last match," said Utah Valley head coach Cody Sanderson.
Kavilas, who was the scheduled 174 pounder, moved up to wrestle Bigney at 184 but could never gain control of the Wolverine senior. Bigney scored a reversal with :51 seconds in the match gave him the cushion he needed.
"(Kavilas) is tough. Ivan wrestled a great kid. But he just stayed focused," said Sanderson.
With Portland State up 17-16, Utah Valley's Jaime Thornblad earned the first win of his college career, a 13-10 win over Joey Nobriga.
Nobriga took an early lead, but Thornblad continued to work eventually taking an 8-7 lead on a near fall at the end of the 2 nd period. A reversal by Thornblad early in the third gave him a 10-7 cushion but Nobriga scored a reversal of his own to cut it to 10-9.
Thornblad scored one point on an escape with :19 seconds to go and sealed with a last second takedown.
"Jaime's a fighter. He works hard and I'm proud of him," said Sanderson. "To get his first win of the season and to do it like that in front of the crowd and put the dual meet away…I'm just happy for him."
Daniel Polkowske, Dallin Norton and Talon Vickers also picked up wins on the day via forfeits.
Bigney's win was his 15 th of the season and 34 th of his career while Tadzhimetov added to his school record for wins in a season (28) and career wins (46).
"It's been an honor to coach someone like Erkin," said Sanderson. "He's so skilled and he's so tough and such great person. We're gonna miss him next year. You can never replace someone like that."
"It's been an awesome three years. I've had a great time. Coach Sanderson is a great guy and a great coach," said Tadzhimetov.
Bigney ends his career as the first three-year senior in Utah Valley State's young wrestling program.
"I'm content with my senior year," said Bigney. "I was planning on redshirting because I was worried and wanted to have a good senior year. But this year has been really really good for me."
Utah Valley State will close out the 2005-06 campaign at the Northern Colorado Duals on February 23rd. They will take on Air Force and Northern Colorado at the duals.
