Feb. 8, 2008

GREELEY, Colorado - A fast start propelled Northern Colorado past Utah Valley, 28-10, in Western Wrestling Conference action on Friday.

The Wolverines dropped to 7-10 overall and 1-3 in WWC action and will travel to Laramie to battle Wyoming in their final conference match of the season on Saturday night.

Northern Colorado, which improved to 5-5 (3-1 in WWC), captured the first seven matches of the night before UV closed out the dual with three straight wins.

After Reece Hopkin got UNC on the board at 285 pounds with a fall over Zach Williams, Tony Mustari and Benjamin Kjar took the mat for the highly anticipated 125 pound match.

Kjar, who entered the match 36-8 on the year, dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision against Mustari, who scored on an escape in the second period for the only points of the match.

At 141 pounds, Jeffrey Newby trailed Richard Lohr 6-3 entering the third period before scoring on an escape and a takedown to tie the match with less than a minute to go. But time ran out on Newby as Lohr held riding time and the Wolverine sophomore was forced to go for another takedown before the match ended.

At 174 pounds, Marc Fenwick defeated Ryan Johnson in a 7-3 decision for his 17th win of the year while remaining perfect in conference at 4-0. Fenwick took a 5-0 lead in the second period before Johnson scored on an escape late in the second to get on the board.

Johnson got within two after a takedown with 38 seconds remaining in the third but Fenwick added points with an escape and riding time for the 7-3 win.

Casen Eldredge followed Fenwick with an 11-0 major decision over Ed Matthews. Eldredge to a 5-0 lead after the first period in cruising to his 15th win of the season.

The final match of the night pitted Mark Dennis against Patrick Carey at 197 pounds. Two takedowns in the opening period gave Dennis a 4-1 advantage before Carey scored the second period's only point on an escape. Dennis put the match out of reach with 48 seconds left, scoring on a takedown before picking up riding time for the final 7-2 decision.

FINAL RESULTS
285 Reece Hopkin (NC) Fall Zach Williams (UV), 1:33 (6-0 UNC)
125 Tony Mustari (NC) dec. Benjamin Kjar (UV) 1-0 (9-0 UNC)
133 Blayze Bahe (NC) Fall Logan Wilson (UV) 1:18 (15-0 UNC)
141 Richard Lohr (NC) dec. Jeffrey Newby (UV) 8-6 (18-0 UNC)
149 Daniel Prater (NC) dec. Nathan Gardner (UV) 13-6 (21-0 UNC)
157 Rocco DePaolo (NC) dec. Sam Allen (UV) 4-2 (24-0 UNC)
165 Devan Lewis (NC) maj dec. Nate Kearsley (UV) 11-2 (28-0 UNC)
174 Marc Fenwick (UV) dec. Ryan Johnson (NC) 7-3 (28-3 UNC)
184 Casen Eldredge (UV) maj dec Ed Matthews (NC) 11-0 (28-7 UNC)
197 Mark Dennis (UV) dec. Patrick Carey (NC) 7-2 (28-10 UNC)