Jan. 28, 2010

Complete Results

USAFA, Colo. - Utah Valley University's wrestling team started off strong at Air Force Thursday evening as it won six of its first seven matches and held on to defeat the Falcons (4-7, 0-1) by the score of 26-15. It was both teams first Western Wrestling Conference action of the season and with the win the Wolverines improved to 6-1 and 1-0 in conference.

"I was very pleased with our effort tonight," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "Brad Darrington and Flint Ray looked exceptionally strong. Flint keeps improving and is going to be a factor at conference. Brad's opponent was the conference champion two years ago and sat out last year. His win was a great indicator of his improvement. Jeb Clark is also starting to look better. It is great to have him and Jamison Moss back in the line up."

The dual started at 125-pounds with UVU junior Benjamin Kjar (ranked 13th in the nation) taking on AFA's Andrew Zwilein. Kjar took control from the get-go as he dominated Zwirlein in the first period, as he took down his Falcon competitor six times in the opening period. Kjar continued to put the pressure on Zwirlein in the match as he continued to rack up the points as Kjar seemingly took down and released his competitor at will. Kjar won by major decision with the final score of 21-11. Kjar took down Zwirlein 10 times in the match.

Utah Valley then took control of the dual as junior 133-pounder Flint Ray gave his squad a 9-0 lead on the scoreboard as he dominated his matchup from start to finish over Air Force's Derek Gillespie. Ray ended up defeating Gillespie by technical fall (16-0) early in the second period (3:42). With Ray leading 4-0 to start the second, he got a couple of three-point near falls over Gillespie to pick up the big tech fall victory.

Air Force's No. 16 ranked 141-pounder Cole VonOhlen then got the Falcons on the board as he won a very tightly contested match over UVU senior Jeffrey Newby. The match was tied at zero clear until the third period when VonOhlen scored an escape point and a late takedown to defeat Newby 4-0, with riding time.

With the team score sitting at 9-3, Wolverine junior Justin Morrill (149-lbs.) shifted the momentum back towards Utah Valley as he beat AFA's Gabe Martinez by decision, 6-1. Morrill scored an early takedown over Martinez in the first period and led 2-1 after one. Morrill then took control late in the second period as he took down Martinez again and stayed on top to gain a lot of riding time. In the third period Morrill continued to wear down Martinez as he tallied more than four minutes of riding time as he pickup up the third Utah Valley victory.

At 157-pounds, UVU sophomore Jamison Moss saw his first action of the season, as he is finally healthy, and he rolled to an easy victory over Air Force's Wade Stowe. Moss led 9-2 after the first period and 11-5 after the second period and held on to defeat Stowe by major decision, 16-7. With the win UVU led AFA 16-3.

After a brief intermission Utah Valley junior 165-pounder Jeb Clark made quick work of his Air Force counterpart, to remain undefeated on the season, as he pinned Justin Shadrix 53 seconds into the first period. The fast win gave UVU the commanding 22-3 advantage.

Utah Valley then picked up another victory at 174-pounds as sophomore Brad Darrington defeated AFA's Tyler French by major decision, 12-2. Early in the third period Darrington took command of the bout as he worked his lead over French to 7-1. Just before the final buzzer sounded Darrington got French on his back and almost pinned him but scored enough points for the major decision victory as he beat his opponent by 10.

At 184 pounds, Air Force finally got its second win of the night, as James Ciccone was able to defeat UVU junior Casen Eldredge by decision, 7-2. Eldredge fought hard as he wrestled Ciccone with a heavy knee brace on his left knee but Ciccone was able to gain control over Eldredge in the third period to defeat him by decision.

In the final bout of the night, as UVU elected to forfeit at heavyweight, Utah Valley freshman Josh Wood (197-lbs.) found himself in the closest match of the night with AFA's Neil Delaney. With the match scoreless after the first period, Delaney scored an escape point to lead 1-0 at the end of the second period. Wood then escaped the hold of Delaney to tie the bout at 1-1 with a mere minute to go. The match ended up going to a sudden death overtime period where both grapplers fought for the win. Delaney ended up winning as he tookdown Wood with two seconds remaining to win by the score of 3-1.

With UVU freshman-heavyweight Dylan Stadel out with an injury, Air Force's Stephen Larsen won the heavyweight bout by forfeit to conclude the dual with a 26-15 Wolverine Victory.

The Wolverines will next have two more conference duals in Laramie, Wyo., this Saturday, Jan. 30, as they will take on Northern Iowa and Wyoming at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively. Live stats and well as video from the Wyoming dual can be found by visiting the schedule page on www.WolverineGreen.com.

Utah Valley 26, Air Force 15
125 No. 13 Benjamin Kjar (UVU) maj. dec. Andrew Zwirlein, 21-11
133 Flint Ray (UVU) tech fall Derek Gillespie, 16-0 (3:42)
141 No. 16 Cole VonOhlen (AF) dec. Jeffrey Newby, 4-0
149 Justin Morrill (UVU) dec. Gabe Martinez, 6-1
157 Jamison Moss (UVU) maj. dec. Wade Stowe, 16-7
165 Jeb Clark (UVU) fall Justin Shadrix, 0:53
174 Brad Darrington (UVU) maj. dec. Tyler French, 12-2
184 James Ciccone (AF) dec. Casen Eldredge, 7-2
197 Neil Delaney (AF) dec. Josh Wood, 3-1 (SV)
HWT Stephen Larson (AF) wins by forfeit