Jan. 30, 2010

UVU vs. Northern Iowa Results

UVU vs. Wyoming Results

LARAMIE, Wyo. - On a busy Saturday afternoon on the campus of the University of Wyoming for Utah Valley University's wrestling team, the Wolverines (7-2, 2-1) went 1-1 on the day as UVU defeated Northern Iowa 19-16 but fell to Wyoming 37-3.

"It was a great win for our program today against UNI as they have won 24 straight conference titles," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "Brad (Darrington) had a good win against a kid ranked higher than him. We did a good job of keeping our composure in close matches. Against Wyoming we lost matches at 133, 141 and 149 because of small mistakes and gave up 6 points for a medical default in a match we could have won."

To start the busy afternoon in Laramie, Wyo., UVU took on West Regional/Western Wrestling Conference powerhouse Northern Iowa (6-10, 2-2). In a very tightly contested matchup the Wolverines were able to win six of the ten bouts to down the Panthers by three team points. It marked the first-ever matchup between the two programs as Utah Valley wrestling is only in its seventh season of existence and it was a huge win for UVU as UNI was the pre-season favorites to win the conference and have won 24 straight conference titles.

UVU junior 125-pounder Benjamin Kjar (ranked 13th nationally) began the dual against UNI as he took on the Panthers' Caleb Flores. Kjar took control of the matchup from the beginning and with him leading 5-1 at the start of the third period, Kjar was able to takedown Flores three times to win by the score of 12-4 as he picked up the major decision victory as he also gained the riding time point.

At 133-pounds, UVU junior Flint Ray then gave UVU a 7-0 lead on the scoreboard as he rolled over his UNI counterpart in Joey Lazor, 13-6. In the third period against Lazor, Ray had two reversals and a nearfall to pick up the victory for UVU. The Panthers then picked their first win at 141-pounds as Charlie Ettelson won a tightly contested matchup over UVU senior Jeffrey Newby by decision, 3-1. The score was all tied up at one-apiece when Ettelson was able to takedown Newby in the final period to win the bout.

With UVU still leading the dual 7-3, UVU junior Justin Morrill (149-lbs.) was able to come through big-time for the Wolverines as he defeated UNI's Trevor Kittleson by decision, 3-0. Morrill was the first to score in the bout as he took down Kittleson in the beginning of the final period to give him a 2-0 advantage. Morrill finished off the win with a riding time point to win by three.

The dual then continued its back-and-forth trend as UNI won the 157-pound match and UVU won the 165-pound one, as the Panthers' Tyson Reiner defeated UVU sophomore Jamison Moss by major decision, 10-2 and then UVU junior Jeb Clark beat UNI's Nick Pickerell by decision, 6-2. Clark's win gave the Wolverines a 13-7 lead.

At 174-pounds UVU sophomore Brad Darrington continued his hot streak as of late as he held on to a slim lead to defeat UNI's Jarion Beets by decision, 5-3. Then at 184-pounds, Northern Iowa's Scott Hazen answered right back with a win of his own as he narrowly defeated UVU junior Casen Eldredge by decision, 3-1. UVU now led the matchup 16-10 with the biggest match of the dual coming up next, as the Wolverines did not have a heavyweight to compete in the final bout.

With the dual on the line for both teams UVU freshman 197-pounder Josh Wood came through in the clutch as he defeated UNI's Dustin Bauman by a 5-2 decision. Wood found himself trailing 2-0 when he was able to reverse Bauman's hold and then immediately Wood followed by picking up a three-point nearfall at the end of the first period to seal the victory and the dual win for the Wolverines. The six-point forfeit victory by UNI heavyweight Christian Brantley wasn't enough in the final bout as UVU won 19-16.

Against the Cowboys (8-3, 3-0), Kjar (125-lbs.) got UVU started off in the right direction again as he was able to hold on and upend the higher seeded (No. 11) Michael Martinez by decision, 5-3, to give the Wolverines the 3-0 advantage. Kjar's win turned out to be the lone Wolverine win against the Cowboys.

At 133-pounds, Wyoming then tied the dual up at three apiece as Cory VomBaur was able to come from behind to defeat UVU's Ray by a point at 3-2. The Cowboys then took the lead at 141-pounds when Chase Smith defeated UVU's Newby by decision, 6-2 . Newby's match was all squared up at two-apiece when Smith was able to score a three-point nearfall to seal the victory for Wyoming.

With Wyoming leading 6-3 on the scoreboard at the time it was UVU's Morrill's turn to try to regain the Wolverine lead as he took on UW's Cole Dallaserra. With Dallaserra leading 3-1 in the third period Morrill picked up a huge two-point reversal to tie the score at three with one minute remaining in the match. But it wasn't enough as Dallaserra was able to escape Morrill's hold with 30 seconds remaining to win by a point, 4-3. With the Cowboy win UW went up 9-3.

At 157-pounds UVU's Moss started against Wyoming's Jimmie Belleville but was unable to finish the match as he injured himself just a few moments in. With the injury default Belleville was awarded six points to put the Wolverines in a hole, as they now trailed 15-3.

With the quick momentum shift now in Wyoming's favor, the Cowboys began to take advantage as UW's, No. 10 ranked, Shane Onufer pinned UVU's Clark (2:10) to give the Cowboys the 21-3 lead. At 174-pounds UVU's Darrington then found himself in a close matchup with Wyoming's Brock Smith. Smith had the early lead over Darrington but the UVU grappler was able to come back and tie the bout up at six. In the end Smith was able to get an escape point and riding time to win by decision, 8-6.

At 184 pounds, UVU's Eldredge then took on the No. 6 ranked wrester in the nation in UW's Joe LeBlanc. LeBlanc showed why he is so highly ranked as he defeated Eldredge by major decision, as he won by the score of 15-5.

Wyoming then finished off the victory over the Wolverines by winning the final two bouts, as the Cowboys won the final nine matches of the dual. At 197-lbs., UW's Alfonso Hernandez defeated UVU's Wood by decision, 7-1, and without a heavyweight on the trip the Wolverines took the forfeit at 285-pounds to conclude the matchup.

"Wyoming is a good program and is gaining confidence," Williams added. "We are getting closer to getting confidence in big matches. We will be working hard the next month to correct our mistakes."

Utah Valley will now come back to the state of Utah for two huge duals against two top-ten ranked squads in No. 8 Boise State in Orem on Friday, Feb. 5 and on Saturday, Feb. 6 the Wolverines will then lock heads with the two-time defending National Champs and current No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes at Uintah High School in Vernal.

FINAL RESULTS
Wyoming (WYO) 37, Utah Valley (UVU) 3
 
125 - No. 13 Benjamin Kjar (UVU) by decision over No. 11 Michael Martinez (WYO), 5-3, 3-0 UVU
133 - Cory VomBaur (WYO) by decision over Flint Ray (UVU), 3-2, 3-3 TIE
141 - Chase Smith (WYO) by decision over Jeffrey Newby (UVU), 6-2 6-3 WYO
149 - Cole Dallaserra (WYO) by decision over Justin Morrill (UVU), 4-3, 9-3 WYO
157 - Jimmy Belleville (WYO) by medical default over Jamison Moss (UVU), 1:44, 15-3 WYO
165 - No. 10 Shane Onufer (WYO) by fall over Jeb Clark (UVU), 2:10, 21-3 WYO
174 - Brock Smith (WYO) by decision over Brad Darrington (UVU), 8-6, 24-3 WYO
184 - No. 6 Joe LeBlanc (WYO) by major decision over Casen Eldredge (UVU), 15-5, 28-3 WYO
197 - Alfonso Hernandez (WYO) by decision over Josh Wood (UVU), 7-1, 31-3 WYO
Hwt. (285) - L.J. Helbig (WYO) by forfeit, 37-3 WYO