Nov. 20, 2010
Complete Results
OMAHA, Neb. - Senior Flint Ray led Utah Valley's wrestling team Saturday at the Kaufman-Brand Open as he won the 133-pound elite title. In all four Wolverine grapplers placed at the nationally recognized wrestling tournament.
Senior Benjamin Kjar (125) placed second, sophomore Josh Wilson (149) fourth and senior Jeb Clark (165) fifth.
F. Ray and Kjar both headed into their respective finals with unblemished marks and both had to go through foes from wrestling power Oklahoma State. In F. Ray's title bout with Laddie Rupp, he won the match via injury default as Rupp suffered an injury. In Kjar's battle for first, the 20th ranked Jon Morrison got the better of Kjar as he defeated him 4-0. F. Ray wound up going 5-0, while Kjar ended with a 3-1 record.
"There was very good competition here with wrestlers from all around the country," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "I was happy with how our guys competed. Flint (Ray) looked really solid and is not just beating guys but he's really dominating his opponents. Josh (Wilson) also seemed to improve from how he looked two weeks ago."
Wilson finished with a 4-2 record at the open to earn his fourth place finish. In the third-place match, Wilson decided to forfeit the bout due to an earlier injury that he had tweaked. To get into that match he defeated Wyoming's Jimmy Belleville by a 5-4 decision.
Clark had the busiest day at the open as he lost his opening match but battled all the way back to place fifth. He ended with a 8-2 clip. After winning five straight decisions, Clark fell to Iowa State's Mike Moreno in the consolation semis. Clark wrestled a great match in the fifth place bout however against Central Oklahoma's Derrick Adkins to defeat him 5-1.
At 157-pounds, redshirt-freshman Abner Cook finished with a 3-2 mark at the open. He lost his first bout and then rolled off three consecutive wins before falling to Nebraska-Kearney's T.J. Hepburn in the consolation quarterfinals.
At 141-pounds, senior Justin Morrill and sophomore Wyatt Ray both competed for UVU at the open. They both finished their day with identical 2-2 records. Morrill won his first match and alternated wins and losses the next three bouts, while W. Ray won his first two matches but fell in his last two.
Two others were in action on the day in sophomores Paul Johnson (125) and Eric McAllister (Hwt.). Johnson wrestled his way to a 2-2 mark, while McAllister finished 0-2.
The Wolverines will have thanksgiving week off next week and will be back in action Dec. 3 and 4 when they travel to Vegas to participate at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. UVU's first home action will be Jan. 7, when it hosts Northern Colorado for a Western Wrestling Conference dual.
