March 6, 2010

Final 2010 West Regional Bracket of Results

Bout-by-Bout Results

Final Team Scores/Standings

BROOKINGS, S.D. - UVU wrestlers Benjamin Kjar (125-pounds), Flint Ray (133), and Brad Darrington (174) became the first athletes in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in any sport as the trio punched their tickets Saturday at the NCAA West Regional at South Dakota State.

Even more impressive was that the Wolverine trio qualified for nationals in UVU's first year of eligibility as a full-fledged member of NCAA Division I athletics and Flint Ray also became UVU's first-ever conference champion as he won the 133-pound weight class. As a team Utah Valley finished in fourth place, just one point shy of North Dakota State who took third. Wyoming won the conference title with Northern Iowa taking second.

"It was a great feeling to be here today and I felt that our guys finished strong," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "It feels even better that we have three guys headed to nationals. This is great for the program and for the school. I couldn't be happier for these three wrestlers and especially for Flint as he is our first conference champion."

At the regional, which also doubles as the Western Wrestling Conference Championships, Flint Ray went undefeated to win his 133-pound weight class as the Wolverine junior went an impressive 3-0. Ray, who came into the tournament as a three-seed, defeated SDSU's Tyler Johnson by fall (3:17), two-seed Brett Bahe from Northern Colorado in the semi's by decision, 6-4, and in the final he upended the three-time NCAA qualifier and one-seed in Cory VomBaur from Wyoming by a decisive measure, 8-3. Coming into the matchup with VomBaur, Ray was 0-4 all-time against him so it was a huge win for Ray.

Kjar, who entered the regional as the one-seed, advanced to the finals after he defeated NDSU's Justin Solberg by fall (0:32) and the four-seed Aaron Pickrel from SDSU by decision, 6-5, in the semi's. Kjar then matched up with the defending conference champion and two-seed, Michael Martinez from Wyoming in the finals.

With the tightly contested bout all notched up at three-apiece at the end of regulation between the No. 9 ranked Wolverine junior Kjar and the No. 11 ranked Martinez, the two needed overtime to settle to contest. Martinez was able to get the best of Kjar this time as he scored in the first sudden-victory period to win the bout by decision, 5-3.

With his loss in the finals, Kjar dropped to the true-second place matchup and had to win one more match against the three-time NCAA qualifier, UNC's Tony Mustari, to advance to nationals, as his weight class was awarded two qualifying spots. Kjar did just that as he defeated third-place finisher Mustari to earn his true-second place finish and receive his berth to the NCAA Championships.

Utah Valley sophomore Brad Darrington also advanced to nationals as he defeated a former NCAA qualifier in Air Force's Tyler French in his weight classes true-second place matchup. On the day Darrington went 4-1 to punch his ticket as he beat NDSU's MacKain Stoll by decision, 6-3, then fell to the three-seed Jarion Beets of UNI by decision, 10-3, but then battled back as he defeated UNC's Brandon Kammerzell by major decision, 12-3, and the one-seed in Wyoming's Brock Smith in the third-place matchup by decision, 6-1.

Utah Valley is also hoping to receive another at-large bid selection or two into the NCAA Championships as a couple of other Wolverine grapplers had good showings. The at-large selections will happen March 10, when the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers.

The Wolverines also finished strong at a number of weight classes as they had two third-place finishers and a fourth-place one as well. Junior's Justin Morrill (149) and Jeb Clark (165) both battled back nicely in the wrestleback brackets to place third. UVU freshman Monte Schmalhaus also had a strong showing as well as he finished taking fourth place.

In the third-place matches the four-seed Morrill defeated the three-seed from Wyoming in Cole Dallaserra by decision, 9-4, and the two-seed Clark beat Air Force's Clayton Gabel by Major decision, 14-4. Schmalhaus placed fourth as he ended up falling in the third-place match to SDSU's David Michaud by a close 2-1 decision score.

Four other grapplers competed for UVU at the regional in redshirt-freshman Wyatt Ray (141), sophomore Jamison Moss (157), freshman Josh Wood (197), and junior Casen Eldredge (Hwt.). Three out of the four Wolverine wrestlers finished with a 0-2 record while Moss went 1-2.

The 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held in Omaha, Neb., on March 18-20 in the Qwest Center. That weekend Kjar, Flint Ray, and Darrington will all be looking to become UVU's first All-American's in school history.

For tickets to the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb., call (402) 422-1212 or CLICK HERE to buy them through Ticketmaster.

Bonus Match Results:
125 pounds - True 2nd - No. 1 Benjamin Kjar (UVU) dec. Anthony Mustari (UNC), 2-1 TB1
141 pounds - 5th place - Charlie Ettelson (UNI) maj. dec. Wyatt Ray (UVU), 12-4
165 pounds - True 2nd - No. 3 David Bonin (UNI) fall No. 2 Jeb Clark (UVU), 6:53
174 pounds - True 2nd - No. 2 Brad Darrington (UVU) dec. No. 4 Tyler French (AF), 3-1 SV1
184 pounds - True 2nd - David Michaud (SDSU) dec. No. 3 Andy OLoughlin (UNI), 3-2

NCAA West Regional Awards:
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming)
Most Falls Award: Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming)
Coach of the Year - Brad Penrith (Northern Iowa)
Western Wrestling Conference Regular Season Champions - Wyoming
West Regional Champions - Wyoming

West Regional Automatic Qualifiers for the 2010 NCAA Championships
125 - Michael Martinez (Wyoming)
125 - Benjamin Kjar (Utah Valley)
133 - Flint Ray (Utah Valley)
141 - Ryan Adams (North Dakota State)
141 - Cole VonOhlen (Air Force)
141 - Kenny Hashimoto (Northern Colorado)
149 - Trent Washington (Northern Iowa)
157 - Vince Salminen (North Dakota State)
165 - Shane Onufer (Wyoming)
174 - Jarion Beets (Northern Iowa)
174 - Brad Darrington (Utah Valley)
184 - Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming)
197 - Tyler Sorenson (South Dakota State)
Hwt. - Christian Brantley (Northern Iowa)