Jan. 12, 2012
Complete Results
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OREM, Utah - Utah Valley jumped out to a 16-0 lead over Boise State Thursday night and held on to knock off the Broncos by a point, 19-18, in front of 1,915 fans at UVU's Activity Center. The win marked the second straight victory for UVU (3-2) over the Broncos (1-7) in Orem.
"It's always great to get a win, especially when it's over Boise State," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "Despite the win, I thought that we were a little flat. Besides that though, I thought that there were some great matches. Napoleon (Aniciete) held his own against a ranked guy and Avery (Garner) also looked good. Even though Ethan (Smith) lost in overtime, he did a really good job in certain situations. Overall we're happy with the win."
The Wolverines took an early 16-0 advantage after they won the first four bouts of the dual. UVU 125-pounder Colby Christensen started the scoring by winning by forfeit. Wolverine 133-pounder Derek Malan then won the first real match of the evening by holding off Boise State's Preston Hu and picked up a 3-2 decision victory over him.
Avery Garner (141 pounds) then followed Malan's victory by posting an 18-10 major decision win over BSU's Ben Demuelle. UVU's Josh Wilson (149), who is currently ranked eighth in the country, then won the Wolverines' fourth consecutive bout by pulling out a hard fought 6-4 overtime win over Steven Hernandez.
Boise State then started its comeback attempt by winning five of the final six matches.
BSU's 16th-ranked grappler at 157-pounds George Ivanov started the scoring for the Broncos with a 9-3 win over UVU's Napoleon Aniciete. At 165-pounds, the Broncos' Michael Cuthbertson too won his bout as he pulled out a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime match with a late escape point over Ethan Smith.
Utah Valley's Monte Schmalhaus (174) then struck back for the Wolverines by defeating Scotty Bacon 7-3 to put UVU on top on the scoreboard, 19-6.
Boise State's Cody Dixon (184) then held off UVU's David Prieto by a point (3-2) and BSU's Brent Chriswell then made things interesting by defeating Brian Chamberlain by fall, which cut the Wolverine lead to 19-15 heading into the final bout.
With a four-point lead UVU heavyweight Dustin Dennison knew he couldn't give up any more than a decision defeat in his match and that's exactly what he did. Bronco heavyweight J.T. Felix got the best of Dennison but he just defeated him by decision 9-5 to preserve the victory for the Wolverines.
The last time these two teams met in Orem, UVU knocked off the then eighth-ranked Broncos, 22-20, on Feb. 5, 2010. The win still stands as Utah Valley's biggest upset in school history.
Saturday UVU will be back in action at the annual Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas. There the Wolverines will take on Chattanooga at 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. MT, No. 12 Oklahoma at 1 p.m. CT/12 p.m. MT and Brown at 5 p.m. CT/4 p.m. MT. Utah Valley will then begin its Western Wrestling Conference slate Jan. 19 at Air Force.
