RENO, Nev. – A trio Utah Valley University grapplers placed at the 2016 Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
 
Junior Jordan Karst led the way by placing third at heavyweight, while unattached freshmen Gary Jantzer finished fifth at 184 pounds and Durbin Lloren placed sixth at 133.

"Our guys looked good today all across the board. They wrestled with a lot of energy," assistant coach Ethen Lofthouse said. "Jordan, Gary and DJ (Durbin) stood out and wrestled very tough. It was great to see Jordan wrestling aggressively as well as seeing what our redshirts can do against top-level competition."

Karst highlighted the group by going 6-1 on the day en route to his third-place finish at the event that is dubbed "the toughest tournament in the USA". The UVU heavyweight won his first two bouts before falling to Oregon State's Cody Crawford in the quarterfinal round. Following the 2-0 setback to OSU's Crawford, Karst responded by capping his 2016 Reno Tournament of Champions run with four straight victories. On the day, Karst defeated CSU Bakersfield's Jarrod Snyder by fall (4:29), and CSU Pueblo's Augie Desantis (5-1), Wyoming's Brandon Tribble (11-4), CSUB's Dominic Balmer (8-1), Big 12 foe Tanner Allen of No. 1 Oklahoma State in the consolation semis (3-1) and Michigan State's Jacob Cooper in the third-place bout (3-0) all by decision. With the six victories on Sunday, Karst improved his record to a team-best 17-3 on the year.
 
The unattached freshman Jantzer was next for Utah Valley by wrestling his way to a 4-2 record on Sunday en route to earning his fifth-place finish. Jantzer opened the tournament with a trio of consecutive victories to be the lone Wolverine to reach the semifinals of the renowned tournament. He then met up with the two-time NCAA qualifier at Wyoming and now MSU Northern's Ben Stroh and dropped a tightly contested 6-4 decision to Stroh to enter the consolation semifinals. Jantzer then fell to the former Grand Canyon Antelope and current Colorado Mesa Maverick Austin Gaun in that contest by fall (6:51) to enter the fifth-place match. The UVU unattached 184-pounder capped his tournament with an 11-4 decision victory over Cal Poly's Mitch Woods to place fifth.
 
Lloren, who too competed unattached from UVU at the tournament, went 4-3 on Sunday to earn his sixth-place finish at the 2016 RTOC. Lloren opened his day with a pair of victories before dropping a 7-5 decision to Oklahoma State's Mike Magaldo in the quarterfinals. The unattached freshman then won his next two matches – with a 10-1 major decision over Fresno State's Trevor Williams and a 4-3 decision over Clackamas' Blake McNall – to seal a medal finish at his inaugural collegiate RTOC appearance. He then finished his day with back-to-back setbacks to Michigan State's Austin Eicker (8-1) in the consolation semis and Oklahoma State's Lincoln Olson (8-4) in the fifth-place match.
 
A trio of UVU 141-pounders too wrestled well for the Wolverines on Sunday, as unattached freshman Matt Findlay just missed out on a medal finish by posting a 5-2 record while senior Trevor Willson posted a 3-2 ledger and redshirt freshman Chase Call went 2-2.
 
Seven other Wolverines competed at the 2016 RTOC on Sunday and sophomore 165-pounder Dalton Harmon, as well as unattached freshmen Heston Woolsey (125), Austin Trapp (133), Landon Knutzen (149) and unattached sophomore Kieffer Taylor (174) all went 1-2, while junior 197-pounder Aryton Almberg and freshman 174-pounder Michael Milliner each went 0-2.

"This can be a long day and I thought our guys finished strong," added Lofthouse. "We were able to see a few areas that we need to improve and work on as a team. We definitely got better today and that is the purpose of wrestling these top-level guys. We are always continuing to build and keep getting better for the future."

Fellow unattached Utah Valley freshman Taylor LaMont too competed over the weekend and the Wolverine 125-pounder wrestled his way to a fourth-place finish at the 2016 U.S. Greco-Roman Senior Nationals on Saturday in Las Vegas by compiling a 4-2 record.
 
LaMont opened the brutal tournament with an 8-0 victory over Lawson Ludwin (Tiger Wrestling Club) before following that up with a 6-5 win over Lillashawn Coleman (Army WCAP) and a 3-2 victory over Sam Jones (New York Athletic Club) in the quarterfinal round. In the semis, LaMont then suffered his first defeat by dropping a tightly contested 11-9 setback to the eventual champion Hayden Tuma (Army WCAP) to head to the consolation semifinals. The Wolverine freshman then responded with a 2-1 victory over Max Nowry (Army WCAP) to once again match up with Jones of the New York Athletic Club in the third-place bout. This time Jones got the best of LaMont by defeating him by a score of 4-2 to cap LaMont's 2016 Greco Senior Nationals with a 4-2 record and a fourth place finish.
 
The Wolverines, who previously defeated the five-time defending Pac-12 Champion Oregon State Beavers by criteria on Thursday, will now be off until New Year's Day when they'll head to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to compete at the Southern Scuffle. The two-day tournament will be contested at UT Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena on Jan. 1-2. 
 
Reno Tournament of Champions Results
141 – Chase Call – 2-2
#19 Joey Palmer (Oregon St.) Dec. Chase Call (UVU), 11-4
Chase Call (UVU) MD Gavin Melendez (CSU Pueblo-Un.), 13-2
Chase Call (UVU) Fall Tyler Miller (Eastern Ore.), 0:21
Kalani Tongi (CSUB-Un.) Dec. Chase Call (UVU), 5-3
 
141 – Trevor Willson – 3-2
Trevor Willson (UVU) Fall Michael Cook (Boise St.), 4:24
Trevor Willson (UVU) Fall Glenn Farina (Cal Poly-Un.), 0:59
Trevor Willson (UVU) Dec. Kalani Tonge (CSUB-Un.), 3-1
#12 Javier Gasca (Michigan St.) Dec. Trevor Willson (UVU), 7-6
#19 Joey Palmer (UVU) MD Trevor Willson (UVU), 14-3
 
165 – Dalton Harmon – 1-2
Jacobi Jones (CSU Pueblo) Dec. Dalton Harmon (UVU), 7-3
Dalton Harmon (UVU) MD James Bowers (Southern Ore. CC), 10-1
Jason Berquist (Cal Poly-Un.) Fall Dalton Harmon (UVU), 3:30
 
197 – Aryton Almberg – 0-2
Sullivan Culley (ASU) Dec. Aryton Almberg (UVU), 6-1
Harley DiLulo (Boise St.) MD Aryton Almberg (UVU), 13-1
 
285 – Jordan Karst – 6-1 – 3rd Place
Jordan Karst (UVU) Fall Jarrod Snyder (CSUB-Un.), 4:29
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Augie Desantis (CSU Pueblo), 5-1
Cody Crawford (Oregon St.) Dec. Jordan Karst (UVU), 2-0
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Brandon Tribble (Wyoming), 11-4
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Dominic Balmer (CSUB), 8-1
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Tanner Allen (OK State), 3-1
3rd Place Match: Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Jacob Cooper (Michigan St.), 3-0
 
125 – Heston Woolsey (Unattached) – 1-2
Alex Hernandez-Figueroa (CSUB-Un.) Dec. Heston Woolsey (UVU-Un.), 15-9
Heston Woolsey (UVU-Un.) TF Michael Bresser (Unattached), 16-0
Gabe Townsell (Stanford) TF Heston Woolsey (UVU-Un.), 22-4
 
133 – Durbin Lloren (Unattached) – 4-3 – 6th Place
Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.) Fall Paul Garcia (CSU Pueblo), 4:50
Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.) MD Noah Beanes-Blakely (CSUB), 11-2
Mike Magaldo (OK State) Dec. Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.), 7-5
Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.) MD Trevor Williams (Fresno St.-Un.), 10-1
Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.) Dec. Blake McNall (Clackamas), 4-3
Austin Eicker (Michigan St.) Dec. Durbin Lloren (UVU-Un.), 8-1
5th Place Match: Lincoln Olson (OK State) Dec. Durbin Lloren (UVU), 8-4
 
133 – Austin Trapp (Unattached) – 1-2
Austin Reed (Clackamas-Un.) Dec. Austin Trapp (UVU-Un.), 7-5
Austin Trapp (UVU-Un.) Fall Michael McDaniel (Colo. Mesa-Un.), 1:50
Juaquin Olivas (Colo. Mesa) MD Austin Trapp (UVU-Un.), 17-6
 
141 – Matt Findlay (Unattached) – 5-2
Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.) Fall Karrel Estel (Unattached), 0:28
Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.) MD Tyler Miller (Eastern Ore.), 15-5
Jack Hathaway (Oregon St.) Dec. Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.), 10-4
Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.) MD Glenn Farina (Cal Poly-Un.), 13-5
Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.) MD Kurt Mode (Clackamas), 15-7
Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.) MD Brandon Kier (Stanford), 10-2
#19 Joey Palmer (Oregon St.) MD Matt Findlay (UVU-Un.), 20-9
 
149 – Landon Knutzen (Unattached) – 1-2
Christian Pagdialo (ASU) MD Landon Knutzen (UVU-Un.), 10-2
Landon Knutzen (UVU-Un.) Dec. Zechariah Bresser (Unattached), 8-7
Oliver Pierce (ASU) Dec. Landon Knutzen (UVU-Un.), 10-6
 
174 – Michael Milliner (Unattached) – 0-2
Jacob Dupuis (Eastern Ore.) Dec. Michael Milliner (UVU-Un.), 9-5
Andrew Morgan (Campbell-Un.) Fall Michael Milliner (UVU-Un.), 2:18
 
174 – Kieffer Taylor (Unattached) – 1-2
Kyle Pope (Wyoming) Dec. Kieffer Taylor (UVU-Un.), 5-3
Kieffer Taylor (UVU-Un.) Fall Zach Coffman (Boise St.), 2:33
Kyle Bateman (CSU Pueblo) Dec. Kieffer Taylor (UVU-Un.) 7-6
 
184 – Gary Jantzer (Unattached) – 4-2 – 5th Place
Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.) Fall Josh Kim (Simon Fraser), 6:07
Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.) Dec. Kaydn Del Toro (Boise St.), 5-2
Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.) Fall Andrew Tausch (Clackamas), 1:04
Ben Stroh (MSU Northern) Dec. Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.), 6-4
Austin Gaun (Colo. Mesa) Fall Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.), 6:51
5th Place Match: Gary Jantzer (UVU-Un.) Dec. Mitch Woods (Cal Poly-Un.), 11-4