USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – With Utah Valley University holding to a 13-11 advantage after seven matches, the Air Force Academy managed to win the final three bouts of the evening to take the Big 12 Conference match over UVU by a score of 20-13 on Thursday at Clune Arena.
 
In all, the Wolverines (3-8, 0-2 Big 12) won four of the 10 matches in the contest, while the Falcons (6-5, 1-3 Big 12) walked away victorious by winning the other six.

""We still have not been able to get 10 guys to compete in a dual this second half," head coach Greg Williams said. "When we get that out of our guys, we will win many of these duals, regardless of who is out of our lineup." 
 
Senior Ross Taylor (174 pounds) got the Wolverines on the board first thanks to a 4-1 overtime victory over Air Force's Adam Jackson in the opening bout of the dual. With the contest all knotted up at 1-1 at the end of regulation, Taylor managed to record an escape point and a takedown in the first set of tiebreaker periods to give UVU an early 3-0 lead.
 
Following back-to-back Falcon victories at 184 and 197, sophomore heavyweight Dustin Dennison and 18th-ranked senior 125-pounder Chasen Tolbert answered for the Wolverines with consecutive wins of their own to give UVU a 10-8 lead. Dennison started the spurt with a 3-1 decision over AFA's Marcus Malecek while Tolbert capped the rally with a dominant 8-0 major decision over Drew Romero.
 
In a tightly contested bout between rivals Jade Rauser and No. 18 Josh Martinez at 133 pounds, the three-time NCAA qualifier for the Falcons managed to pull out a controversial 4-3 decision over UVU's three-time NCAA qualifier thanks to a nullified takedown in the closing seconds of the third period. Trailing 4-3 late in the final stanza, Rauser looked to have secured the go-ahead two, but the official wiped the call away upon review as Martinez managed to hold on to the victory.

"Jade wrestled a great match and got the takedown at the end to win against Martinez, but Air Force challenged and the official took it away," Williams added. "It was a tough break for him but he will shake it off and be ready to go tomorrow."
 
Sophomore Jarod Maynes (141) then once again gave the Wolverines the lead at 13-11 thanks to a 4-3 decision of his own, but the Academy managed to put the conference contest away thanks to a trio of clutch decision victories down the stretch with wins from Jerry McGinty (9-3), Zach Stepan (10-4) and Alex Lopouchanski (7-0).
 
UVU will look to bounce back on Friday, as the weekend trip continues at Northern Colorado. The Bears and Wolverines will do battle in Greeley, Colorado on Friday at 7 p.m. before Utah Valley heads to Laramie, Wyoming to close the trip at Wyoming on Saturday evening.
 
Air Force 20, Utah Valley 13
174: Ross Taylor (UVU) over Adam Jackson (AFA), Dec. 4-1 (TB-1)
184: Anthony McLaughlin (AFA) over Will Sumner (UVU), Dec. 9-3
197: Parker Hines (AFA) over Aryton Almberg (UVU), TF 22-4 (5:39)
285: Dustin Dennison (UVU) over Marcus Malecek (AFA), Dec. 3-1
125: #18 Chasen Tolbert (UVU) over Drew Romero (AFA), MD 8-0
133: #18 Josh Martinez (AFA) over Jade Rauser (UVU), Dec. 4-3
141: Jarod Maynes (UVU) over Dylan Hyder (AFA), Dec. 4-3
149: Jerry McGinty (AFA) over Matthew Ontiveros (UVU), Dec. 9-3
157: Zach Stepan (AFA) over Raider Lofthouse (UVU), Dec. 10-4
165: Alex Lopouchanski (AFA) over Brayden Humpherys (UVU), Dec. 7-0