OREM, Utah – Kimball Bastian pulled out the decisive match and Tanner Orndorff and Dustin Dennison aided with bonus-point wins en route to leading Utah Valley University to a 21-17 non-conference victory over Pac-12 foe CSU Bakersfield on Thursday evening at UVU's Lockhart Arena. 
 
The victory marks Utah Valley's third straight win, as it improves to 4-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 at home. The Roadrunners fall to 3-3 on the year with the loss.
 
"This was the best team performance that we've had all year. Everyone wrestled solid all the way through our lineup," head coach Greg Williams said. "We felt that this was definitely a step forward from last week, and that's exactly what we're looking for."
 
After suffering an opening setback at 184 pounds, Orndorff managed to overcome an early deficit en route to recording a 15-4 major decision over the 19th-ranked Matt Williams to give the Wolverines a 4-3 lead on the scoreboard. Trailing 4-2 midway thru the opening period, the Wolverine 197-pounder managed to turn a Williams shot into a six-point move of his own thanks to a takedown followed by a four-point nearfall. Orndorff, who placed eighth earlier this season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, then picked up another nearfall in the second period, as well as an escape, a takedown, a stall point and an additional riding time point to seal the major decision.
 
UVU heavyweight Dennison then picked up a major decision victory of his own to extend Utah Valley's lead to 8-3. Dennison recorded four takedowns, a trio of penalty points, an escape point and a riding time point on his way to a dominant 13-3 major over CSUB's Dominic Balmer.
 
Utah Valley's Mitch Brown (125 pounds) and Jarod Maynes (133) then followed with back-to-back decisions to up UVU's lead to 14-3. Brown earned a takedown, a four-point nearfall, a reversal and a riding time point en route to pulling out a 9-2 decision over Sean Nickell, while Maynes followed with a pair of takedowns, two escapes and an additional riding time point to defeat Carlos Herrera by a score of 7-3.
 
CSUB's 17th-ranked Russell Rohlfing (141) and 2016 NCAA qualifier Coleman Hammond (149) then got the Roadrunners right back into the match with consecutive wins to cut the deficit to 14-11. After a Rohlfing scored a 6-0 decision over UVU senior Trevor Willson, Hammond then put together an 11-point third period on his way to earning a 19-2 technical fall over Grant LaMont.
 
Raider Lofthouse then answered for the Wolverines at 157 pounds by holding on to pull out a hard fought 9-7 decision over Jacob Thalin to extend UVU's advantage to 17-11. Holding to a 7-1 lead late in the second stanza, Thalin managed to earn six points but the Wolverine sophomore answered with a critical escape and riding time point to hold on for the victory.
 
Bakersfield's 20th-ranked 165-pounder Lorenzo De La Riva then evened the team score at 17-all with a second-period fall over UVU freshman Koy Wilkinson to send the dual meet to the decisive final 174-pound bout.  
 
In the final match of the night, Bastian didn't disappoint for the Wolverines by pulling out an 8-0 major decision over Bakersfield's Matt Penyacsek to seal the victory. Holding to a 2-0 lead after one period of action, the UVU redshirt freshman followed with a second-period escape and takedown to take a 5-0 advantage, and capped his victory with a final period takedown and riding time point to earn UVU's third major decision of the dual.
 
The contest not only marked UVU's third consecutive victory, but also its third straight win in a meet that came down to the final match of the evening.
 
The Wolverines will now close their three-match homestand against Big 12 Conference foe Wyoming on Saturday, Jan. 28. The Wolverines and Cowboys will do battle that afternoon at 4 p.m. at UVU's newly named and renovated Lockhart Arena (PE Building).
 
Utah Valley 21, CSU Bakersfield 17
184: Bryan Battisto (CSUB) Dec. Will Sumner (UVU), 6-4
197: Tanner Orndorff (UVU) MD #19 Matt Williams (CSUB), 15-4
285: Dustin Dennison (UVU) MD Dominic Balmer (CSUB), 13-3
125: Mitch Brown (UVU) Dec. Sean Nickell (CSUB), 9-2
133: Jarod Maynes (UVU) Dec. Carlos Herrera (CSUB), 7-3
141: #17 Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) Dec. Trevor Willson (UVU), 6-0
149: Coleman Hammond (CSUB) TF Grant LaMont (UVU), 19-2 (6:56)
157: Raider Lofthouse (UVU) Dec. Jacob Thalin (CSUB), 9-7
165: #20 Lorenzo De La Riva (CSUB) Fall Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 4:49
174: Kimball Bastian (UVU) MD Matt Penyacsek (CSUB), 8-0
 
Official: Les Rasmussen
Attendance: 506