UTAH VALLEY AT 2017 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 
Thursday, March 16 - Saturday, March 18  
St. Louis, Mo.   |   Scottrade Center
TV: ESPN U / ESPN (Sessions I, III, V on ESPNU & Sessions II, IV & VI on ESPN)
Live Video: ESPN3 / WatchESPN (Every Match of Every Session on ESPN3)
Live Results: TrackWrestling.com or FloWrestling.org
Tournament Central  |  Brackets  |  UVU Match Notes

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Session I – Thurs., March 16 – 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. MT – First Round Matches (Watch Live)
Session II – Thurs., March 16 – 6 p.m. CT/5 p.m. MT – Second Round/Wrestlebacks (Watch Live)
Session III – Fri., March 17 – 10 a.m. CT/9 a.m. MT – Quarterfinals/Wrestlebacks (Watch Live)
Session IV – Fri., March 17 – 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT – Semifinals/Wrestlebacks (Watch Live)
Session V – Sat., March 18 – 10 a.m. CT/9 a.m. MT – Medal Round (3rd, 5th, 7th) (Watch Live)
Session IV – Sat., March 18 – 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT – Championship Finals (Watch Live)
 

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UTAH VALLEY WRESTLING HEADS TO ST. LOUIS FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships this week for the eighth straight year, as 197-pound redshirt freshman Tanner Orndorff and 285-pound junior Dustin Dennison will represent the Wolverines at this year's national tournament. The 2017 NCAA Championships will run Thursday through Saturday (March 16-18) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
"We're excited for both Tanner and Dustin to have this opportunity to compete at nationals this year, and we're happy that they will both be coming back for us next season," head coach Greg Williams said. "We want them to approach it just the same as they have all year long; to go out and put it all out on the line and see what happens. There won't be any easy matches, but both of them will be mentally and physically ready to go out and compete."
 
This year will mark the first appearance for both Dennison and Orndorff at nationals. Dennison punched his ticket to the 2017 NCAA Championships by earning an automatic bid after placing second in his weight class at the Big 12 Championship following an upset win over four-time NCAA qualifier Ross Larson of Oklahoma, while Orndorff earned his via an at-large selection.
 
The 19th-ranked Dennison will enter the tournament with a team-best 22-8 record and will open his first "Big Show" action against the No. 7 seed from Arizona State Tanner Hall (29-5). Orndorff (20-14), who is currently ranked 31st in his weight class in the latest NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking, will take on CSU Bakersfield's Matt Williams (17-9) in the opening pigtail round.
 
Both Dennison and Orndorff have faced their opening-round opponents in the past, and each have fared pretty well against their fellow 2017 NCAA qualifiers. Just this season, Orndorff pulled out a 15-4 major decision victory over CSUB's Williams, while Dennison found himself on the wrong end of a one-point decision to ASU's Hall last season (2-1).
 
The winner of Orndorff's pigtail match will advance on to face the No. 4 seed from Virginia Tech Jared Haught (24-2), while the winner of Dennison's first-round matchup against Hall will move on to face either No. 10 Nathan Butler of Stanford (23-9) or Drexel's Joseph Goodhart (24-8).
 
UVU ALL-TIME AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Utah Valley has claimed a total of 21 NCAA qualifiers in its eight seasons of competition at the NCAA Championships, and just last season (2016) the Wolverines crowned their second All-American in program history when UVU's first-ever four-time NCAA qualifier Jade Rauser (133 pounds) reeled off an impressive four-match winning streak en route to placing eighth in his weight class. In a must-win match against No. 6 George DiCamillo of Virginia, Rauser found himself facing a 5-0 deficit heading into the final period. The Wolverine standout then pieced together one of the best rounds of his collegiate career with a takedown, four-point nearfall and a last-second two-count for a two-point nearfall to seal the victory by the score of 8-6 and lock up his All-America status.
 
Fellow former Wolverine standout Benjamin Kjar became UVU's inaugural All-American in 2011 when he reached the semifinals en route to a fourth-place finish at 125 pounds.
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
Each weight class consists of 33 wrestlers for a grand total of 330 grapplers at the championship event and will be competed under a double-elimination format. The three-day NCAA Championships will feature two sessions of wrestling each day. This year's national tournament will open on Thursday with sessions at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT and 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT. The tournament will then continue with the quarterfinals on Friday at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT and the semifinals that evening at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT. The medal rounds will then take place on Saturday at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT and the championship finals will conclude the event on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT.
 
WHERE TO FOLLOW THE NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The ESPN family of networks will once again televise all six sessions of the NCAA Championships as well as live stream every match on every mat on ESPN3. This year, each morning session will be televised live on ESPN U, while every evening session will air live on ESPN. Live results can also be followed throughout the duration of the tournament at both TrackWrestling.com and FloWrestling.org.
 
UTAH VALLEY'S FIRST ROUND MATCHES
197 – Tanner Orndorff, UVU (20-14) vs. Matt Williams, CSUB (17-9)
285 – Dustin Dennison, UVU (22-8) vs. #7 Tanner Hall, ASU (29-5)