#23 UTAH VALLEY vs. WESTERN WYOMING
Friday, Jan. 18  |  5 p.m. MT
Lockhart Arena  |  Orem, Utah
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  Tickets

#23 UTAH VALLEY vs. FRESNO STATE
Friday, Jan. 18  |  7 p.m. MT
Lockhart Arena  |  Orem, Utah
WAC Digital Network  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  FS Notes  |  Tickets

12TH ANNUAL UVU OPEN
Saturday, Jan. 19  |  9 a.m. MT
Lockhart Arena  |  Orem, Utah
Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  Tickets
 

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OREM, Utah – The 23rd-ranked Utah Valley University wrestling team will host its first action of the 2018-19 season this weekend when it welcomes Fresno State and Western Wyoming to town for a pair of duals on Friday (Jan. 18) before closing the weekend by hosting the UVU Open on Saturday (Jan. 19). 
 
The Wolverines will open their home season by taking on Western Wyoming Community College in dual action on Friday at 5 p.m. Utah Valley will then immediately face Fresno State in its Big 12 Conference dual opener that evening at 7 p.m. The weekend will close with the hosting of the 12th Annual UVU Open tournament on Saturday at 9 a.m.
 
All three events will take place at UVU's Lockhart Arena. Friday's duals will both be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network as well as the KSL TV app, while all three events will have live results available via TrackWrestling.com.
 
"We're thrilled to be home and be able to share some good wrestling with our fans," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "It's exciting to be able to wrestle at home over the next two weeks and we're looking forward to having some really good duals against tough competition."  
 
UVU (7-6, 0-0 Big 12) dropped a spot in the national rankings this week and will enter the weekend ranked 23rd on the latest NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Wolverines split a pair of tightly contested duals in Palo Alto, California, last weekend after defeating Harvard, 27-16, and falling to the now 25th-ranked Stanford Cardinal by a mere point, 20-19. 
 
Trailing Harvard 16-12 with three matches remaining, senior 184-pounder Will Sumner started a key stretch of three straight victories by pulling out a 7-5 overtime win over Cliffton Wang to make it a one-point contest at 16-15. Brothers Tanner Orndorff (197 pounds) and Tate Orndorff (heavyweight) then helped the Wolverines put the contest away with back-to-back falls over their Crimson counterparts to help propel UVU to the 27-16 win over Harvard.
 
Later in the day, Utah Valley then found itself trailing Stanford 13-6 midway through the dual. Junior 165-pounder Demetrius Romero then helped the Wolverines get going with an 8-0 bonus-point victory over 2017 All-American and 20th-ranked Paul Fox to make it 13-10. Then after a Cardinal win at 174, Sumner pulled out his second win of the day with a 10-8 decision to pull the Wolverines within three at 17-13 with two matches to go. In a ranked battle of two top-10 foes, Stanford's eighth-ranked Nathan Traxler managed to pull out a tightly contested 9-7 decision over No. 10 Tanner Orndorff to lock up the dual for UVU but Tate Orndorff responded with his second pin of the day to make the final score 20-19. 
 
Tate Orndorff, Romero, Sumner and sophomore 141-pounder Matt Findlay all led UVU on the day with unblemished 2-0 outings. 
 
RANKED WOLVERINES
UVU will enter the weekend with five grapplers currently nationally ranked and a total of three appearing in the top 10. Findlay leads the way as he's currently ranked eighth in the country in the latest FloWrestling poll at 141, while Romero follows at No. 9 at 165 and redshirt freshman Tate Orndorff checks in at No. 10 at heavyweight. Two-time UVU NCAA qualifier Tanner Orndorff is next as he's currently ranked 11th at 197, and junior 174-pounder Kimball Bastian rounds out the group at No. 13. Romero leads UVU with a 17-2 record while Tate Orndorff is 16-3 and Findlay is 12-1. 
 
WELCOME TO THE TOP 25
Utah Valley will enter the weekend ranked 23rd on the latest NWCA Division I Top 25 Coach Poll. This week marks the 10th consecutive week that the Wolverines have appeared on the poll this season and the 11th in program history after spending a week at No. 25 last season. This year, UVU debuted at No. 21 after knocking off then-No. 15 Rutgers on Nov. 10 and then dropped a spot to No. 22 for the following eight weeks before currently being ranked 23rd this week. 
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Western Wyoming is an NJCAA opponent that hails from Rock Springs, Wyoming. The Mustangs are off to a 5-4 dual record in 2018-19 with wins over Otero (twice), Cowley, Nassau and Southwestern Oregon. WWCC returns a pair of All-Americans this season in Jaxon Cole (third) and Jake Thompson (seventh). Of Western Wyoming's probable starters, Connor Kirkland leads the way with a 17-5 record at 197, while Samuel Freeman is 16-7 at 157 and Landon Brown is 13-4 at heavyweight. 
 
Friday's contest will mark the third all-time meeting between UVU and WWCC. Utah Valley will enter with a 2-0 record after defeating Western Wyoming, 24-13, in 2004 in Orem and, 26-21, in 2006 at a neutral-site in Laramie.
 
Fresno State will come to Orem with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-3 Big 12 Conference clip. The Bulldogs hold their wins over Northern Colorado, California Baptist, Johnson & Wales and Centenary (New Jersey). Fresno State has suffered setbacks to No. 8 Minnesota, No. 13 Rutgers, No. 20 North Dakota State, No. 21 Iowa State, Air Force and Stanford on the year. The Bulldogs are in their second season of wrestling in 2018-19 after reinstating their program after an 11-year hiatus from the sport following the 2005-06 campaign.
 
The Bulldogs currently have four nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 16 Josh Hokit at 197, No. 17 Khristian Olivas at 149, No. 21 Jackson Hemauer at 184 and No. 21 AJ Nevills at 285. Hokit, who also a running back on the football team at Fresno State, is the reigning Big 12 Wrestler of the Week after knocking off three-time All-American and fourth-ranked Willie Miklus of Iowa State in sudden victory last week. Of Fresno State's probable starters, Jacob Wright holds a 16-7 record at 165, while Hemauer is 15-6 at 184, Hokit 13-3 at 197, Nevills 13-5 at 285 and Olivas 13-8 at 149. 
 
Friday will mark the second all-time meeting between UVU and Fresno State. The Wolverines will enter the competition with a 1-0 series lead after pulling out a 26-12 victory in Fresno a season ago. 
 
ABOUT THE UVU OPEN
The UVU Open is an open tournament that will be contested on four mats and will run from 9 a.m. until the tournament is completed in the mid afternoon. Wrestlers from Utah Valley, Air Force, Arizona State, CSU Bakersfield, Fresno State, Northern Colorado, Stanford, Wyoming, Colorado Mesa, Northeastern JC, Otero JC, Western Wyoming as well as a few other local club teams are anticipated to be in attendance. Four placewinners will be crowned at each weight class.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The Wolverines will remain home to host a tri-dual next weekend on Friday, Jan. 25 at Lockhart Arena. CSU Bakersfield of the Pac-12 Conference will first face Big 12 foe West Virginia that afternoon at 3 p.m. before UVU will take on CSUB that evening at 5 p.m. and WVU in a Big 12 dual in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
 
#23 UTAH VALLEY'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Josh Jensen, Sr. (6-10, 5-8 duals)
133 – Isaiah Delgado, Fr. (6-8, 2-4) OR Dylan Gregerson, Fr. (0-2, 0-0)
141 – #8 Matt Findlay, RSo. (12-1, 11-1)
149 – Cameron Haddock, Fr. (7-5, 0-1) OR Landon Knutzen, RSo. (8-9, 2-4)
157 – Spencer Heywood, RFr. (2-8, 0-0)
165 – #9 Demetrius Romero, RJr. (17-2, 10-1) OR Koy Wilkinson, RSo. (8-3, 1-1)
174 – Kyle Snelling, RFr. (2-4, 0-2)
184 – Will Sumner, RSr. (12-6, 7-3)
197 – #11 Tanner Orndorff, RJr. (11-8, 7-4) OR Ashton Seely, RFr. (7-7, 2-1)
285 – #10 Tate Orndorff, RFr. (16-3, 9-1) OR Benjamin Andrew, RSo. (6-3, 1-0)
 
WESTERN WYOMING'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125 - Dalton Stutzman, Fr. (7-6)
133 - Joey Revelli, RFr. (8-8)
141 - Kyle Evans, Fr. (10-9)
149 - Zac Musselman, Fr. (2-4)
157 - Samuel Freeman, RSo. (16-7)
165 - Wyatt Monroe, Fr. (11-6)
174 - Jace Anderson, Fr. (10-8) 
184 - Jared Bird, Fr. (8-5) 
197 - Connor Kirkland, So. (17-5)
285 - Landon Brown, RFr. (13-4) 
 
FRESNO STATE'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125 - Robert Garcia IV, RFr. (4-8, 4-4)
133 - Gary Joint, RFr. (9-9, 5-5)
141 - Chris Deloza, So. (9-7, 7-3)
149 - #17 Khristian Olivas, RJr. (13-8, 6-4)
157 - Jacob Wright, RFr. (16-7, 5-3)
165 - Brandon Martino, RFr. (3-5, 2-3)
174 - Dominic Kincaid, RJr. (6-6, 3-3)
184 - #21 Jackson Hemauer, RFr. (15-6, 8-2)
197 - #16 Josh Hokit, Jr. (13-3, 2-0)
285 - #21 AJ Nevills, So. (13-5, 8-1)