OREM, Utah – Team Green made things interesting by tying things up late, but Team Black responded by winning the final four matches on the night to pull out a 38-21 victory at Utah Valley University's annual Green & Black Intrasquad Dual on Wednesday evening at Lockhart Arena.
 
With the score all deadlocked at 21-21 after back-to-back falls and a decision victory by the Green Team, senior and two-time NCAA qualifier Kimball Bastian helped the Black Team respond by pulling out a technical fall victory to give the Black squad a 26-21 advantage. The victory helped jumpstart the Black Team, as it went on to win the final four bouts en route to claiming the 38-21 win.
 
"The Intrasquad is always fun because the guys get to come out here and compete," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "In some weight cases we really don't know what to expect. 125 looks to be a toss-up so these matches and results were good for us to see tonight. 
 
"Our conditioning looks to be where we want it to be. But overall, we have a lot of work to do with our non-returning NCAA qualifiers. This Saturday will be a great chance to continue to work on those things at the Cowboy Open. And we're looking forward to getting the season underway."
 
Junior Koy Wilkinson (165 pounds) and redshirt freshman Jerry Rubio (157) led the Black squad on the night by both claiming a pair of victories, while the senior and 12th-ranked Bastian (174) and freshman Sam Edelblute (133) each added bonus-point wins for Team Black. 
 
Wilkinson started the scoring on the night by recording a 10-5 decision over freshman Corbin Smith at 165 pounds, while redshirt freshman Josiah Nava (125) quickly followed by gutting out a tight 4-3 win over fellow 125-pound redshirt freshman Will Edelblute to give the Black Team a 6-0 advantage. Rubio then followed with an 11-9 victory over freshman Kekana Fouret at 157 pounds to make it 9-0. The Green Team then got on the board thanks to an 8-2 decision from sophomore 133-pounder Isaiah Delgado over Sam Edelblute to pull the score to 9-3. 
 
Sophomore transfers Ty Smith (133, transferred from Drexel) and Jed Loveless (157, transferred from Wyoming) then followed with back-to-back decision victories to give the Black squad a 15-3 lead with respective wins over Kainalu Estrella and Spencer Heywood. Freshman Derek Fisher then made it 18-3 with a 3-2 win over James Emmer, before freshman Cameron Hunsaker responded for the Green Team with a 6-0 shutout over Dylan Gregerson at 141 pounds to make it 18-6.
 
Freshman Brigg Hoopes then made it 21-6 with a 6-4 decision over Josh Tolentino at 149 pounds, before the Green Team managed to pull out a trio of straight wins to deadlock the score at 21-all. Three-time NCAA qualifier and senior 184-pounder Tanner Orndorff (currently ranked 19th) started the streak with a second period fall over Payson Anderton and Will Edelblute (125) quickly followed for the Green Team with a 0:31-second revenge fall over Nava, who had previously defeated him on the night. Redshirt freshman Jayden Woodruff (197) then capped the run with a 4-1 decision over Ashton Seely. 
 
All knotted at 21-21, Bastian then started helped the Black Team bounce back with a 20-3 technical fall win over Corbin Smith to make it 26-21. Wilkinson then added to Black Team's lead with a 10-4 decision over RJ Bingham, and Sam Edelblute and Jerry Rubio helped the Black squad put the exhibition contest away with a respective win by fall (4:35 over Estrella) and a victory by decision (3-2 over Heywood). 
 
Fellow returning NCAA qualifier and 11th-ranked junior Matt Findlay too took part on the night in a non-scored drill match against fellow junior Landon Knutzen at 149 pounds. 
 
The Wolverines will officially begin the 2019-20 season on Saturday, Nov. 2 by taking part at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming. UVU will then open its dual slate the following weekend on Nov. 9 at the Journeymen Northeast Duals. While in Troy, New York, UVU will face both Purdue and Sacred Heart. The Wolverines will then open their home season on Nov. 22 by welcoming Big 12 Conference foe South Dakota State to town followed by another home dual against No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov. 23.