OREM, Utah – The fourth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers won seven of the 10 bouts en route to claiming a 31-13 victory over Utah Valley University wrestling in front of 1,411 fans on Saturday afternoon at Lockhart Arena. 
 
A trio of Wolverines (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) recorded wins on the day, as No. 13 Kimball Bastian, No. 19 Tanner Orndorff, and Jed Loveless all picked up victories for UVU. Bastian and Loveless led the way by each registering bonus-point wins, while Tanner Orndorff picked up his second straight dual victory with a dominant 10-4 decision. 
 
"Wisconsin is a very good team and are fairly strong throughout their lineup. So, our guys have to be ready to wrestle," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "The thing is that our top guys aren't afraid to lose. Our better guys are going out there and wrestling. But our younger guys are being tentative and reacting to everything that their opponents are doing. They need to trust what we have been working on in the room and go out and execute that in their matches."
 
The fourth-ranked Badgers (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten) got off to a strong start by winning each of the first four matches to build a quick 17-0 advantage. UVU then got on the board thanks to a first-period fall from the sophomore 157-pounder Loveless to make it 17-6. Holding to an early 2-1 lead, Loveless registered his second takedown over UW's Garrett Model down and quickly pinned him (1:45) to give the Wolverines' six much-needed team points. 
 
With Wisconsin holding to a 21-6 lead following a major decision from two-time All-American and second-ranked Evan Wick at 165, 13th-ranked senior and two-time NCAA qualifier Bastian responded for UVU with a major decision of his own over UW's Tyler Dow at 174 pounds. With Bastian holding to a late 6-1 lead, the Wolverine senior got in on a shot to convert a last-second takedown as well as an additional riding time point to secure the bonus-point victory and make it 21-10 in the team score. 
 
The Badgers then picked up four more team points thanks to another major decision at 184, but back answered 19th-ranked UVU senior and three-time NCAA qualifier Tanner Orndorff with a 10-4 victory over Taylor Watkins at 197 pounds. Tied at 2-2 late in the second period, Tanner Orndorff managed to convert a late single-leg shot into two to take a 4-2 advantage into the final stanza. The UVU senior then followed that up with a pair of third-period takedowns, an escape, and a riding time point to win by a score of 10-4. Tanner Orndorff's win over Watkins comes just a day removed from his upset victory over No. 4 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. 
 
In the final and biggest match of the dual between No. 3 Tate Orndorff of UVU and No. 2 Trent Hillger of Wisconsin at heavyweight, overtime was needed to determine a winner. Deadlocked at 1-1 late in the third period, the third-ranked Wolverine sophomore got in on a shot and looked to score the winning takedown, but the bout headed to overtime after it wasn't awarded. With the crowd on its feet chanting in encouragement for Tate Orndorff, the two headed for the tiebreakers after a scoreless opening sudden victory period. With the Wolverine sophomore and 2019 NCAA qualifier in the top position, Hillger managed to record a quick escape to take a 2-1 lead. The 2019 Wisconsin All-American then quickly followed that up with a takedown and turned it into a fall (8:18) in the first tiebreaker period to cap the dual. 
 
The contest also featured another marquee match between UVU 2018 NCAA qualifier and seven-time age-group World Team member Taylor LaMont and 2018 National Champion and top-ranked Seth Gross of Wisconsin at 133 pounds. Despite a second-period takedown and an escape from LaMont, Gross managed to stay undefeated on the season by coming away with a 12-3 major decision. 
 
"Seth Gross is really tough and that match as well as the heavyweight match were both great tests for Taylor (LaMont) and Tate (Orndorff)," Williams added. "Taylor is not quite in shape yet, but Tate put it all out there. You usually don't see a lot of heavyweights laying out the shots like that especially when it is that tight. But both of these guys will learn from these matches and continue to get better."
 
The fourth-ranked Badgers marked the second highest ranked opponent that UVU has ever hosted in program history. 
 
Utah Valley will now be off until Dec. 6-7 when it will head to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. A season ago, UVU posted its highest team finish in program history at the esteemed tournament by placing eighth out of 43 teams. The Wolverines also recorded a program-best four podium finishes at last season's CKLV Invite.  
 
FINAL RESULTS
#4 Wisconsin 31, Utah Valley 13
125: Michael Cullen (UW) DEC Will Edelblute (UVU), 9-3
133: #1 Seth Gross (UW) MD Taylor LaMont (UVU), 12-3
141: #6 Tristan Moran (UW) MD Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 13-2
149: #13 Cole Martin (UW) FALL Landon Knutzen (UVU), 0:50
157: Jed Loveless (UVU) FALL Garrett Model (UW), 1:45
165: #2 Evan Wick (UW) MD Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 16-3
174: #13 Kimball Bastian (UVU) MD Tyler Dow (UW), 9-1
184: Johnny Sebastian (UW) MD Gary Jantzer (UVU), 12-2
197: #19 Tanner Orndorff (UVU) DEC Taylor Watkins (UW), 10-4
285: #2 Trent Hillger (UW) FALL #3 Tate Orndorff (UVU), 8:18 (TB-1)
 
Orem, Utah - Lockhart Arena
Officials - Scott Hall, Chas DeWitt
Attendance - 1411
 
Individual rankings listed are the highest rankings taken from the latest InterMat, Flo, Track, TOM, and Win Magazine polls.