RENO, Nev. – A total of four Wolverines earned podium finishes en route to leading Utah Valley University wrestling to a sixth place finish out of 49 teams at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. 
 
With the majority of UVU's starters sitting out the event, redshirt freshman Chase Trussell led the way by placing second at heavyweight, while 25th-ranked junior Taylor LaMont followed with a third-place finish at 133. Redshirt freshmen Jayden Woodruff (197 pounds) and Jacob Armstrong (184) too placed at Sunday's tournament by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. 
 
With the four placewinners, UVU placed sixth as a team with a total of 69 points. Wyoming won Sunday's tournament with 155.5 points, while Campbell took second (147), Grand View third (75), Oregon State fourth (73.5), and Fresno State fifth (73).  
 
Trussell led Utah Valley on the day going 4-1 on his way to earning a runner-up finish. The UVU heavyweight opened with four straight wins on his way to advancing to the championship match. After opening with a second period fall of Corban's Jack Farely (4:34), Trusell then followed with back-to-back decisions over Cal Poly's Victor Jaquez (7-4) and Tommy Mommer of Clackamas (3-1) to reach the semis. In the semifinals, Trussell then picked up a win by forfeit over 12th-ranked and 2019 All-American Josh Hokit of Fresno State to move on the title bout. Trussell then suffered his lone defeat of the tournament in a hard fought 3-2 setback to the two-time NCAA qualifier and 11th-ranked Jere Heino of Campbell to finish second.
 
After having a rough outing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last week, 2018 UVU NCAA qualifier and 25th-ranked LaMont bounced back on Sunday by placing third after too going 4-1 on the day. The Wolverine 133-pounder opened with a trio of bonus-point wins over Joshua Tripp of Colorado Mesa (tech fall, 20-5), Christian Nunez of California Baptist (fall, 6:20), and Tanner Irwin of Grand View (major decision, 16-2) to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, overtime was needed to determine a winner between LaMont and No. 10 Noah Gosner of Campbell. Still tied in the tiebreakers, Gosner managed to edge the 25th-ranked Wolverine by a score of 6-2 to send LaMont to the third-place match. LaMont then did a nice job of responding by pulling out a tightly contested 2-1 decision over No. 20 Devan Turner of Oregon State to finish his 2019 Reno TOC with a third-place finish. 
 
Woodruff too went 4-1 on the day to earn a fifth-place finish at 197 pounds. After opening with a pair of wins over Barrett Hughes of Oklahoma State (9-0) and Tucker Tomlinson of Western Wyoming (12-9), the Wolverine redshirt freshman then fell to Wyoming's Stephan Buchanan by fall to head to the consolation rounds. Woodruff responded nicely by pulling out the next two bouts by major decision over Jarrad Dixon of Oregon State (11-1) and Afton Silvis of Menlo (13-1) to head to the fifth-place match. Woodruff then claimed the fifth-place match by no contest over Western Wyoming's Tucker Tomlinson to finish in fifth place. 
 
In his first official collegiate action, the redshirt freshman Armstrong too earned a podium finish by placing sixth at 184 after going 4-2 on the day. Armstrong opened with back-to-back wins over Nolan Krone of Colorado Mesa (8-3) and Brett Mower of unattached (12-3) to reach the quarters. Armstrong then dropped his first match of the season to Anthony Orozco of Menlo (8-2) to head to the consolation rounds. The UVU 184-pounder then bounced back with a pair of bonus-point wins over Ben Lee of Grand View (major decision, 15-7) and Kenderick Jones of Grand View (fall, 3:36) to head to the fifth-place match. Then wrestling for fifth, Armstong ended up suffering a 7-4 loss to Fresno State's Brandon Martino to finish in sixth.
 
Six other Wolverine grapplers wrestled for UVU on the day with redshirt freshman Will Edelblute leading the way by going 3-2 at 125 pounds. Sophomore Ashton Seely (184) and redshirt freshman Kainalu Estrella (133) too wrestled well by each going 2-2, while redshirt freshman Jerry Rubio went 1-2 at 157, and redshirt freshman Josh Tolentino (149) and sophomore Spencer Heywood (157) each finished 0-2. 
 
Seven other UVU wrestlers too took part in Sunday's tournament and all competed unattached. RJ Bingham led the unattached freshmen by going 4-2 at 165, while Sam Edelblute went 3-2 at 133, Kekana Fouret and Corbin Smith both went 2-2 at 165, Derek Fisher went 1-2 at 141, and James Emmer (141) and Payson Anderton (197) both finished with 0-2 showings. 
 
The Wolverines will now take the next couple of weeks off and will return to Big 12 Conference dual competition on Jan. 2 at Fresno State. UVU will then cap the trip by heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to face No. 15 Northern Iowa on Jan. 4. Utah Valley will then return home to host No. 11 Iowa State on Jan. 9.
 
UTAH VALLEY RENO TOC RESULTS
125 - Will Edelblute (3-2)
Will Edelblute (UVU) TF Kade Uyesaka (UN-Oregon St.), 15-0 (7:00)
Antonio Lorenzo (UN-Cal Poly) MD Will Edelblute (UVU), 11-3
Will Edelblute (UVU) FALL Connor Finch (Warner Pacific), 0:23
Will Edelblute (UVU) MD Greg Viloria (UN-Menlo), 14-4
Justin Portillo (Grand View) MD Will Edelblute (UVU), 13-4
 
133 - #25 Taylor LaMont (4-1) - 3rd Place
#25 Taylor LaMont (UVU) TF Joshua Tripp (UN-Colo. Mesa), 20-5 (2:19)
#25 Taylor LaMont (UVU) FALL Christian Nunez (CBU), 6:20
#25 Taylor LaMont (UVU) MD Tanner Irwin (UN-Grand View), 16-2
#10 Noah Gonser (Campbell) DEC #25 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 6-2 (TB-2)
#25 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #20 Devan Turner (Oregon St.), 2-1
 
133 - Kainalu Estrella (2-2)
Kainalu Estrella (UVU) TF Steven Beckmen (Treasure Valley CC), 18-0 (3:00)
Kobee Nelms (UN-Texas Wesleyan) MD Kainalu Estrella (UVU), 17-5
Kainalu Estrella (UVU) FALL Jake Abeyta (Hastings), 4:22
Isaiah Perez (UN-Fresno St.) FALL Kainalu Estrella (UVU), 2:25
 
149 - Josh Tolentino (0-2)
Dillon Ulrey (Arizona St.) TF Josh Tolentino (UVU), 17-2 (5:14)
Daniel Van Hoose (Colo. Mesa) FALL Josh Tolentino (UVU), 2:03
 
157 - Spencer Heywood (0-2)
Logan Jensen (Wyoming) DEC Spencer Heywood (UVU), 7-6
Chance McClane (UN-Oklahoma St.) DEC Spencer Heywood (UVU), 4-3
 
157 - Jerry Rubio (1-2)
Renadlo Rodriguez-Spencer (Grand View) FALL Jerry Rubio (UVU), 5:44
Jerry Rubio (UVU) MD Tyler Hardin (Treasure Valley CC), 18-4
Matthew Dallara (Campbell) FALL Jerry Rubio (UVU), 3:46
 
184 - Jacob Armstrong (4-2) - 6th Place
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Nolan Krone (Colo. Mesa), 8-3
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) MD Brett Mower (Unattached), 12-3
Anthony Orozco (Menlo) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 8-2
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) MD Ben Lee (Grand View), 15-7
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) FALL Kenderick Jones (Grand View), 3:36
Brandon Martino (Fresno St.) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 7-4
 
184 - Ashton Seely (2-2)
Ashton Seely (UVU) TF Jullian Stone (Umpqua), 15-0 (4:52)
Brandon Martino (Fresno St.) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 3-0
Ashton Seely (UVU) MD Garrett Strang (CBU), 9-1
Nolan Krone (Colo. Mesa) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 7-3
 
197 - Jayden Woodruff (4-1) - 5th Place
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD Barrett Hughes (UN-Oklahoma St.), 9-0
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) DEC Tucker Tomlinson (Western Wyo.), 12-9
Stephan Buchanan (Wyoming) FALL Jayden Woodruff (UVU), 6:15
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD Jarrad Dixon (Oregon St.), 11-1
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD Afton Silvis (Menlo), 13-1
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) NC Tucker Tomlinson (Western Wyo.), No Contest
 
285 - Chase Trussell (4-1) - 2nd Place
Chase Trussell (UVU) FALL Jack Farely (Corban), 4:34
Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC Victor Jaquez (UN-Cal Poly), 7-4
Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC Tommy Mommer (Clackamas), 3-1
Chase Trussell (UVU) FOR #12 Josh Hokit (Fresno St.), Forfiet
#11 Jere Heino (Campbell) DEC Chase Trussell (UVU), 3-2
 
Unattached Wolverines
133 - Sam Edelblute (3-2)
Kyle Evans (Western Wyo.) FALL Sam Edelblute (UN-UVU), 1:14
Sam Edelblute (UN-UVU) MD CJ Richmond Bonney (Corban), 10-2
Sam Edelblute (UN-UVU) DEC Nick Kunz Havre (Montana-Northern), 10-7
Sam Edelblute (UN-UVU) FALL Christian Nunez (CBU), 4:47
Austin Wallace-Lister (Warner Pacific) DEC Sam Edelblute (UN-UVU), 11-4
 
141 - James Emmer (0-2)
Kyle Parco (UN-Fresno St.) MD James Emmer (UN-UVU), 13-1
Chaz Hallmark (UN-CBU) DEC James Emmer (UN-UVU), 11-8
 
141 - Derek Fisher (1-2)
Lucas Higginbotham (Warner Pacific) FALL Derek Fisher (UN-UVU), 4:19
Derek Fisher (UN-UVU) MD Connor Wilson (UN-Oklahoma St.), 19-7
Kendon Lee (Grand View) MD Derek Fisher (UN-UVU), 14-4
 
165 - RJ Bingham (4-2)
Aaron Olmos (Oregon St.) DEC RJ Bingham (UN-UVU), 6-4
RJ Bingham (UN-UVU) M FOR Antonio Viorato-Castillo (Simpson), Med Forfiet
RJ Bingham (UN-UVU) FALL Ryan Moltz (UN-Arizona St.), 4:10
RJ Bingham (UN-UVU) FALL Drake Mckee (UN-Texas Wesleyan), 6:43
RJ Bingham (UN-UVU) TF Corbin Smith (UN-UVU), 17-2 (7:00)
Austin Kraisser (Campbell) DEC RJ Bingham (UN-UVU), 5-2
 
165 - Kekana Fouret (2-2)
Kekana Fouret (UN-UVU) DEFAULT Freddie Garcia (UN-Simpson), 2-2 3:00
Austin Kraisser (Campbell) DEC Kekana Fouret (UN-UVU), 3-0
Kekana Fouret (UN-UVU) FALL Beau Colombini (Fresno St.), 6:59
Giovanny Bonilla (Grand View) DEC Kekana Fouret (UN-UVU), 7-0
 
165 - Corbin Smith (2-2)
Cole Moody (Wyoming) FALL Corbin Smith (UN-UVU), 3:43
Corbin Smith (UN-UVU) FALL Caleb Werner (Umpqua), 1:36
Corbin Smith (UN-UVU) FALL Drake Engelking (UN-Northern Colo.), 2:33
RJ Bingham (UN-UVU) TF Corbin Smith (UN-UVU), 17-2 (7:00)
 
197 - Payson Anderton (0-2)
Arick Lopez (CBU) DEC Payson Anderton (UN-UVU), 4-3
Daniel Brady (Arizona St.) DEC Payson Anderton (UN-UVU), 14-7