UTAH VALLEY at NORTHERN COLORADO
Friday, Feb. 15  |  7 p.m. MT
Bank of Colorado Arena  |  Greeley, Colo.
TV: Pluto TV (Channel 205)
Live Video (Pluto TV)  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  UNC Notes  

UTAH VALLEY at AIR FORCE
Saturday, Feb. 16  |  7 p.m. MT
Clune Arena  |  USAF Academy, Colo.
Live Video (TrackWrestling)  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  AFA Notes  
 

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OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will cap its 2018-19 regular season with a pair of Big 12 Conference road duals in Colorado this week. The Wolverines will first take on Northern Colorado on Friday before closing the trip at Air Force on Saturday.
 
Friday's contest will take place at 7 p.m. MT at UNC's Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, while Saturday's dual will also begin at 7 p.m. MT at AFA's Clune Arena in Colorado Springs. 
 
Friday's match will be streamed live on Pluto TV (Channel 205) while Saturday's will air live on TrackWrestling.com. Live results will also be available for both contests via TrackWrestling.
 
UVU will enter the weekend in search of its first two wins in Big 12 Conference action, as the Wolverines will enter with a 9-13 overall record and an 0-7 clip in conference duals. Utah Valley has dropped six straight duals after having a number of starters sidelined due to injury over the last few weeks. 
 
A week ago, the Wolverines battled but ended up dropping contests to No. 13 Wyoming and No. 17 Northern Iowa at home. After falling by a score of 27-6 to Wyoming on Feb. 8, UVU responded to win four of the 10 bouts against UNI on Feb. 9 to drop that match 29-12. In the UNI contest, both junior 174-pounder Kimball Bastian and junior 165-pounder Demetrius Romero recorded big wins for the Wolverines. 
 
Bastian, who is a returning NCAA qualifier and ranked 13th in his weight class at the time, managed to pull out a hard fought upset win over the returning Big 12 champion and sixth-ranked Taylor Lujan by a score of 6-5, while fellow returning NCAA qualifier and ninth-ranked Wolverine Romero earned an 8-4 victory over two-time NCAA qualifier and 12th-ranked Bryce Steiert. UVU two-time NCAA qualifier and then 14th-ranked Tanner Orndorff (197 pounds) as well as freshman Isaiah Delgado (133) also recorded victories in UVU's most recent contest against the Panthers. 
 
Orndorff led UVU on the week by going a perfect 2-0 with a win over No. 20 Cale Davidson of Wyoming (8-2) and Tyrell Gordon of UNI (10-4) on his way to earning a share of Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week honors. The conference honor marked UVU's second of the season -- as Romero previously earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors following a third-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December – as well as the second of Orndorff's career. 
 
RANKED WOLVERINES
UVU will enter this weekend's duals with six grapplers currently ranked and five listed in UVU's probable lineup. With Bastian's big win over No. 6 Lujan last week, the Wolverines now have three listed in the top-10 this week in No. 9 Romero (165), No. 10 Bastian (174) and No. 10 Matt Findlay (141). Tanner Orndorff is also ranked 15th this week at 197, while his brother Tate Orndorff is 18th at heavyweight, and Will Sumner is 26th on the first NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking at 184. Romero leads the way for UVU with a 20-3 season record while Tate Orndorff is 19-6 and Findlay is 14-2. Findlay is the lone Wolverine of the group that is not listed in UVU's probable starting lineup this week, as he's been sidelined for a couple of weeks with an injury. 
 
WELCOME TO THE TOP 25
After spending 10 consecutive weeks in the NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll this season and then the following two just outside the poll and receiving votes, UVU has now dropped out of the poll and from receiving votes after its most recent road trip at South Dakota State, No. 25 North Dakota State and No. 14 Iowa State. The Wolverines held down spots 21-23 during their 10 weeks inside the top 25 poll this season. The national ranking marked just the second time in program history that UVU has been nationally ranked and the No. 21 ranking was the highest in UVU wrestling history.
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Northern Colorado will enter Friday's dual with a 4-7 overall record and an 0-5 clip in Big 12 duals. The Bears have dropped two straight contests with losses to No. 16 Northern Iowa (38-6) and No. 25 North Dakota State (30-7). Prior to that, UNC picked up wins over Cal Poly (28-13) and CSU Bakersfield (17-16) on the road. Northern Colorado also holds wins on the year over VMI (35-9) and Hofstra (21-13). 
 
The Bears will enter the contest with a pair of wrestlers currently ranked in the most recent NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking in 125-pounder Rico Montoya (12-5) and 197-pounder Jacob Seely (11-5). Both are ranked 17th in their respective weight class. Both Montoya and Seely are returning NCAA qualifiers for the Bears. 
 
Friday's contest will mark the 19th all-time meeting between UVU and UNC. Northern Colorado will enter the match holding to an 11-7 series advantage and having won the last four matchups, which includes a tightly contested 22-20 dual in Orem last season.
 
Air Force will enter the weekend with a 5-5 overall record and a 1-4 mark in Big 12 duals. AFA will first host Oklahoma on Friday before welcoming UVU to town on Saturday. The Falcons will enter the weekend having split a pair of road contests last week with a 39-0 setback at No. 2 Oklahoma State and a 39-6 victory at Cal Poly. Air Force has went 3-3 over its last six duals and holds its wins on the season over Fresno State, Simon Fraser, two over Western Colorado and last week's over Cal Poly. 
 
AFA will enter the weekend with three grapplers currently ranked in the most recent NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking. Alex Mossing (16-12) leads the way as he checks in at No. 29 at 157 pounds, while Sidney Flores is 30th at 125 (16-10) and Anthony McLaughlin is 30th at 197 (10-3). Air Force doesn't return any NCAA qualifiers from last year's team. 
 
Saturday's matchup will mark the 16th all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Falcons. UVU will enter the contest holding to a slim 8-7 lead after dropping a 26-10 contest in USAF Academy, Colorado, last season. 
 
UP NEXT FOR UTAH VALLEY
Following the duals, UVU will prepare for the Big 12 Championships that will be held March 9-10 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, the Wolverines will look to qualify as many wrestlers as it can for the 2019 NCAA Championships that will run March 21-23 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
Utah Valley's Probable Lineup 
125 – Josh Jensen, Sr. (9-16 overall, 8-14 duals)
133 – Mitch Brown, RSr. (6-7, 3-4) OR Isaiah Delgado, Fr. (7-13, 3-9)
141 – Dylan Gregerson, Fr. (5-7, 2-5)
149 – Landon Knutzen, RSo. (10-15, 4-10) OR Cameron Haddock, Fr. (10-10, 0-6)
157 – Spencer Heywood, RFr. (4-14, 0-5)
165 – #9 Demetrius Romero, RJr. (20-3, 13-2) OR Koy Wilkinson, RSo. (11-8, 2-6)
174 – #10 Kimball Bastian, RJr. (14-8, 9-5) OR Kyle Snelling, RFr. (3-7, 1-5)
184 – #26 Will Sumner, RSr. (15-9, 10-6)
197 – #15 Tanner Orndorff, RJr. (13-9, 9-5) OR Ashton Seely, RFr. (11-12, 5-4)
285 – #18 Tate Orndorff, RFr. (19-6, 12-4) OR Benjamin Andrew, RSo. (10-7, 2-2)
 
Northern Colorado's Probable Lineup
125 – #17 Rico Montoya, Sr. (12-5) OR Michael Johnson, RSo. (3-4)
133 – Sean Cannon, Jr. (3-12)
141 – Chris Sandoval, So. (4-6) OR Owen Lamb, RSo. (0-10)
149 – Armando Santillan, So. (1-7) OR Dante Rodriguez, RSr. (1-1)
157 – Jordan Robison, So. (6-12)
165 – Macoy Flangan, RSo. (6-11)
174 – Seth Bogulski, RSo. (2-11) OR Trent Schultz, So. (5-7)
184 – Dalton Robertson, Jr. (11-8)
197 – #17 Jacob Seely, RJr. (11-5)
285 – Robert Winters, RSo. (8-10)
 
Air Force's Probable Lineup
125 – #30 Sidney Flores, Fr. (16-10)
133 – John Twomey, Sr. (14-10) OR Tony DeCesare, So. (4-6)
141 – Garrett O'Shea, Jr. (16-9)
149 – Alec Opsal, Jr. (12-12)
157 – #29 Alex Mossing, Sr. (16-12) OR Trey Brisker, Fr. (6-6)
165 – Jacoby Ward, So. (12-9)
174 – Randy Meneweather, Jr. (15-13)
184 – Jacob Thompson, Fr. (7-10)
197 – #30 Anthony McLaughlin, Sr. (10-3) OR Casey Jumps, So. (8-7)
285 – Kayne Hutchison, Fr. (8-5)