OREM, Utah – Nineteenth-ranked Tanner Orndorff looked to upset fifth-ranked Nathan Traxler in the final match of the night, but in the end Traxler managed to hold on en route to leading No. 22 Stanford to a tightly contested 25-19 non-conference victory over Utah Valley on Friday night at Lockhart Arena. 
 
Both teams split the dual at five bouts apiece, but bonus points were the difference as Stanford (8-1, 1-0 Pac-12) collected bonus-point wins in four of its five victories on its way to defeating the Wolverines (1-7, 0-4 Big 12).
 
"Obviously I love it when the crowd can witness a good match and when the dual comes down to the final match like it did tonight. But at the same time, we went five-and-five and still lost by six points. We need to find a way to correct that and be better on bottom," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "We saw some good things from our younger guys tonight, but we need to improve on some basics on bottom. If we do that, then it changes the outcome." 
 
With UVU trailing 22-12 with three matches to go, ninth-ranked senior Kimball Bastian – who was back in the lineup for the first time since the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite for the Wolverines – picked up a 12-4 major decision over Jared Hill to cut the deficit to 22-16. The two-time UVU 174-pound NCAA qualifier jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second period thanks to a trio of takedowns and an escape. Holding to a 7-3 advantage in the third, Bastian then scored another takedown with 30 seconds left and quickly cut Hill and took him down again to lock up the bonus-point victory with riding time and make it a manageable deficit for his squad with two matches to go.
 
Utah Valley redshirt freshman Jacob Armstrong then followed with a clutch 7-2 decision over Nick Addison at 184 pounds to pull the Wolverines within three heading into the final match (22-19). Armstrong got off to a strong start over Addison with an early takedown and a second period reversal to jump out to a 4-0 lead. With the match at 4-2 in the third, Armstrong then locked up his first collegiate dual meet victory with another takedown and a riding time point to improve to 5-4 on the season.
 
Then with the dual on the line in the final match of the evening between UVU three-time NCAA qualifier Tanner Orndorff and Stanford two-time NCAA qualifier Traxler, Traxler got off to a fast start as he built a quick 6-1 lead after one. Later with the higher ranked Traxler leading 7-1 in the third, Orndorff started to make his move with an escape and a quick takedown to make it 7-4. Orndorff then cut Traxler and immediately took him down to make it 8-6 with 45 seconds remaining. Orndorff then again cut his Cardinal counterpart and took him down with a couple of seconds left on the clock, but Traxler held riding time and managed to hold on to win the final match by a score of 10-8 and lock up the dual for Stanford.
 
"Stanford is a really good team and I have a lot of respect for their squad," Williams added. "It was a fun match tonight and I hope that we can continue to build on it." 
 
With the contest beginning at heavyweight, redshirt freshman Chase Trussell got the Wolverines off to a strong start with a hard fought 4-1 decision over Trevor Rasmussen to give UVU a 3-0 lead. Filling in for fourth-ranked sophomore Tate Orndorff, Trussell jumped out to a 1-0 advantage thanks to a second period escape. Rasmussen then knotted the score at 1-1 with an escape of his own with 30 seconds to go, but Trussell responded with the winning takedown with late in the final period along with an additional riding time point to earn his first collegiate dual meet victory. 
 
The Cardinal then momentarily took the lead thanks to a second period fall from Jackson DiSario at 125 pounds, but 19th-ranked junior Taylor LaMont bounced back for UVU with a win via forfeit to give the Wolverines a 9-6 advantage. 
 
Stanford then picked up a win by technical fall from third-ranked Real Woods at 141 pounds to take an 11-9 lead, but again UVU responded with a 7-3 decision from freshman Cameron Hunsaker to take a 12-11 advantage. Bumping up a weight class and competing at 149 pounds on the night, Hunsaker was the aggressor in the match, as he collected a trio of takedowns along with an additional riding time point to defeat Stanford's Dawson Sihavong and give the Wolverines the lead midway through the dual.
 
The Cardinal then bounced back with back-to-back bonus-point victories from Tyler Eischens and third-ranked Shane Griffith to take a 22-12 lead, before UVU answered back with consecutive wins from Bastian and Armstrong to set up the final showdown between Tanner Orndorff and Traxler at 197 pounds.
 
The win marked Stanford's eighth consecutive victory on the season, while the loss marked UVU's seventh straight setback. 
 
The Wolverines will return to Big 12 Conference action on Sunday afternoon against the Wyoming Cowboys. The matinee contest will begin at 2 p.m. MT and will be contested at Green River High School in Green River, Wyoming. Following the dual, UVU will return to Orem to open a three-match homestand against Air Force on Thursday, Jan. 30. 
 
FINAL RESULTS
#22 Stanford 25, Utah Valley 19
285: Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC Trevor Rasmussen (STAN), 4-1
125: Jackson DiSario (STAN) FALL Will Edelblute (UVU), 4:36
133: #19 Taylor LaMont (UVU) wins by forfeit
141: #3 Real Woods (STAN) TF Isaiah Delgado (UVU), 16-1 (4:40)
149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Dawson Sihavong (STAN), 7-3
157: Tyler Eischens (STAN) TF Jerry Rubio (UVU), 18-0 (4:02)
165: #3 Shane Griffith (STAN) FALL Grant LaMont (UVU), 3:59
174: #9 Kimball Bastian (UVU) MD Jared Hill (STAN), 12-4
184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Nick Addison (STAN), 7-2
197: #5 Nathan Traxler (STAN) DEC #19 Tanner Orndorff (UVU), 10-8
 
Orem, Utah - Lockhart Arena
Officials: Jay Cox, Don Christensen
Attendance: 1,011
 
*Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat, and WIN Magazine polls.