OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will open its 2020-21 campaign on Sunday, Jan. 3 by taking part at the Cal Poly Round Robin Tournament. The Wolverines will take on competitors from both the host Cal Poly Mustangs as well as Big 12 Conference foe Fresno State. 
 
Sunday's season-opener will begin at 12 p.m. MT/11 a.m. PT and will be competed at Cal Poly's Mott Athletics Center. 
 
Two wrestlers from each school at each weight class are anticipated to compete in the event. One mat of action will be streamed live on FloWrestling.org as well as the FloSports app (subscription required). Results will also be posted/updated throughout the day at GoPoly.com.
 
"It will be great to get out and get some real competition in this weekend in California. Our trips will be more regional this year and this will be a good opening test to see where we're at," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "We are younger this year than we've been in the past so this will be a good indicator to see how we look and what we need to do to improve from here." 
 
Utah Valley will enter the shortened 2020-21 campaign off of a 3-11 overall record and a 2-7 dual clip in Big 12 Conference action a year ago. UVU returns a pair of two-time NCAA qualifiers to its roster this year in redshirt senior Demetrius Romero and redshirt junior Taylor LaMont. LaMont was one of three NCAA qualifiers for the Wolverines last season, while Romero—who missed all of 2019-20 with a knee injury—is back for UVU this year and is a former Big 12 champion. After entering the 2020 Big 12 Championships as the No. 1 seed at 133 pounds a year ago, LaMont will drop back down to 125 this year while Romero will bump up from 165 to 174 this season. 
 
LaMont posted a 17-7 overall record a season ago and was set to enter the 2020 NCAA Championships as the No. 17 seed in his weight class before the championships were canceled due to COVID-19. He also finished the year ranked 15th in the final NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking and 12th on the final RPI. Romero won the program's first Big 12 title during his most recent season of competition in 2019 and finished that year with a 28-5 record. He capped the 2018-19 campaign just one-win shy of earning All-American honors and was ranked ninth in both the final NCAA Coaches' Panel and RPI rankings that year. 
 
Romero will enter the 2020-21 season ranked as high as sixth nationally, while LaMont will enter the year ranked as high as ninth in the different national polls.
 
"We return both Demetrius (Romero) and Taylor (LaMont), who have NCAA Championship experience for us. We expect those two to be on the podium or at the top of the podium come March," Williams added. "We also have a few other guys that aren't far behind. So, it will be good to get the season going and try to get them noticed after we are able to get some real matches under their belts." 
 
UVU welcomes back a total of seven returning starters from last year's squad, which includes sophomore 149-pounder Cameron Hunsaker who will also enter 2020-21 nationally ranked for the Wolverines. After going 11-16 at both 141 and 149 as a freshman last year, Hunsaker will open the season ranked 31st in his weight class by TrackWrestling. The Wolverines also welcome back junior Isaiah Delgado (141), junior Jed Loveless (157), senior Koy Wilkinson (165), junior Ashton Seely (184), sophomore Jacob Armstrong (197) and sophomore heavyweight Chase Trussell who all saw time in the starting lineup for UVU a year ago. 
 
A number of freshmen are also expected to challenge for starting spots as well, as freshman 157-pounder Danny Snediker went a perfect 2-0 last week at the UVU Wrestle-Off and a number of others have also looked good in practice this fall. Big things are also expected from redshirt freshman Ty Smith—a transfer from Drexel—at 133. 
 
As a team, Utah Valley will enter the season ranked 29th nationally by both TrackWrestling and WIN Magazine.
 
With two wrestlers from each weight class slated to compete on Sunday, Utah Valley will take the following lineup to San Luis Obispo: Kase Mauger (Fr.) and Dawson Collins (Fr.) at 125, Ty Smith (RFr.) and Kainalu Estrella (RSo.) at 133, Stockton O'Brien (Fr.) and James Emmer (RFr.) at 141, No. 31 Cameron Hunsaker (So.) and Jaxon Garoutte (Fr.) at 149, Danny Snediker (Fr.) and Jed Loveless (RJr.) at 157, Koy Wilkinson (RSr.) and Kekana Fouret (RFr.) at 165, No. 6 Demetrius Romero (RSr.) and Chris Fasano (So.) at 174, Ashton Seely (RJr.) and Hunter Morse (Fr.) at 184, Jacob Armstrong (RSo.) at 197, and Chase Trussell (RSo.) at heavyweight. 
 
Both LaMont and Delgado are scheduled to sit out Sunday's opener due to contract tracing but are anticipated to be back in time for the home opener against California Baptist on Friday, Jan. 8. 
 
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
Cal Poly is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in wrestling and posted a 3-9 record overall last season and an 0-4 clip in league action. The Mustangs picked up dual wins over Buffalo, California Baptist and San Francisco State last year. Cal Poly had two NCAA qualifiers a season ago in current sophomore 174-pounder Bernie Truax and now departed 197-pounder Tom Lane, who also earned NWCA All-American honors last year. 
 
The Mustangs will enter the year with a trio of grapplers nationally ranked, as redshirt sophomore Truax is ranked 20th at 174, redshirt freshman Legend Lamer will enter the year ranked 23rd at 149, and sophomore Adam Kemp is ranked 27th at 165. 
 
Fresno State will enter the year ranked 25th in the preseason FloWrestling Dual rankings after going 9-11 overall in 2019-20 and 4-4 in Big 12 Conference duals. After recently resurrecting their wrestling program prior to the 2017-18 campaign, the Fresno State administration has announced that they will again be cutting the sport of wrestling again following the 2020-21 season. The announcement has resulted in a number of Bulldogs recently transferring to other schools. 
 
A trio of Bulldogs will enter Sunday's opener nationally ranked in heavyweight AJ Nevills, former Wolverine DJ Lloren at 141 pounds, and junior 133-pounder Isaiah Perez. Two-time NCAA qualifier Nevills is ranked as high as No. 11 nationally, while Lloren is ranked 14th, and Perez is currently ranked 33rd. Fresno State had five NCAA qualifiers a season ago, which included Lloren at 141 pounds. 
 
UP NEXT FOR UTAH VALLEY
Following Sunday's action, the Wolverines will return to Orem for back-to-back home contests. UVU will first host California Baptist on Friday, Jan. 8 at noon MT for a dual meet at Lockhart Arena, before welcoming Arizona State and Wyoming to the UCCU Center on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 23 for a round-robin style tournament. 
 
SUNDAY'S PROBABLE LINEUPS
Utah Valley (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
125: Kase Mauger, Fr. (0-0) and Dawson Collins, Fr. (0-0)
133: Ty Smith, RFr. (0-0) and Kainalu Estrella, RSo. (0-0)
141: Stockton O'Brien, Fr. (0-0) and James Emmer, RFr. (0-0)
149: #31 Cameron Hunsaker, So. (0-0) and Jaxon Garoutte, Fr. (0-0)
157: Danny Snediker, Fr. (0-0) and Jed Loveless, RJr. (0-0)
165: Koy Wilkinson, RSr. (0-0) and Kekana Fouret, RFr. (0-0)
174: #6 Demetrius Romero, RSr. (0-0) and Chris Fasano, So. (0-0)
184: Ashton Seely, RJr. (0-0) and Hunter Morse, Fr. (0-0)
197: Jacob Armstrong, RSo. (0-0)
285: Chase Trussell, RSo. (0-0)
 
Cal Poly (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
125: Antonio Lorenzo, RFr. (0-0)
133: Adam Jacob, Fr. (0-0) and Benny Martinez, Jr. (0-0)
141: Wyatt Cornelison, RJr. (0-0)
149: #23 Legend Lamer, RFr. (0-0) and Logan Gioffre, Fr. (0-0)
157: Max Anderson, RFr. (0-0) and Daniel Vizcarra, RFr. (0-0)
165: Nathan Tausch, Jr. (0-0) and Kendall La Rosa, Fr. (0-0)
174: #20 Bernie Truax, RSo. (0-0) and Jared Priest, Fr. (0-0)
184: Will Kloster, Fr. (0-0) and Tyler Gianakopoulos, Fr. (0-0)
197: Trevor Tinker, Fr. (0-0) and Josh Harkey, Fr. (0-0)
285: Samuel Aguilar, RJr. (0-0)
 
Fresno State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
125: Anthony Molton, RFr. (0-0)
133: Haiden Drury, Fr. (0-0)
141: #14 DJ Lloren, RSr. (0-0) and Kyle Parco, RFr. (0-0)
149: Chris Deloza, RJr. (0-0) and Aaron Gandara, Fr. (0-0) 
157: Open
165: Beau Colombini, RJr. (0-0)
174: Christian Rodriguez, RFr. (0-0)
184: Hunter Cruz, RSo. (0-0)
197: Open
285: Randy Gonzalez, Jr. (0-0)