OREM, Utah – Fresh off of a home win over conference foe Northern Colorado, the Utah Valley University wrestling team will head east to cap its regular season with duals at Ohio and West Virginia this weekend.
The Wolverines will first step out of league action to face Ohio University on Friday evening (Feb. 21) in Athens, Ohio, before capping the trip and the 2019-20 regular season with a Big 12 Conference showdown against West Virginia on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 23) in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Friday's match at Ohio is scheduled for a 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET start and will air live on ESPN+, while Sunday's finale will begin at 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on both WVUSports.com and FloWrestling.
UVU will enter the trip with a 2-10 overall record and a 1-7 Big 12 Conference mark after snapping its losing skid with a 20-16 victory in the home finale against Northern Colorado last Friday. The Wolverines and Bears split the dual at five bouts apiece, but bonus points proved to be the difference as UVU picked up a fall and two wins by major decision on its way to recording the victory.
Redshirt freshman 141-pounder
Kainalu Estrella had one of the biggest wins of the night by pinning UNC's Brody Lamb in the second period, while seniors
Kimball Bastian (174 pounds) and
Tanner Orndorff (197) both won by major decision in the final home matches of their outstanding careers, and sophomore heavyweight
Tate Orndorff won his seventh straight bout with a 2-0 decision over Robert Winters. With the dual on the line and the Wolverines holding to a one-point advantage in the final bout of the contest, 11th-ranked 133-pounder
Taylor LaMont clinched the match for UVU by knocking off another top-20 ranked foe with an 11-9 decision over No. 18 Mosha Schwartz.
With the win over Schwartz, LaMont has now won eight of his last nine matches which includes four over top-20 opponents during the stretch. Over his last nine matches, LaMont has recorded wins over No. 6 Montorie Brides of Wyoming, No. 7 Cam Sykora of North Dakota State, No. 18 Schwartz of UNC, and No. 20 Devan Turner of Oregon State. He is also 7-2 on the season against Big 12 foes and 8-2 in duals.
Tate Orndorff leads UVU on the season by being ranked as high as fourth in the nation at heavyweight. The two-time NCAA qualifier Bastian is next by being ranked eighth at 174, while LaMont is ranked 11th at 133, and the three-time NCAA qualifier
Tanner Orndorff is 19th at 197. As a team, UVU is also ranked 22nd by WIN Magazine and 26th by TrackWrestling.
Tate Orndorff also leads UVU on the season with a 15-2 win-loss record, while LaMont is 12-5, Bastian is 12-6, and
Tanner Orndorff is 11-8.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
The Bobcats will enter Friday's contest with a 6-8 overall record and 4-4 mark in the MAC (Mid-American Conference). Ohio dropped a pair of duals last weekend to Northern Illinois (31-6) and South Dakota State (28-9), but prior to that had won four of their last five with wins over Kent State, Cleveland State, SIU Edwardsville and Bloomsburg during the stretch. Ohio also holds wins a win on the season over WVU. The Bobcats are currently ranked 42nd by WIN Magazine.
A total of five Bobcats will enter Friday's dual currently nationally ranked. Zac Carson (17-7) leads the way by being ranked No. 15 at 157, while Shakur Laney (18-8) is 16th at 141. Alec Hagan (23-10) follows by being ranked 24th at 149, while Colt Yinger is 28th at 165 and Jordan Earnest (17-9) is No. 32 at heavyweight. Carson and Mario Guillen (133) are both returning NCAA qualifiers for the Bobcats on their 2019-20 roster.
Friday's dual will mark just the second all-time meeting between UVU and Ohio. The Bobcats hold a 1-0 series advantage after defeating the Wolverines, 26-13, on Nov. 16, 2013 in a neutral site contest in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
The Big 12 Mountaineers will enter the weekend with a 3-11 overall record and a 0-6 Big 12 Conference clip. WVU will first host Wyoming on Saturday evening before hosting UVU as part of the Beauty and the Beast event with the Mountaineer gymnastics team on Sunday. West Virginia will enter the weekend having dropped five straight duals and last fell to both No. 16 Northern Iowa (36-6) and No. 19 Iowa State (34-6) on the road last week. WVU holds its wins on the year VMI, Hofstra and Edinboro, and is currently ranked 23rd by TrackWrestling, 24th by The Open Mat, 25th by FloWrestling and 26th by WIN Magazine.
The Mountaineers currently have a trio of grapplers nationally ranked led by undefeated and second-ranked Noah Adams at 197 (27-0). Nick Kiussis (10-10) is next by checking in at No. 27 at 165, while Brandon Ngati (15-9) is 30th at heavyweight. All three Mountaineers are returning NCAA qualifiers for WVU.
Sunday's finale will mark the third all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Mountaineers. The series is currently tied at 1-1 with WVU having won a season ago in Orem, 26-13, and UVU having won on Nov. 3, 2017, 24-9, in Clarion, Pennsylvania.
OUT FOR THE SEASON
Returning NCAA qualifiers
Matt Findlay (149) and
Demetrius Romero (165) will both be sidelined for UVU in 2019-20 with injuries. Both Findlay and Romero advanced to the Round of 12 at the 2019 NCAA Championships en route to each finishing just one-win shy of becoming All-Americans. Findlay went 17-4 in 2018-19, while Romero went 28-5. Romero also became UVU's first Big 12 Conference champion in program history a season ago, while Findlay earned the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 Award after holding the highest GPA of any competing student-athlete at the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
ON DECK FOR UVU
The Wolverines will next prepare for the 2020 Big 12 Championships that will be held March 7-8 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A season ago, UVU crowned its first Big 12 champion in program history with Romero winning the 165-pound conference title and the Wolverines placed sixth out of 12 teams with 59 total points.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
Utah Valley (2-10, 1-7 Big 12)
125:
Will Edelblute, RFr. (7-11 overall, 1-5 duals) OR
Josiah Nava, RFr. (1-12, 0-6)
133: #11
Taylor LaMont, RJr. (12-5, 8-2)
141:
Kainalu Estrella, RFr. (5-6, 1-0)
149:
Cameron Hunsaker, Fr. (7-13, 3-9)
157:
Jed Loveless, RSo. (3-5, 2-3) OR
Spencer Heywood, RSo. (2-5, 0-1)
165:
Koy Wilkinson, RJr. (6-14, 0-8)
174: #8
Kimball Bastian, RSr. (12-6, 8-1)
184:
Ashton Seely, RSo. (2-11, 0-5)
197: #19
Tanner Orndorff, RSr. (11-8, 8-4)
285: #4
Tate Orndorff, RSo. (15-2, 8-1) OR
Chase Trussell, RFr. (8-3, 1-2)
Ohio (6-8, 4-4 MAC)
125: Trevor Giallombaro, R-Jr. (0-15)
133: Giovanni DiSabato, R-Fr. (6-13)
141: #16 Shakur Laney, R-Sr. (18-8)
149: #24 Alec Hagan, R-So. (23-10)
157: #15 Zac Carson, R-Sr. (17-7) OR Kade Kowalski, R-Sr. (1-3)
165: Joe Terry, R-Jr. (7-7) OR Nick Vestal, R-Jr. (5-3)
174: Logan Stanley, So. (17-9)
184: Mason Kroening, R-So. (1-9) OR Hunter Yeargan, Sr. (9-9)
197: Jake Walker, R-Jr. (9-15)
285: #32 Jordan Earnest, R-Fr. (17-9)
West Virginia (3-11, 0-6 Big 12)
125: Joey Thomas, RSo. (13-14, 5-9)
133: Lucas Seibert, So. (7-17, 2-12)
141: Caleb Rea, So. (13-13, 4-10)
149: Seth Hogue, RJr. (13-9, 3-4) OR Liam Lusher, Fr. (1-9, 0-7)
157: Alex Hornfeck, RFr. (14-13, 6-8)
165: #27 Nick Kiussis, Jr. (10-10, 6-7)
174: Scott Joll, Fr. (10-16, 2-11)
184: Jackson Moomau, So. (8-15, 4-9)
197: #2 Noah Adams, RSo. (27-0, 14-0)
285: #30 Brandon Ngati, Sr. (15-9, 7-4) OR Sean Mullican, RSo. (2-8, 1-2)
*Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat, WIN Magazine, and NCAA Coaches' Panel ranking.
