OREM, Utah – Utah Valley and North Dakota State split the match at five bouts apiece, but bonus points were the difference as NDSU went on to defeat UVU by a score of 20-15 in a tightly contested Big 12 Conference dual on Monday evening at Lockhart Arena. 
 
The reigning Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week and 14th-ranked Taylor LaMont recorded another upset victory for the Wolverines on the night by knocking off No. 7 Cam Sykora, while 20th-ranked Tanner Orndorff and fourth-ranked Tate Orndorff too pulled out wins over fellow ranked foes for Utah Valley. Ninth-ranked Kimball Bastian and Cameron Hunsaker rounded out UVU's wins on the night, as all five Wolverines won by decision. 
 
The Bison pulled out the victory, however, by claiming three of their five victories by bonus points. 
 
"We saw some really good things from a couple of our younger guys that I was very pleased with tonight. I am also proud of Taylor, Tanner, and Tate for all finding ways to win against ranked opponents," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "Whenever you have a match that features two ranked wrestlers, those are important matches. I was super pleased with how Taylor dictated things on his feet. He didn't get the takedown, but he created the opportunities for it, was the aggressor, and that earned him those stall calls.
 
"I'm always happy when our ranked guys continue their winning ways, but we're looking for improvement in those other weights, and we saw some of that tonight. So, I'm pleased with how we competed." 
 
With the contest opening up at 125 pounds, the Bison were the first to get things going with a 7-5 decision from McGwire Midkiff to take a 3-0. The Wolverines quickly answered back thanks to another upset victory from the reigning the 2018 NCAA qualifier and 2020 Greco-Roman Olympic Team Trial qualifier LaMont at 133 pounds. After pinning No. 6 Montorie Bridges of Wyoming last week, this time LaMont managed to pull out a tightly contested bout over three-time NCAA qualifier and seventh-ranked Sykora by a score of 2-1 to tie the team score at 3-3. With the match deadlocked at 1-1 at an escape apiece in the third, LaMont got deep in on a couple of shot attempts to get Sykora backing up and eventually was awarded a decisive stalling point to claim the hard-fought bout and improve to 11-5 on the year.
 
Dylan Droegemueller then responded for the Bison with a 13-3 major decision at 141 to extend NDSU's advantage to 7-3, but back answered the freshman Hunsaker for UVU with an 8-2 victory over Jaden Van Maanen at 149 to make it 7-6. Hunsaker was the aggressor in the match, as he recorded a pair of takedowns, as well as a trio of penalty points, and an additional riding time point to win his third dual match on the season.
 
NDSU then reeled off back-to-back wins by technical fall to extend its lead to 17-6. Fifteenth-ranked Jared Franek (157) and No. 10 Andrew Fogarty (165) both claimed the bonus-point wins to give the Bison the 11-point advantage with four matches to go. 
 
The ninth-ranked senior Bastian then responded for the Wolverines by pulling out a 5-4 win over Austin Brenner at 174 to make it 17-9. With the two-time UVU NCAA qualifier trailing 4-3 midway through the third period, Bastian managed to record a decisive reversal and ride Brenner out en route to improving to 11-6 on the season.
 
After a 10-7 victory from NDSU 184-pounder Noah Cressell made it 20-9, the Orndorff brothers then found themselves in a couple of hard-fought matches against fellow nationally ranked opponents. At 197, the three-time UVU NCAA qualifier and 20th-ranked Tanner Orndorff started the spurt with a 7-4 come-from-behind win over No. 33 Cordell Eaton to make it 20-12. With Tanner Orndroff trailing Eaton 3-1 in the second, the Wolverine senior got in a shot to tie the bout at 3-3. Then later all knotted up at 4-4 in the third, Tanner Orndorff came through with the decisive takedown followed by an additional riding time point to win by a score of 7-4. 
 
Then in a battle at heavyweight between fourth-ranked Tate Orndorff and 20th-ranked Brandon Metz, overtime was needed to determine a winner. Tied at 1-1 in the third, Metz managed to take a 3-1 lead with a takedown on a scramble, but the UVU 2019 NCAA qualifier responded with an escape and a stall point down the stretch to send the bout to overtime. In the first sudden victory period, the fourth-ranked Utah Valley heavyweight didn't waste any time as took advantage on a Metz shot and turned it into the winning takedown of his own to win by a score of 5-3. The bout marked Tate Orndorff's eighth victory of the season over a ranked opponent, as he improves to 14-2 overall on the year. 
 
With the dual loss, UVU drops to 1-10 overall on the season and 0-7 in Big 12 action, while NDSU improves to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in conference competition. 
 
The Wolverines will now be off until Friday, Feb. 14 when they will host fellow conference Northern Colorado. The contest will mark Senior Night and UVU's 2019-20 home finale. Following the dual, the Wolverines will finish their regular season with a pair of road duals at Ohio on Feb. 21 and Big 12 foe West Virginia on Feb. 23. 
 
FINAL RESULTS
North Dakota State 20, Utah Valley 15
125: McGwire Midkiff (NDSU) DEC Josiah Nava (UVU), 7-5
133: #14 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #7 Cam Sykora (NDSU), 2-1
141: Dylan Droegemueller (NDSU) MD Isaiah Delgado (UVU), 13-3
149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Jaden Van Maanen (NDSU), 8-2
157: #15 Jared Franek (NDSU) TF Jerry Rubio (UVU), 16-1 (2:52)
165: #10 Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) TF Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 18-1 (5:41)
174: #9 Kimball Bastian (UVU) DEC Austin Brenner (NDSU), 5-4
184: Noah Cressell (NDSU) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 10-7
197: #20 Tanner Orndorff (UVU) DEC #33 Cordell Eaton (NDSU), 7-4
285: #4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) DEC #20 Brandon Metz (NDSU), 5-3 (SV-1)
 
Orem, Utah - Lockhart Arena
Officials: Frank Pavich, Don Christensen
Attendance: 931
 
*Individual rankings listed are the highest national ranking from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat, and WIN Magazine polls.