OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling will head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend to compete at the 2020 Big 12 Championships that will run Saturday to Sunday, March 7-8, at the BOK Center.
Auto qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships will be on the line, as the Wolverines will send 10 grapplers to vie for those spots as well as Big 12 titles. A season ago, UVU crowned its first Big 12 champion in program history in 165-pounder
Demetrius Romero and sent a program-best six qualifiers to nationals.
The 2020 Big 12 Championships will feature four sessions of action beginning with Saturday's opening session at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT. Saturday's second session will then follow at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT and will feature the semifinals. Action will then resume on Sunday for the third session at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT and will included the third, fifth and seventh place bouts. The conference championship finals will then close the event on Sunday at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT.
Each match of the first three sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required), while Sunday's championship finals will be televised live on AT&T Sportsnet (in Utah) as well as a number of different Fox Sports Regional Networks around the country. The finals will also be streamed on FoxSportsGo. Live results will be available for the duration of the event by visiting TrackWrestling.com.
After having both Romero and fellow returning NCAA qualifier
Matt Findlay sidelined in 2019-20 with injuries, UVU (3-11, 2-7 Big 12) will send its 2020 Big 12 Championship lineup that features four former NCAA Championship qualifiers and four current ranked grapplers. Sophomore heavyweight
Tate Orndorff leads the way by being ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation in his weight class, while senior 174-pounder
Kimball Bastian and junior 133-pounder
Taylor LaMont are both also currently ranked in the top-10 as they check in at No. 8 and No. 10, respectively. Senior 197-pounder
Tanner Orndorff rounds out the group as he is currently ranked as high as No. 21 in the nation.
The Big 12 Conference released the pre-seeds and tentative brackets for this weekend's championship on Wednesday and
Tate Orndorff leads the way by being pre-seeded first in his weight class. LaMont is next by being pre-seeded second at 133 pounds. Bastian is pre-seeded fourth at 174 and senior
Tanner Orndorff rounds out the group by being pre-seeded sixth at 197. With the conference only pre-seeding eight of the 12 wrestlers at each weight class, freshmen
Josiah Nava (125, 1-12),
Kainalu Estrella (141, 5-8) and
Cameron Hunsaker (149, 8-14), as well as sophomores
Jed Loveless (157, 3-7) and
Ashton Seely (184, 3-12), and junior
Koy Wilkinson (165, 6-16) will all enter the event unseeded.
On the season,
Tate Orndorff leads UVU with a 16-2 record and a perfect 10-0 clip against Big 12 foes. He also holds a 9-2 record on the year against nationally ranked opponents and placed third at the Big 12s a season ago on his way to qualifying for his first trip to the NCAAs. LaMont holds a 14-5 overall record and an 8-2 clip against Big 12 foes. He is also a 2018 NCAA qualifier for UVU after taking third at the Big 12s that season (LaMont was sidelined in 2018-19 with an injury). Bastian will enter the weekend with a 14-6 record on the season and an 8-1 clip against Big 12 opponents. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier for UVU and has previously earned trio of podium finishes at the Big 12s after taking fourth in 2019, fifth in 2018 and sixth in 2017.
Tanner Orndorff is 12-9 on the year and 7-3 in Big 12 matches. He is a three-time NCAA qualifier for UVU and finished sixth in his weight class at the Big 12s last season.
2019 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
UVU posted its best finish at the Big 12 Championships in program history a season ago by placing sixth out of 12 teams with 59 total points. Romero led the way by winning the program's first individual Big 12 title (165), while
Tate Orndorff took third at heavyweight, Bastian (174) and now graduated
Will Sumner (184) both placed fourth, and
Tanner Orndorff (197) finished sixth.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO BIDS
The Big 12 Conference has been awarded 54 auto qualifying bids to the 2020 NCAA Championships. The Big 12's qualifier allocations for each weight class are as follows…
125: 4
133: 8
141: 5
149: 5
157: 5
165: 4
174: 5
184: 5
197: 6
285: 7
UTAH VALLEY 2019-20 SEASON RECAP
With 2019 NCAA qualifiers Findlay (149) and Romero (165) both sidelined all of 2019-20 with injuries, UVU went 3-11 in dual meets on the year and 2-7 in Big 12 Conference matches. UVU picked up an early season victory over Sacred Heart and then managed to win a pair of late Big 12 season contests over West Virginia and Northern Colorado. With four current ranked grapplers, the Wolverines will enter the weekend currently ranked 21st by WIN Magazine and 26th by TrackWrestling.
ON DECK FOR UVU
Following the Big 12 Championship, qualified individuals will head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships that will run March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium. This season will mark the first time in history that the NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at an NFL stadium, as U.S. Bank Stadium is the home of the Minnesota Vikings. Last year, UVU sent a program-high six grapplers to nationals (Pittsburgh).
UTAH VALLEY'S 2020 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP LINEUP
125:
Josiah Nava, RFr. (1-12)
133: #10
Taylor LaMont, RJr. (14-5) - No. 2 Pre-seed
141:
Kainalu Estrella, RFr. (5-8)
149:
Cameron Hunsaker, Fr. (8-14)
157:
Jed Loveless, RSo. (3-7)
165:
Koy Wilkinson, RJr. (6-16)
174: #8
Kimball Bastian, RSr. (14-6) - No. 4 Pre-seed
184:
Ashton Seely, RSo. (3-12)
197: #21
Tanner Orndorff, RSr. (12-9) - No. 6 Pre-seed
285: #4
Tate Orndorff, RSo. (16-2) - No. 1 Pre-seed
2020 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 7
Session 1: Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches - 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT
Session 2: Semifinal & Consolation Matches - 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 8
Session 3: Consolation Semis, Third, Fifth, and Seventh Place Matches - 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT
Session 4: Finals - 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT
