CORVALLIS, Ore. – Utah Valley University and Oregon State split five bouts apiece, but bonus points proved to be the difference as the Pac-12 Beavers managed to pull out a tightly contested 18-16 dual on Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum. 
 
The contest marked the first of two duals for the Wolverines (1-2, 0-1 Big 12) on the day, as UVU will later face No. 22 Stanford at 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT. 
 
Fifth-ranked junior Taylor LaMont (125 pounds), redshirt freshman Ty Smith (133), sophomore Cameron Hunsaker (149), No. 5 Demetrius Romero (174) and sophomore heavyweight Chase Trussell all picked up wins for UVU against Oregon State (4-4, 2-0 Pac-12), which included bonus-point wins from LaMont and Romero. But the Beavers managed to pull out a trio of bonus-point wins on their way to defeating the Wolverines.
 
UVU got off to a strong against the Beavers thanks to back-to-back wins over ranked opponents from LaMont and Smith. The two-time UVU NCAA qualifier and fifth-ranked LaMont went to work against 24th-ranked Brandon Kaylor by racking up 19 total points on his way to defeating the fellow ranked foe by major decision (19-5) at 125 pounds to improve to 5-0 on the season. The redshirt freshman Smith followed with his first win over a ranked foe in a UVU singlet by knocking off the reigning Pac-12 champion and 18th-ranked Devan Turner by a score of 4-1 at 133 pounds. Smith too looked strong in the bout to by picking up a first period takedown followed by a second period escape and an additional riding time point to knock off the two-time NCAA qualifier and give the Wolverines an early 7-0 lead.
 
The Beavers then answered back by winning three of the next four bouts for bonus points to take a 12-9 lead on the scoreboard. No. 16 Grant Willits (141), No. 15 Hunter Willits (157) and Matthew Olguin (165) all won by major decision to give Oregon State the lead. During the stretch, UVU 149-pounder Cameron Hunsaker pulled out a hard fought 3-2 decision against OSU's Lane Stigall but a team point was deducted from Utah Valley during the bout for unsportsmanlike conduct from the Wolverine coaching staff to make it 12-9 after six matches.  
 
Fellow UVU two-time NCAA qualifier and fifth-ranked Romero then responded for the Wolverines at 174 pounds with a dominant 16-5 major decision over Oregon State's Colton Beisley to help Utah Valley regain the lead at 13-12. Romero posted an impressive tally of seven takedowns in the bout along with an escape and a riding time point to improve to 9-0 on the year. 
 
Oregon State's 25th-ranked Ryan Reyes then responded with a tightly contested 4-2 victory over UVU freshman Hunter Morse at 184 to give the Beavers a 15-13 lead. Then in a battle at 197 and with UVU sophomore Jacob Armstrong holding to a 2-1 lead in the final stanza, Oregon State's 31st-ranked JJ Dixon tied the score with an escape point. With both wrestlers scrambling to gain the winning takedown with the clock ticking down, Dixon managed to capitalize on an Armstrong shot and turn it into a takedown of his own along with a four-point nearfall just as time expired to win the bout by a score of 8-2 and give the Beavers an 18-13 advantage heading into the final bout.
 
At heavyweight, UVU sophomore Chase Trussell answered for the Wolverines with a 4-0 decision over Oregon State's Brian Barnes, but it wasn't enough as the Beavers held on the win the dual meet by a score of 18-16.
 
The dual marked UVU's first of two in Corvallis on the day, as the Wolverines will later face another Pac-12 opponent in No. 22 Stanford at 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT. A number of extra matches are also being competed throughout the afternoon on a second mat at Gill Coliseum. The Stanford dual will be streamed live on the GoUVU channel on YouTube, while fans can also catch the extra matches at @UVUwre on Instagram.  
 
FINAL RESULTS
Oregon State 18, Utah Valley 16 
125: #5 Taylor LaMont (UVU) MD #24 Brandon Kaylor (OSU), 19-5
133: Ty Smith (UVU) DEC #18 Devan Turner (OSU), 4-1
141: #16 Grant Willits (OSU) MD Stockton O'Brien (UVU), 16-3
149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Lane Stigall (OSU), 3-2
157: #15 Hunter Willits (OSU) MD Danny Snediker (UVU), 13-3
165: Matthew Olguin (OSU) MD Kekana Fouret (UVU), 10-2 
174: #5 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD Colton Beisley (OSU), 16-5
184: #25 Ryan Reyes (OSU) DEC Hunter Morse (UVU), 4-2
197: #31 JJ Dixon (OSU) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 8-2
285: Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC Brian Barnes (OSU), 4-0
*One team point deducted from Utah Valley for unsportsmanlike conduct
 
Corvallis, Ore. - Gill Coliseum 
 
*Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, WIN Magazine and The Open Mat polls.