TULSA, Okla. – Utah Valley University will have two Big 12 Championship finalists for the first time in program history, as both Taylor LaMont and Demetrius Romero went undefeated on Saturday to advance to Sunday's championship round at the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championships.
 
The second-seeded LaMont (125 pounds) and the top-seeded Romero (174) both posted identical 3-0 records on the day to advance to Sunday evening's conference championship finals. The title-match appearance will mark the second of Romero's career and the first for LaMont. Romero previously became UVU's inaugural Big 12 champion in 2019 and will be looking for his second career Big 12 title on Sunday. 
 
By reaching the finals, LaMont and Romero also both punched their tickets to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for the third time in their respective careers in the process.
 
"Taylor wrestled his best match of the day in the semis. He did a great job controlling the ties and creating a couple of great leg attacks," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "Demetrius was dominant foe the whole seven minutes. He's wrestling confidently and creating a lot of offense."
 
Four other Wolverines all picked up wins on Saturday to advance to Sunday's third session (medal rounds). The eighth-seeded redshirt freshman 133-pounder Ty Smith, seventh-seeded sophomore 149-pounder Cameron Hunsaker, seventh-seeded freshman Danny Snediker (157 pounds), and senior 165-pounder Koy Wilkinson will all wrestle for seventh place on Sunday morning.   
 
"We are excited for Ty, Cameron, Danny and Koy to go out and wrestle tough in their seventh-place matches on Sunday morning. We are happy with the attitude and effort of the team today. We need to get better technically in some areas individually and we will make a nice jump between this tournament and next year's tournament." 
 
LaMont advances to his first Big 12 Championship title match after going a perfect 3-0 on Saturday. After picking up wins over Northern Colorado's Jace Koelzer (11-5) and the No. 7 seed Kysen Terukina of Iowa State (7-5 in SV-1) during Saturday's first session, LaMont then picked up his first semifinal victory with a 5-3 win over the third-seeded Trevor Mastrogiovanni of Oklahoma State. 


In his semifinal matchup against the Cowboy freshman, the UVU redshirt junior LaMont got off to a strong start with a pair of first-period takedowns to take a 4-2 advantage after one. The 18th-ranked Mastrogiovanni then responded with an escape in the second to pull within a point at 4-3. Then in the third, the fourth-ranked LaMont extended his lead to 5-3 thanks to an escape of his own. LaMont would go on to hold his lead from there on his way to advancing to his first Big 12 title match. 
 
With the perfect 3-0 day on Saturday, LaMont remains unbeaten on the season as he ups his season record to 9-0. He'll face the No. 1 seed and sixth-ranked Brody Teske of Northern Iowa (a Penn State transfer). It will mark the first career meeting between LaMont and Teske.
 
Romero, who became UVU's inaugural Big 12 champion in 2019, will wrestle for his second Big 12 title opportunity on Sunday after too going 3-0 on Saturday. After picking up wins over Fresno State's Zack Gonzalez (12-2) and the No. 8 seed Anthony Mantanona of Oklahoma (11-6) during the opening session, Romero remained strong in the tournament with his second bonus-point win with a 12-3 major decision over the No. 5 seed Cody Surratt of Air Force in the semifinals. The top-seeded and third-ranked Romero got off to a solid start against Surratt by recording a pair of quick takedowns to take a 4-1 lead after one. Romero then tacked on an escape point in the second, followed by a trio of takedowns in the third along with a riding time point to pick up the bonus-point win and advance to the finals for the second time. 
 
Romero, who too is undefeated on the season, improves to 15-0 with the three wins on Saturday. He will face the No. 6 seed Jackson Hemauer of Northern Colorado in Sunday's final. The meeting will mark the first career matchup between Romero and Hemauer. 
 
Of the four Wolverines that will all wrestle for seventh on Sunday morning, the freshman Snediker led the group by going 2-2 on the day, while Smith, Hunsaker and Wilkinson all posted 1-2 records. 
 
In his first Big 12 Championship appearance, Snediker picked up wins over Northern Iowa's Cayd Lara (12-7) and Fresno State's Christopher Gaxiola (7-4) to advance to day two. Smith followed by picking up a win by medical forfeit over the No. 2 seed Ryan Sullivan of West Virginia, while Hunsaker beat South Dakota State's Hunter Marko (3-2), and the senior Wilkinson picked up a hard fought 7-3 decision over the No. 8 seed Colten Carlson. 
 
Four other UVU grapplers took part in the event in Stockton O'Brien (141), Jacob Armstrong (184), Hunter Morse (197) and Chase Trussell (heavyweight), but all had their 2021 runs come to a close on Saturday with 0-2 showings. 
 
After two sessions of action, Utah Valley currently sits in ninth place out of 12 teams with 49 total points. Oklahoma leads the tournament with 107 points, while Wyoming sits in second (97) and Oklahoma State is currently in third (96). In ninth place, UVU is currently ahead of West Virginia (43.5), Air Force (25) and Fresno State (22). 
 
The Big 12 Championships will continue with the third session (medal rounds) on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT. The session will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The championship finals will then be televised live on ESPN2 on Sunday at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT with both LaMont and Romero competing in the finals for the Wolverines. 
 
UTAH VALLEY DAY ONE RESULTS
125 - #2 Taylor LaMont (3-0)
#2 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC Jace Koelzer (NC), 11-5
#2 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #7 Kysen Terukina (ISU), 7-5 (SV-1)
#2 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #3 Trevor Mastrogiovanni, 5-3
 
133 - #8 Ty Smith (1-2)
#1 Daton Fix (OK State) MD #8 Ty Smith (UVU), 16-4
#8 Ty Smith (UVU) MED FORFEIT #2 Ryan Sullivan (WVU)
#3 Zach Price (SDSU) DEC #8 Ty Smith (UVU), 5-3 (SV-1)
 
141 - Stockton O'Brien (0-2)
#7 Dylan Droegemueller (NDSU) MD Stockton O'Brien (UVU), 15-2
#8 Chase Zollman (WYO) DEC Stockton O'Brien (UVU), 4-2
 
149 - #7 Cameron Hunsaker (1-2)
Jaren Jensen (WYO) DEC #7 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 3-2
#7 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Hunter Marko (SDSU), 3-2
#5 Jarrett Degen (ISU) DEC #7 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 1-0 
 
157 - #7 Danny Snediker (2-2)
#7 Danny Snediker (UVU) DEC Cayd Lara (UNI), 12-7
#2 Justin Thomas (OU) DEC #7 Danny Snediker (UVU), 5-1
#7 Danny Snediker (UVU) DEC Christopher Gaxiola (FS), 7-4
Alex Hornfeck (WVU) TF #7 Danny Snediker (UVU), 18-0 (5:40)
 
165 - Koy Wilkinson (1-2)
#2 Peyton Hall (WVU) DEC Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 7-6
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) DEC #8 Colten Carlson (SDSU), 7-3
Troy Mantanona (OU) FALL Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 3:33
 
174 - #1 Demetrius Romero (3-0)
#1 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD Zack Gonzalez (FS), 12-2
#1 Demetrius Romero (UVU) DEC #8 Anthony Mantanona (OU), 11-6
#1 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD #5 Cody Surratt (AF), 12-3
 
184 - Jacob Armstrong (0-2)
#1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 5-3
#7 Darrien Roberts (OU) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 9-2
 
197 - Hunter Morse (0-2)
#8 Kayne Hutchinson (AF) TF Hunter Morse (UVU), 16-1 (3:35)
#7 Owen Pentz (NDSU) MD Hunter Morse (UVU), 12-0
 
285 - Chase Trussell (0-2)
#1 Gannon Gremmel (ISU) DEC Chase Trussell (UVU), 6-2
#2 Carter Isley (UNI) MD Chase Trussell (UVU), 9-0
 
*Big 12 Championships seeds listed and not national rankings.
 
UTAH VALLEY'S AUTOMATIC NCAA QUALIFIERS
125 - Taylor LaMont
174 - Demetrius Romero
 
2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championship Standings After Session II
1. Oklahoma                       107.0
2. Wyoming                        97.0
3. Oklahoma State             96.0
4. Iowa State                       94.0
5. North Dakota State       69.0
6. Northern Iowa               68.0
7. Northern Colorado        57.5
8. South Dakota State       52.0
9. Utah Valley                     49.0
10. West Virginia               45.5
11. Air Force                       25.0
12. Fresno State                22.0