WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – 20th-ranked
Evan Bockman went undefeated in three matches, but Utah Valley University came up short in three tightly-contested contests at the Purdue Duals on Tuesday inside Holloway Gymnasium.
The Wolverines were edged on a tiebreaker against Campbell, 17-16, before a narrow 20-18 defeat against Purdue 20-18. The final dual saw Drexel come out on top by a team score of 19-13. Bockman (197) went 3-0 on the day to lead UVU while No. 5
Demetrius Romero,
Kase Mauger,
Isaiah Delgado,
Alex Emmer, and
Chase Trussell all finished 2-1.
"I'm proud of the effort the guys are putting forth. We have guys going out there and battling each match. We do have some things to clean up after the break," said UVU head coach Greg Williams.
CAMPBELL
In a dual that saw multiple lead changes, the contest came down to the last bout before Taye Ghadiali defeated
Chase Trussell to force a tie at 16-16. The Camels won on the tiebreaker due to the total points in the dual.
Mauger (125) opened the dual with an 8-3 victory over Anthony Moulton to put the Wolverines on in front, 3-0. UVU dropped the next two matches and trailed 6-3 before Delgado (149), and Emmer (157) picked up decision victories to put UVU back in front 9-6. Romero (174) and Bockman (197) came up with a combined seven points in the final four matches for UVU. Romero earned a close 5-3 decision, and Bockman picked up a major decision 12-4 victory.
PURDUE
After Purdue jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two matches, UVU battled back with consecutive major decisions from
Ty Smith (141) and Delgado (149). Smith won 8-1 over Christian White (141) and Delgado earned a 14-4 major decision over Trey Cruse (149)
The Boilermakers took some momentum back with ten points after a major decision by No. 3 Kendall Coleman (165) and a fall from Stony Bull, giving the home team a 16-8 lead. Utah Valley closed out the dual with wins in three of the final four matches, which came from Romero, Bockman, and Trussell. Romero won his match, 11-2, and the teams split the 10 matches, but Purdue had the edge on bonus points to secure the dual victory.
DREXEL
Mauger again got UVU started on the right foot with a win to open the match against Drexel, but three straight decisions went against the Wolverines after that, putting them in a 9-3 hole. Emmer (157) got four points back after securing a 9-1 major decision over Dom D'Agostino, but the Dragons answered with a major from No. 17 Evan Barczak at 165 to make the team score 13-7.
The premiere match of the dual came at 174 with the All-American Romero facing No. 7 Mike O'Malley in a Top-10 showdown. Romero looked to be the aggressor, but his shots all ended in a stalemate, and the match went to sudden victory a 1-1 on escapes from each wrestler. After the two-minute overtime period went without a victor, the two when to the 30-second frames and it came down to riding time, with O'Malley holding an advantage of just one second to pick up the win.
Bockman notched his third win two bouts later, scoring a 7-4 decision over Sean O'Malley and Trussell closed out the day with a 2-0 win over Santino Morina, which included him riding out the Drexel wrestler in the final period.
Utah Valley's nonstarters will next compete at the Snow College Open on Jan. 7, 2023. The starters will now have time to rest up before returning to Big 12 competition, with nationally ranked No. 16 Northern Iowa, and No.7 Iowa State coming to Orem on Jan. 13 and 14. Tickets are on sale for both duals and can be purchased on the link above.
