MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Utah Valley University wrestling split its final regular-season dual meet at five bouts apiece against West Virginia in Big 12 action on Saturday afternoon at WVU Coliseum, but a pair of falls from West Virginia proved to be the difference as the Mountaineers held on to defeat UVU late by a score of 21-16.
 
With the Wolverines (5-6, 0-5 Big 12) holding to a 10-6 advantage midway through the contest, WVU (6-7, 1-5 Big 12) got back-to-back falls from ninth-ranked Peyton Hall (165) and Dennis Robin (174) to take an 18-10 lead. UVU then responded with consecutive wins from No. 30 Jacob Armstrong at 184 and No. 24 Evan Bockman at 197 to pull within 18-16 going into the final match. Then with the contest on the line at heavyweight, WVU's 22nd-ranked Michael Wolfgram went on to defeat UVU's Chase Trussell by a score of 11-4 to secure the dual for the Mountaineers.
 
"We feel we have a very good team. In order to win duals, we need all 10 guys to compete at their best level. When we do that, we will win. We didn't do that today and it cost us," UVU head coach Greg Williams said.
 
Opening up with one of the highlight matches of the day between a pair of 2021 All-Americans—#14 Taylor LaMont for UVU and No. 7 Killian Cardinale for WVU—the contest was deadlocked at 2-2 following two period of actions thanks to an early takedown from Cardinale and a pair of escape points from LaMont. Cardinale then picked up an escape point of his own early in the third and LaMont looked to secure the go-ahead takedown down the stretch, but he couldn't get it as the senior Cardinale went on to defeat LaMont by a mere point and give WVU an early 3-0 advantage on the scoreboard. 
 
UVU then bounced back with back-to-back victories to take a 7-3 lead. Thirteenth-ranked second-year freshman Haiden Drury started the spurt with a dominant 14-3 major decision over WVU's Lucas Seibert at 133 and 2021 UVU NCAA qualifier and current honorable mention ranked grappler Ty Smith followed with a 5-1 decision over Caleb Rea at 141. The UVU duo combined to rack up eight takedowns between the two bouts.
 
Back in the lineup for the first time for UVU on the season after coming back from injuries sustained from an automobile accident last summer, fellow 2021 NCAA qualifier Cameron Hunsaker found himself in a tightly contested battle with WVU's Jeffrey Boyd at 149. Scoreless late in the match, Boyd managed to record an escape point in the third along with a riding time point to win by a score of 2-0 and make it 7-6 on the team score.
 
Thanks to a strong start in the 157-pound bout, freshman Jaxon Garoutte responed with a 4-2 decision over WVU's Alex Hornfeck to extend UVU's advantage to 10-6. Garoutte picked up a first period takedown along with a couple of back points en route to holding the lead and picking up the victory. The Mountaineers bounced back with two straight wins by fall to take an 18-10 advantage. Ninth-ranked Hall started the spurt with a first period fall over Danny Snediker (2:56) and Dennis Robin followed with a first period fall of his own over No. 33 Kekana Fouret (2:06) to give WVU an 18-10 advantage in the team score.
 
Then in a hard-fought battle at 184, 30th-ranked UVU sophomore Armstrong managed to pull out an 11-9 decision over WVU's Anthony Carman. With both grapplers seemingly trading points and the bout deadlocked at 9-9 in the closing seconds, Armstrong got the winning two thanks to securing a double-leg takedown with just 10 seconds to go on his way to picking up the victory and pulling the team score to 18-13. Fellow Wolverine sophomore and 24th-ranked Bockman followed with a 7-2 decision for UVU over Jackson Moomau at 197 to pull the team score to 18-16 with just one bout remaining. Bockman looked strong in the must-win match for UVU by notching a trio of takedowns along with an escape point on his way to winning the contest and helping have the dual come down to the final bout of the afternoon.
 
Then in the decisive heavyweight bout between UVU redshirt sophomore Trussell and 22nd-ranked Wolfgram of WVU, the nationally ranked Mountaineer was the aggressor in the contest as he built an early 4-1 advantage after one. Trussell pulled to within 4-2 in the second, but Wolfgram responded with a trio of takedowns in the third to put the match away by a score of 11-4 and lock up the dual for the Mountaineers. 
 
A trio of extra matches were also wrestled on the day and UVU won all three thanks to falls from 14th-ranked LaMont and 30th-ranked Bockman, as well as a 7-6 decision from No. 33 Fouret. After dropping the hard-fought contest earlier in the afternoon, the three-time NCAA qualifier LaMont responed by pinning WVU's Colton Drousias in 2:51 at 125 pounds to move to 6-2 on the year. Fouret also bounced back on the day with a 7-6 decision over WVU's Scott Joll to up his season record to 11-9, while Bockman went a perfect 2-0 on the afternoon by pinning WVU's Keagan Carmenatty in 4:30 to move to 12-7 on the season. 
 
The Wolverines will now return to Orem to prepare for the postseason that will begin on March 5-6 in Tulsa, Oklahoma with the 2022 Big 12 Wrestling Championships. A season ago, UVU had a program-high two grapplers reach the finals and senior Demetrius Romero went on to win the second Big 12 title of his career. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will then cap the season on March 17-19 in Detroit, Michigan. Last season, UVU sent four wrestlers to nationals and both Romero and LaMont went on to earn All-American finishes. 
 
FINAL RESULTS
West Virginia 21, Utah Valley 16
125: #7 Killian Cardinale (WVU) DEC #14 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 3-2
133: #13 Haiden Drury (UVU) MD Lucas Seibert (WVU), 14-3
141: (HM) Ty Smith (UVU) DEC Caleb Rea (WVU), 5-1
149: Jeffrey Boyd (WVU) DEC Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 2-0
157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) DEC Alex Hornfeck (WVU), 4-2
165: #9 Peyton Hall (WVU) FALL Danny Snediker (UVU), 2:56
174: Dennis Robin (WVU) FALL #33 Kekana Fouret (UVU), 2:06
184: #30 Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Anthony Carman (WVU), 11-9
197: #24 Evan Bockman (UVU) DEC Jackson Moomau (WVU), 7-2
285: #22 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) DEC Chase Trussell (UVU), 11-4
EX 125: #14 Taylor LaMont (UVU) FALL Colton Drousias (WVU), 2:51
EX 174:  #33 Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Scott Joll (WVU), 7-6
EX 197: #24 Evan Bockman (UVU) FALL Keagan Carmenatty (WVU), 4:30
 
*Individual rankings listed are from the latest NCAA Coaches Panel, InterMat, FloWrestling, and WIN Magazine polls.