OREM, Utah – Utah Valley wrestling will return home for a pair of nationally ranked opponents for their first home duals of the season. UVU will meet No. 13 Northern Iowa on Jan. 13 at 6:00 p.m. inside Lockhart Arena. No. 3 Iowa State visits on Jan. 14 at 8:00 p.m. MT.
No. 3 ISU is the second highest ranked opponent to visit Orem. UVU hosted No. 2 Penn State in 2012 and No. 4 Oklahoma State last year. Both duals will be available for stream on youtube.com/GoUVU, and we will have live results via TrackWrestling.com. Tickets are still available online at GoUVU.com/tickets.
RANKED WOLVERINES
The Wolverines currently have three wrestlers ranked in the Top 25.
Demetrius Romero came in at No. 7 and No. 11 in this week's InterMat and FloWrestling polls, and 197-pounder
Evan Bockman joined him at 24/23.
Haiden Drury (133) was the other Wolverine ranked at No. 28 by FloWrestling.
CROWNED CHAMPIONS
Utah Valley sent a contingent of grapplers to the Snow College Open on Jan. 7 and came home with nine individual champions. Nico Rodriguez (285) and
Caleb Uhlenhopp (184) finished 5-0 on the day to lead UVU. The Wolverines recorded 17 falls as a group in the tournament.
The last dual meets for UVU came on Dec. 20 at the Purdue Duals. UVU dropped highly contested duals to Campbell, Drexel, and Purdue. Bockman went 3-0 for UVU in the duals, including picking up his team-high 15
th victory of the season
. He is now 4-0 this year in duals.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS
Utah Valley has six wrestlers with over 10 wins on the year. Bockman (15), Rodriguez (13), 149-pounder
Isaiah Delgado (12), Uhlenhopp (11),
Kainalu Estrella, and
Yusief Lillie (10).
CONFERENCE SEASON
UVU has ended the regular season portion of tournament play. The Wolverines will see dual competitions the rest of the way with seven Big 12 duals, leading up to the Big 12 Tournament in March. Five out of those seven duals will feature a ranked opponent for UVU.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Northern Iowa enters Orem 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 duals. The Panthers were ranked as high as No. 13 in this week's FloWrestling dual rankings. They are led by two-time All-American Parker Keckeisen, ranked No. 2 at 184, and he has finished third twice in the last two seasons at NCAA's. UNI currently has seven others ranked in the polls. 165-pounder No. 9 Austin Yant is now 12-0 on the season. No. 12 Lance Runyon at 174 will look to match up against UVU's Romero in the night's only ranked matchup.
ABOUT THE CYCLONES
No. 3 Iowa State enters Lockhart Arena 9-2 and is currently 2-0 in the Big 12. ISU has three wrestlers ranked in the Top 5 in their weight class and nine currently ranked. No. 3 David Carr (165) is a three-time All-American and is now 12-0. At 197, No. 3 Yonger Bastida is now 10-1 on the season. The Cuba native finished fifth at last year's NCAA Championship. Bastida and Bockman will highlight the night in the 197-pound bout. Marcus Coleman (184) is currently 10-1 on the year and is ranked No. 4 in the country.
Utah Valley will travel next week to the Dakotas and take on No. 18 South Dakota State in Brookings on Jan. 20 and No. 15 North Dakota State in Fargo on Jan. 22. UVU returns to Orem on Jan. 27 when they host Snow College and Air Force.
