OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University upset No. 21 Northern Colorado in Big 12 Wrestling on Friday on Senior Night inside Lockhart Arena. UVU won the final four bouts to come from behind for the 22-20 victory.
 
The three ranked UVU wrestlers, including senior No. 7 Demetrius Romero, came away victorious. No. 20 Evan Bockman, No. 33 Chase Trussell, Mahonri Rushton, and Kase Mauger all earned wins as well. Mauger picked up a big win in the opening match of the night, pinning 18th-ranked Stevo Poulin.
 
The victory marks the first time since Feb. 7, 2021, that UVU has beaten a nationally ranked team in a dual when Wolverines defeated 22nd-ranked Stanford, 19-16, in Corvallis, Oregon.
 
"What a great win for the team tonight," said UVU head coach Greg Williams "We saw a lot of guys out there wrestling with heart and dictating the action in their matches. It was a big improvement from our last two duals. Kase's pin of a highly ranked opponent was his fourth win against a ranked opponent this season and really set the tone for our energy tonight. Special congratulations to Mahonri Rushton. After earning the starting spot this week, he earned his first dual win for UVU. Demetrius, Evan, and Chase looked great and took care of business, and controlled their matches to help secure tonight's win."
 
The dual came down to the final match of the dual at 285-pounds, with Northern Colorado nursing a 20-19 lead. Xavier Doolin gave UNC an early 2-0 lead on a takedown before Trussell fought back to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period. Trussell increased his lead with a second-period escape to go up 4-2. In the early stages of the third period, a takedown put Trussell up 6-2. Doolin was able to up with an escape, but Trussell secured the dual victory for UVU.
 
Mauger got the crowd going early with his fall over Poulin. In the first period, Mauger jumped out to a 4-2 lead after a takedown and a pair of escapes. Poulin narrowed the gap with an escape, but Mauger scored a takedown before securing the fall.
 
The Bears quickly rallied with decisions from Jace Koelzer at 133 and No. 1 Andrew Alirez at 141 to tie the dual at 6-6. Northern Colorado also won the next matches—at 149, 157, and 165—to go up 20-6.
 
The Wolverines started the comeback at 174 when Romero picked up a major decision over No. 33 Andrew Berreyesa for his 87th all-time victory at UVU. He now sits in third all-time in wins at UVU. Romero went up 2-1 in the first period after scoring on takedown, and he extended the lead in the second period with a pair of takedowns to go up 6-3. In the third period, Romero put the match away with an escape and second pair of takedowns to secure the 13-5 major decision.
 
At 184, Rushton had the lead going into the closing seconds of the match when he secured the pin of Branson Britten and earn six points for the Wolverines. Rushton was leading 7-3 in the match before the pin with 14 seconds left in the bout. That brought the UVU within striking distance with two matches left and ended up having a major impact on the final dual score.
 
Bockman seeing his first action in a couple of weeks got off to a quick start scoring two takedowns in the opening period to go up 4-1. He pulled away in the second period scoring on an escape and a takedown to get up 7-1. Bockman held Vasquez to two escapes in the third, and Bockman sealed the 10-3 decision with a takedown. 
 
Utah Valley will now head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 Tournament at the BOK Center Mar. 4-5. The Wolverines will compete for automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament coming up on Mar. 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa.
 
Results 125 – Kase Mauger (UVU) over #18 Stevo Poulin (UNC), Fall (4:34)
133 – Jace Koelzer (UNC) over Kobe Nelms (UVU), DEC 6-2
141 – #1 Andrew Alirez (UNC) over Ty Smith (UVU), DEC 10-4
149 – Chris Sandoval (UNC) over Isaiah Delgado (UVU), SV-1 8-6
157 – #28 Vincent Zerben (UNC) over Tyson Humpherys (UVU), TF 23-8
165 – Baylor Fernandes (UNC) over Kyler Lake (UVU) Fall (4:22)
174 – #7 Demetrius Romero (UVU) over #33 Andrew Berreyesa (UNC), MD 13-5
184 – Mahonri Rushton (UVU) over Branson Britten (UNC), Fall 6:46
197 – #20 Evan Bockman (UVU) over Xavier Vasquez (UNC), DEC 10-3
285 –  #33 Chase Trussell (UVU) over Xavier Doolin (UNC), DEC 6-3
Ex: 149 Benji Alanis (UNC) over Kainalu Estrella (UVU), DEC 5-3