GENEVA, Ohio – Utah Valley wrestling returned to the mat on Saturday at the U23 Freestyle Nationals at the Spire Institute. Haiden Drury finished the day 3-0 and advanced to Sunday's Quarterfinals in the 65kg bracket.
 
"I'm proud of our fight today. We managed some adversity in our travel yesterday, and the guys didn't miss a beat. We won some tough matches today and advanced three guys to tomorrow. This tournament gives our staff a great gauge on what this team needs moving forward and the progress that's already been made," said UVU head coach Adam Hall.
 
The No. 8 seed Drury used a dominant day to defeat his three foes by a combined score of 25-0, including a pair of seeded wins over Burg TC's No. 25 Kyler Romero and No. 24 Jace Rhodes of Hawkeye Wrestling Club. In the quarters on Sunday, he will go up against the top seed, Kollin Rath from Stellar Trained.
 
At 86kg, Caleb Uhlenhopp reached the round of 16 after picking up two victories earlier in the day. In his match against Virginia Tech's Sam Fisher, the No. 4 seed held a 2-1 edge to move the UVU participant into the consolation rounds. In his final match of the day, Uhlenhopp scored two points in the final 30 seconds to tie the match and won based on tiebreaker criteria. He will advance tomorrow to face  21-seeded Kasey Ross (Burg Training Center).
 
In a bounce-back effort, Kase Mauger fell in the round of 64 to 15-seeded Kurtis Phipps (Buffalo RTC) before picking up his three wins during the rest of the day to advance to Sunday's consolation rounds. He outscored his opponents 42-4 in his four victories on the day, including a 10-0 win over No. 31 Jacob Macatangay from Boilermaker RTC. As the rounds continue on June 2, he will meet No. 16 seed Tyler Ferrara of Spartan RTC.
 
Tyler Jones (70kg), Q'veli Quintanilla (70kg), and Mahonri Rushton (86kg) all finished 2-2 on the day, with Trevor Frank (79kg) going 1-2 in the tournament.
 
Utah Valley's Jakob Romero (62kg), Kael Bennie (92kg), and Radi Stafford (92kg) saw action on the mat in the loaded field.
 
The U23 Freestyle Nationals continue tomorrow, June 2, at 8:00 a.m. MT with the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Consolations, Medal Matches, and the Best 2 out of 3 Finals. All the action can be seen on FloWrestling, with updated brackets on FloArena.
 
Full Results
 
#18 Kase Mauger (61kg)                             4-1
#18 Kase Mauger (Brunson UVRTC) over Hunter Adrian (Brown RTC), VSU 12-0, (2:11)
#15 Kurtis Phipps (Buffalo RTC) over #18 Kase Mauger (Brunson UVRTC), VSU 10-0 (1:45)
#18 Kase Mauger (Brunson UVRTC) over George Rosas (Charleston RTC), VSU 10-0 (0:29)
#18 Kase Mauger (Brunson UVRTC) over #31 Jacob Macatangay (Boilermaker RTC), VSU 10-0
#18 Kase Mauger (Brunson UVRTC) over Troy Hohman (Wolfpack WC), VSU1 15-4 (2:27)
 
Jakob Romero (61kg)                                     0-2
Zein Bazzi (BTS) over Jakob Romero (Brunson UVRTC), VSU1 14-3
Jeremiah Echevarria (Long Beach) over Jakob Romero (UVRTC), VFA, 6:00 9-4
 
#8Haiden Drury (65kg)                                 3-0
#8 Haiden Drury (Brunson UVRTC) over Jack Martinec (Clarion RTC), VSU 10-0 (2:12)
#8 Haiden Drury (Brunson UVRTC) over #25 Kyler Romero (Burg TC), VPO 8-0
#8 Haiden Drury (Brunson UVRTC) over #24 Jace Rhodes (Hawkeye WC), VPO 7-0
 
Tyler Jones (70kg)                                        2-2
Tyler Jones (Brunson UVRTC) over Dante Monaco (MontCo WC), VSU1 15-4 (3:51)
Tyler Jones (Brunson UVRTC) over Jamar Harrison (Pennsylvania), VSU1 13-2
#8 Chance Lamer (Central Coast RTC) over Tyler Jones (Brunson UVRTC), VSU 10-0 (1:43)
Hartwell Taylor (Spire WC) over Tyler Jones (UVRTC), VPO1 7-1
 
Q'Veli Quintanilla (70kg)                            2-2
Q'Veli Quintanilla (Brunson UVRTC) over Michael Crawford (Burg TC), VSU 10-0 (0:24)
Jacob Silka (Charleston RTC) over Q'veli Quintanilla (Brunson UVRTC), VFA 5:52 17-12
Q'veli Quintanilla (Brunson UVRTC) over Macario Calavitta (Spartan Combat), VP01 14-5
Ty Whalen (NJ RTC) over Q'veli Quintanilla (Brunson UVRTC), VSU 12-0 (1:02)
 
Trevor Frank (79kg)                                          1-2
Trevor Frank (Brunson UVRTC) over Cole Nance (Knights RTC), VFO 14-8
#31 Brodie Porter (Charleston RTC) over Trevor Frank (Brunson UVRTC), VSU 10-0 (1:53)
Benjamin Haubert (Charleston RTC) over Trevor Frank (Brunson UVRTC), VSU 11-0
 
Mahonri Rushton (86kg)                             2-2
Ty McGeary (Hilltopper WC) over Mahonri Rushton (Brunson UVRTC), VPO1 10-3
Mahonri Rushton (UVRTC) over Matthew Gummere (RWWC), VSU 10-0
Mahonri Rushton (UVRTC) over Evan Grazzini (Knights RTC), VSU1 14-4 (3:23)
James Conway (Diplomat WC) over Mahonri Rushton (Brunson UVRTC), VSU1 12-2 (5:35)
 
Caleb Uhlenhopp (86kg)                            3-1
Caleb Uhlenhopp (Brunson UVRTC) over Anthony D'Alesio (Lirtc), VSU1 15-2 (6:00)
Caleb Uhlenhopp (Brunson UVRTC) over George Rhodes (PRTC), VPO1, 9-1
#4 Sam Fisher (SERTC-Virginia Tech) over Caleb Uhlenhopp (Brunson UVRTC), VP01 2-1
No. 20 Caleb Uhlenhopp (Brunson UVRTC) over No. 22 Griffin Gammell (Cavalier WC), VP01 3-3
 
Kael Bennie (92kg)                                           0-2
Isaiha Casto (Glenville RTC) over Kael Bennie (Brunson UVRTC), VPO1 10-7
Jackson Kinsella (Nebraska Golden Eagles WC) over Kael Bennie (Brunson UVRTC), VP01 7-3
 
Radi Stafford (92kg)                                        0-2
Andrew Bailey (Bearcat WC) over Radi Stafford (Brunson UVRTC), VPO01 10-9
Kolby Flank (Elite WC) over Radi Stafford (Brunson UVRTC), VP01 13-11