WOLVERINES FACE CHATTANOOGA, No. 4 IOWA IN MISSOURI
Utah Valley wrestling heads to Hannibal, Missouri this week for the Journeymen Wrestling Uncivil War where they'll meet Chattanooga and No. 4 Iowa in a pair of duals on Friday at Hannibal High School. The Wolverines will first face the Mocs at 4:30 p.m. CST (3:30 p.m. MST) before closing out the night with the Hawkeyes at 8:30 p.m. CST with both duals airing live on FloWrestling. Iowa and Chattanooga will also meet at 6:30 p.m. CST.

LAST TIME OUT
David Evans and Haiden Drury placed sixth and seventh, respectively, at last week's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Drury entered as the No. 9 seed while Evans was the fifth seed. Both wrestlers went 4-2 at the tournament with Drury's weekend highlighted by a 5-3 upset over No. 8 Julian Tagg of South Dakota State. He was awarded seventh after No. 5 Zeth Romney of Cal Poly medically forfeited in the seventh-place match while Evans medically forfeited in the consolation semifinals and ended up sixth.

Six Wolverines won at least two matches, with Mark Takara, Caleb Uhlenhopp, Kael Bennie, and Jack Forbes each going 2-2 in Las Vegas. Tanner Lofthouse and Bridger Ricks also earned wins, with Lofthouse picking up a major decision, Takara and Uhlenhopp both had wins by pin, and Drury and Evans each recorded a tech fall.

RANKINGS UPDATE
Drury saw his stock rise in the Intermat poll after his win over Tagg and his seventh-place finish. He moved up to 17th in the Intermat poll but dropped to 28th in FloWrestling's poll. Evans flip-flopped in his rankings. After sitting a 11th and 13th (Intermat/Flo), he is now 13th by Intermat and 11th in Flo's 149-pound poll. In FloWrestling's rankings, Ricks dropped from 25 to 29 at 125 and Uhlenhopp was at No. 33 but dropped out of the rankings.

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Chattanooga is 3-1 in duals so far this season with the lone loss coming to current No. 2 Ohio State. The Mocs had seven placers at their most recent competition, on Nov. 23 at the Black Knight Invitational at Army. Chattanooga, members of the SoCon, has one ranked wrestler listed among the probables with Cooper Flynn at No. 17/18 at 125 pounds by FloWrestling and Intermat. 14th-ranked 157-pounder Cody Chittum is not listed among the Mocs' probables. UVU and Chattanooga have met once prior, with the Mocs winning 27-12 during the 2012 season at the Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas.

Iowa is 5-2 in duals and finished in second at the National Duals Invitational Finals. The Hawkeyes boast a lineup of all 10 starters ranked in the Top 10 by FloWrestling and top 12 by Intermat, including 174-pound, top-ranked Angelo Ferrari. Michael Caliendo, the national runner up at 165, and Massoma Endene (197) are both ranked third at their weights. Drake Ayala (133) and Patrick Kennedy (174) are both fourth, and Ben Kueter (285) is ranked fifth. Utah Valley and Iowa have met one time prior, a 38-0 Hawkeye win in 2010 in a dual wrestled at Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah. Iowa was ranked No. 1 at the time and later went on to win its 23rd NCAA team title.

UP NEXT
Utah Valley travels to Wisconsin for the final official competition prior to the Christmas break. The trip to Madison will be a homecoming for former Badger wrestler and Utah Valley head assistant coach, Timmy McCall. McCall wrestled at Wisconsin from 2010-15 and was a two-time NCAA qualifier.