WOLVERINES TO BATTLE NO. 21 WISCONSIN ON THURSDAY
Utah Valley travels to Madison to take on 21st-ranked Wisconsin on Thursday at 7 p.m. CST (6 p.m. MST) from UW Fieldhouse. The dual will air live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+) with results available on TrackWrestling and GoUVU.com. It's a short week for the Wolverines (3-2, 1-0 Big 12), who split two duals last week Friday in Hannibal, Missouri. It will mark the third dual against a ranked opponent this season for the Wolverines, who are 1-1 in so far this against teams ranked in the NWCA Coaches Poll.

LAST TIME OUT
At last week's Journeymen Wrestling Uncivil War at Hannibal High School in Missouri, Utah Valley won nine of 10 matches in a 33-3 win over Chattanooga before falling to No. 4 Iowa, 33-7. Geronimo Rivera (133) notched the first two wins of his young collegiate career as he and Jack Forbes (285) both went 2-0 on the day. Bridger Ricks' win in the Chattanooga dual came in an upset of No. 15 Cooper Flynn, who was disqualified after being whistled for his fifth stall call of the match. The fifth and final whistle came during the sudden victory period.

174-pound Trevor Frank made his season debut and was impressive in a 15-0 tech fall that ended in the second period over Kamdyn Munro of UTC, who was ranked No. 33 as recently as the Dec. 1 polls. Also earning wins against Chattnooga were Haiden Drury, Kayd Craig, Mark Takara, Caleb Uhlenhopp, and Kael Bennie. Ricks, Uhlenhopp, and Frank were the three Wolverines to earn bonus points in the dual win.

HOMECOMING FOR TIMMY MCCALL
The trip to Madison is a trip back to his old collegiate stomping grounds for UVU head assistant coach Timmy McCall. McCall wrestled for the Badgers from 2010-15 before graduating as a two-time NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds, which included three wins at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

RANKINGS UPDATE
With a smaller national schedule last week, there was little movement in the rankings. Ricks moved to No. 27 in the FloWrestling poll after his upset win while Drury is remained at 17 in the Intermat and moved to 24 in Flo's poll at 141. David Evans, who did not compete last week, remained at 11th (Flo) and 13th (Intermat).

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Wisconsin is 5-0 in duals this season and will host Lockhaven on Thursday prior to meeting UVU. The Badgers have seven ranked wrestlers, including three in top 10 of the Intermat poll. Thursday will mark the fifth time the programs will meet in a dual, with the Badgers winning each of the previous four. The two have not met since the 2019 season.

Ricks is slated to meet No. 10 Nicolar Rivera on Thursday, in what would be a rematch from the Cyclone Invitational, a 5-1 Rivera win. The 149-pound bout is another potential rematch between two ranked foes. Evans and 16th-ranked Joe Zargo are both listed among the probables. Evans defeated Zargo, 5-0 at the Cyclone Invitational in November. There are also potential rematches at 157, 174, 184, and 197 from the Cyclone Invitational.

UP NEXT
Utah Valley will be back in action on Jan. 3-4 at the Southern Scuffle at Chattanooga. The first home Big 12 dual will be shortly after that when Wyoming comes to Lockhart Arena on Jan. 10.