MADISON, Wis. — Utah Valley got a pair of major upsets from Bridger Ricks and Geronimo Rivera but fell short in its upset bid as a team, losing 23-14 to No. 21 Wisconsin on Thursday night at the UW Field House. The Wolverines (3-3) also got wins from No. 17 Haiden Drury and Caleb Uhlenhopp.

Ricks, ranked No. 27 by FloWrestling, defeated No. 10 Nicolar Rivera in overtime, 8-5, to open the dual before Rivera knocked off No. 7 Zan Fugitt by a 5-2 decision. Utah Valley was without No. 11 David Evans at 149 pounds for the second straight week.

"Tonight was a battle. Wisconsin has a good team from top to bottom, a top-25 team," Utah Valley head coach Adam Hall said. "We knew we needed to make up for David being out, and several of our guys stepped up big. Two upset wins to start the dual at 125 and 133 were huge for our momentum. We lost some steam in the middle and it cost us, but we have momentum going into the break before the Southern Scuffle."

In the opening bout, Ricks scored the first takedown before Rivera countered with a reversal to trail 3-2 after one period. Rivera used an escape and takedown in the second to take a 6-4 lead into the third. Ricks escaped and scored a go-ahead takedown with just under a minute remaining to lead 8-6. Rivera earned an escape and used riding time to force overtime, but Ricks finished a scramble 30 seconds into sudden victory to secure the upset. The win avenged an earlier 5-1 loss to Rivera at the Cyclone Invitational and handed the Badger his first loss of the season.

At 133 pounds, Rivera earned his third straight win and the first ranked victory of his career. He scored a takedown late in the first period and rode Fugitt for more than 90 seconds to open the second. Fugitt scored a reversal to trail 3-2 entering the third. After Fugitt escaped to start the final period, Rivera held off two takedown attempts and added riding time to win 5-2.

Drury gave Utah Valley a 10-0 lead after three matches with an 11-2 major decision over Carson Exferd, scoring takedowns in each of the first two periods in a decisive win.

No. 16 Joseph Zargo started a run of four straight Wisconsin wins with a fall at 3:11 over Kayd Craig at 149 pounds. At 157, Mark Takara was tied 1-1 with No. 28 Luke Mechler before being called for a second stalling violation late, resulting in a 2-1 decision for Mechler. Freshman Zyon Trujillo dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 25 Cody Goebel at 165. Luke Condon followed with a 6-2 decision over Trevor Frank at 174, giving Wisconsin (7-0) a 15-10 lead.

In a rematch from the Cyclone Invitational, Uhlenhopp recorded his second win of the season over Cale Anderson, winning by an 8-0 major decision. After a scoreless first period, Uhlenhopp scored an escape and takedown in the second and sealed the match with another takedown and riding time.

The Badgers closed the dual with major decisions from No. 27 Wyatt Ingham, who beat Kael Bennie 10-2, and No. 9 Braxton Amos, who defeated Jack Forbes 12-1.
Utah Valley returns to action at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 3-4 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Wolverines open Big 12 dual competition at home Jan. 10 against Wyoming.

No. 21 Wisconsin 23, Utah Valley 14
125 | #27 Bridger Ricks (UVU) over #10 Nicolar Rivera (WIS), dec. 8-5, SV-1 | UVU 3-0
133 | Geronimo Rivera (UVU) over #7 Zan Fugitt (WIS), dec. 5-2 | UVU 6-0
141 | #17 Haiden Drury (UVU) over Carson Exferd (WIS), major dec. 11-2 | UVU 10-0
149 | #16 Joseph Zargo (WIS) over Kayd Craig (UVU), Fall (3:11) | UVU 10-6
157 | #28 Luke Mechler (WIS) over Mark Takara (UVU), dec. 2-1 | UVU 10-9
165 | #25 Cody Goebel (WIS) over Zyon Trujillo (UVU), dec. 4-2 | WIS 12-10
174 | Luke Condon (WIS) over Trevor Frank (UVU), dec. 6-2 | WIS 15-10
184 | Caleb Uhlenhopp (UVU) over Cale Anderson (WIS), major dec. 8-0 | WIS 15-14
197 | #27 Wyatt Ingham (WIS) over Kael Bennie (UVU), major dec. 10-2 | WIS 19-14
285 | #9 Braxton Amos (WIS) over Jack Forbes (UVU), major dec. 12-1 | WIS 23-14