UVU Wrestling Debuts Roster Friday at Green & Black Intrasquad

OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University wrestling team will unveil its 2021-22 roster for the first time to the public on Friday, Oct. 29 with the annual Green & Black Intrasquad Dual. The exhibition contest will begin at 6 p.m. at UVU's Lockhart Arena and admission will be free of charge.

Friday's intrasquad scrimmage will be competed simultaneously on two mats and each mat will be streamed live on the GoUVU YouTube Channel. To view a complete list of Friday's matches, see below.

"Our team is excited for the opportunity to finally start competing. They have been working hard throughout the spring, summer and fall to ready themselves for the collegiate season," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "Our coaches all believe this is a special group with two returning All-Americans and loaded younger classes with great talent, work ethic and attitude. We are proud of these young men and are looking forward to them showing their growth and abilities."

The Wolverines welcome back a pair of returning All-Americans in redshirt senior Demetrius Romero and redshirt junior Taylor LaMont. After taking sixth at the 2021 NCAA Championships at 174 pounds this past spring, Romero will drop back down to compete at 165 pounds this year while LaMont will remain at 125, a weight where he finished fifth in the nation a season ago.

Both grapplers are also three-time NCAA qualifiers for the Wolverines and Romero is a two-time Big 12 champion, as he won the Big 12 crown at 174 last season and also at 165 in 2019. LaMont, who too reached the Big 12 finals a season ago and went on to earn a second-place conference finish, will open the season ranked as high as sixth nationally by FloWrestling, while Romero is currently ranked eighth nationally by InterMat. The two grapplers combined to go 32-5 on the mat in 2020-21, as Romero went 19-2 while LaMont finished with a 13-3 clip. LaMont is scheduled to miss Friday's intrasquad scrimmage, however, as he'll be traveling to Belgrade, Serbia for the 2021 U23 World Championships (Nov. 1-7).

The Wolverines will welcome back four returning NCAA qualifiers this season in all, as redshirt freshman Ty Smith too is back as well as sophomore Cameron Hunsaker. Smith is scheduled to bump up a weight class and compete at 141 pounds in 2021-22, while Hunsaker will remain at 149. Smith went 8-7 at 133 pounds last year while Hunsaker compiled a 10-9 clip at 149. Smith will enter the season ranked 32nd by InterMat while Hunsaker is an honorable mention on the FloWrestling rankings.

UVU welcomes back nine of its 10 starters from last season and will also look to mix in a trio of highly talented transfers in Haiden Drury (133) and Hunter Cruz (184) from Fresno State, as well as Evan Bockman (197) from California Baptist. Drury will enter the year ranked 27th by InterMat, while Cruz is 33rd. Utah Valley also welcomes in fellow transfer Kobe Nelms from Texas Wesleyan (133), as well as freshmen Alex Emmer (149, Albuquerque, N.M/Pleasant Grove HS, UT), Jack Forbes (197, Littleton, Colo./Columbine HS), Levi Kovacs (197, Maple Valley, Wash./Tahoma HS), Yusief Lillie (Ensenada, Mexico/Tahoma HS, WA), Merrell Morley (174, Payson, Utah/Salem Hills HS), and Mahonri Rushton (184, McCall, Idaho/McCall-Donnelly HS).

The Wolverines will open the year ranked 29th on both the FloWrestling Team Tournament and the WIN Magazine Tournament Power Index polls. During the condensed 2020-21 campaign, UVU posted its highest NCAA Championship team finish in program history by placing 21st with 20.5 total points. The Wolverines also went 2-4 in duals last season with wins over No. 22 Stanford and California Baptist.

On Deck for UVU

The Wolverines will officially begin their 2021-22 season by taking part at the UNC Duals on Sunday, Nov. 7 in Greeley, Colo. UVU will first face a trio of non-Division I foes in Doane University (9:30 a.m.), North Idaho College (11 a.m.) and Northwest Kansas Tech (2 p.m.), before capping the day with a Big 12 dual against the host Northern Colorado Bears at 4 p.m. Utah Valley's 2021-22 home opener will come on Monday, Dec. 20 when the Wolverines will welcome Oklahoma State to town for a Big 12 clash for the first time in program history.

Friday's Scheduled Matches

Mat 1

• 125: Yusief Lillie, Fr. vs. Will Edelblute, RSo.
• 141: #32 Ty Smith, RFr. vs. James Emmer, RFr.
• 149: Jaxon Garoutte, Fr. vs. Sam Edelblute, RFr.
• 157/165: #8 Demetrius Romero, RSr. vs. Danny Snediker, Fr.
• 197: Ashton Seely, RJr. vs. Evan Bockman, RSo.
• 157: Brigg Hoopes, So. vs. Cameron Haddock, So.
• 133: Kobe Nelms, So. vs. Kainalu Estrella, RSo.
• HWT: Chase Trussell, RSo. vs. Jayden Woodruff, RSo.
• 141: Winner of Bout 3 vs. Winner of Bout 4
• 149: Winner of Bout 5 vs. Winner of Bout 6
• 125: Kase Mauger, Fr. vs. Will Edelblute, RSo.

Mat 2

• 133: #27 Haiden Drury, Fr. vs. Kainalu Estrella, RSo.
• 141: Tyson Humpherys, Fr. vs. Stockton O'Brien
• 149: Alex Emmer, Fr. vs. Isaiah Delgado, Jr.
• 174: Hunter Morse, Fr. vs. Kekana Fouret, RFr.
• 184/197: Jacob Armstrong, RSo. vs. Jack Forbes, Fr.
• 125: Yusief Lillie, Fr. vs. Kase Mauger, Fr.
• 165/174: Tanner Lofthouse, Fr. vs. Merrill Morley, Fr.
• 197: Levi Kovacs, Fr. vs. Mahonri Rushton, Fr.
• 141: Loser of Bout 3 vs. Loser of Bout 4
• 149: Loser of Bout 5 vs. Loser of Bout 6
• 197: Ashton Seely, RJr. vs. Jack Forbes, Fr.