Bockman Runner-Up at U23 World Team Trials

GENEVA, Ohio — Utah Valley redshirt sophomore Evan Bockman finished second at the 2022 U23 World Team Trials in the 97kg weight class this weekend at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Bockman finished the weekend with a 5-2 record with wins over No. 2 seed Cole Urbas on Saturday and a semifinal win over the No. 3 seed Andrew Davison on Sunday.

Bockman had a dominant Saturday on the mat with a 10-0 victory over Kyle Epperly and an 18-8 tech fall over Urbas, a two-time NCAA qualifier. In the round of 16, Bockman defeated Conor Maslanek by a 17-6 tech fall to end the day. Bockman defeated Sergio Villalobos 10-6 this morning to reach the semifinals.

Bockman scored first in the semifinal against No. 3 seed Davison, an NCAA qualifier from Northwestern University, on a two-point takedown. The two wrestlers would exchange passivity points, making the score 3-1 in favor of Bockman before a final two-point takedown would secure the 5-1 win for Bockman.

Bockman faced No. 1 seed Jacob Cardenas, an NCAA qualifier from Cornell, in a best two-out-of-three for a spot on this year's world team. Cardenas jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first minute in match one. Later in the match while trailing 4-0, Bockman fought back with a two-point takedown to make it 4-2. Cardenas added three points in the second period to win match one 7-2.

Cardenas took an early 4-0 lead in the second match after getting a two-point takedown and two more points later when he turned Bockman. Bockman came back with two points on back-to-back force outs to make it 4-2. The second period was scoreless, with Cardenas holding on to defeat Bockman.

Utah Valley had seven other wrestlers in the event. Stockton O'Brien (65kg) and Danny Snediker (74kg) went 3-2 this weekend, advancing to the second round in the consolation bracket of 32. Kobe Nelms (61kg) went 2-2 this weekend and competed as far as the second round of the consolation bracket of 32. Kase Mauger (61kg), Sam Edelblute (70kg), Kekana Fouret (74kg) all went 1-2 this weekend, and Isaiah Delgado (65kg) finished 0-2.