Wolverines Fall Short Against No. 25 Northern Colorado

OREM, Utah — Utah Valley and No. 25 Northern Colorado split five matches apiece, but in the end bonus points were the difference as the Bears managed to hold on to record a 19-16 Big 12 Conference dual victory on Friday afternoon at Lockhart Arena.

With the dual meet all tied up at 13-13 after seven matches, the Bears (3-0, 2-0 Big 12) picked up consecutive wins at 184 and 197 pounds to take a 19-13 advantage with one bout to go. UVU sophomore heavyweight Chase Trussell then answered for the Wolverines (1-1, 0-1 Big 12) with a big 3-0 upset victory over No. 11 Dalton Robertson, but it wasn't enough as UNC managed to hold on to the victory.

The dual marked UVU's second of the day, as it previously defeated California Baptist in its 2020-21 home opener by a score of 25-16 on Friday morning.

"I thought that we wrestled better throughout our lineup here in this second match (against Northern Colorado) than we did in our first (against California Baptist)-even though we won the first and lost the second," head coach Greg Williams said. "We are trying to get our guys to go out and learn and to progress, and not to be worried about falling behind or losing a match here or there. We have some younger guys that are doing that, but we've got to get some of our upperclassmen let loose and do a better job of those things. Overall, I like the attitude of our team and we're going to get better."

In a battle of nationally ranked grapplers to open the contest at 125, ninth-ranked Wolverine Taylor LaMont found himself facing a 1-0 deficit to No. 17 Theorius Robison at the end of two periods of action. In the third period, however, the two-time UVU NCAA qualifier made his move with an escape and a pair of quick takedowns along with a two-point nearfall to take a 7-1 lead. LaMont then went on to add another takedown and a late escape to pull out a 10-6 win and improve to 2-0 on the day (and season) and give the Wolverines an early 3-0 lead in the team score.

The Bears then answered with back-to-back-to-back bonus-point victories to take a 12-3 advantage. Seventh-ranked Mosha Schwartz (133) started the UNC rally with a 10-0 major decision. Thirtieth-ranked Chris Sandoval (141) then followed with a 12-4 major and No. 7 Andrew Alirez capped the spurt with a 16-4 major to give Northern Colorado the lead.

Then in a battle at 157 pounds, freshman Danny Snediker found himself trailing UNC's Nick Knutson, 5-2, at the end of two periods of action. Early in the final stanza, Snediker responded with a reversal followed by the tying takedown late in the period to send the bout to overtime. Deadlocked at 6-6 in the first sudden victory period, Snediker didn't waste any time as he quickly secured the winning takedown to defeat Knutson, 8-6, and remain undefeated on the young season with a 4-0 record.

Snediker's victory started a UVU rally, as the Wolverines would go on to win three straight bouts to regain the lead in the team score at 13-12 with three matches to go.

Redshirt freshman Kekana Fouret (165) picked up the second win of the spurt for UVU with a 5-2 decision over UNC's Jimmy Fate thanks to a third-period reversal and a riding time point. Fouret too remains unbeaten on the young season with a 5-0 record. Ninth-ranked senior Demetrius Romero again looked strong on his way to picking up another bonus-point win with a 13-2 major decision over Damen Pape. The two-time UVU NCAA qualifier and 2019 Big 12 champion racked up a trio of takedowns, a four-point nearfall, a penalty point, and riding time to improve to 5-0 on the year.

The Bears responded with a major decision victory from No. 18 Alan Clothier at 184 to take a 16-13 advantage. Then in a battle at 197 between UVU sophomore Jacob Armstrong and UNC's 19th-ranked Jacob Seely, Northern Colorado's Seely managed to hold on late to pull out a 5-3 decision and give the Bears a 19-13 lead with just one match to go.

In the final bout of the dual, No. 11 Robertson of Northern Colorado looked to have sustained an injury in the second period and UVU's Trussell capitalized by going on to knock off the 2020 NCAA qualifier by a score of 3-0. Trussell picked up a reversal in the second and a riding time point at the end of the bout to secure the upset and conclude the dual with UNC pulling out the tightly contested 19-16 victory.

Following the dual, four bonus matches were contested between UVU and UNC (the bonus matches did not count towards the team score). UNC's Jace Koelzer picked up an 8-3 win over Dawson Collins at 125, UVU freshman Stockton O'Brien defeated Ethan Leake 5-3 at 141, UVU senior Koy Wilkinson beat Trenton Schultz 3-2 at 165, and UNC's Xavier Vasquez edged UVU junior Ashton Seely 4-3 at 184.

LaMont, Ty Smith (133), Cameron Hunsaker (149), Snediker, Fouret and Romero all picked up wins over CBU earlier in the day to each go 2-0 for the Wolverines on Friday. Four of UVU's six victories against CBU were by bonus points. To read more about UVU's victory over CBU, click HERE.

Also, in a neutral-site contest on the day between No. 25 UNC and CBU, the Bears won nine of the 10 bouts on their way to picking up a 35-3 victory over the Lancers.

Utah Valley will remain home to host No. 11 Arizona State and Big 12 foe Wyoming on Saturday, Jan. 23 for the UVU Round Robin Tournament. The all-day three-team round-robin event will be contested on two mats and will begin at 10 a.m. MT in the UCCU Center.

Results

#25 Northern Colorado 19, Utah Valley 16

• 125: #9 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC Theorius Robison (UNC), 10-6
• 133: #7 Mosha Schwartz (UNC) MD Ty Smith (UVU), 10-0
• 141: #30 Chris Sandoval (UNC) MD Isaiah Delgado (UVU), 12-4
• 149: #7 Andrew Alirez (UNC) MD Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 16-4
• 157: Danny Snediker (UVU) DEC Nick Knutson (UNC), 8-6 (SV-1)
• 165: Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Jimmy Fate (UNC), 5-2
• 174: #5 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD Damen Pape (UNC), 13-2
• 184: #18 Alan Clothier (UNC) MD Hunter Morse (UVU), 13-4
• 197: #19 Jacob Seely (UNC) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 5-3
• 285: Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC #11 Dalton Robertson (UNC), 3-0
• EX 125: Jace Koelzer (UNC) DEC Dawson Collins (UVU), 8-3
• EX 141: Stockton O'Brien (UVU) DEC Ethan Leake (UNC), 5-3
• EX 165: Koy Wilkinson (UVU) DEC Trenton Schultz (UNC), 3-2
• EX 184: Xavier Vasquez (UNC) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 4-3

Utah Valley 25, California Baptist 16

• 125: #9 Taylor LaMont (UVU) MD Dilan Ajtun (CBU), 11-2
• 133: Ty Smith (UVU) FALL Brandon Paulson (CBU), 1:37
• 141: Chaz Hallmark (CBU) FALL Isaiah Delgado (UVU), 4:41
• 149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC AJ Raya (CBU), 3-2
• 157: Danny Snediker (UVU) MD Zach Rowe (CBU), 12-4
• 165: Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Josh Grant (CBU), 3-0
• 174: #5 Demetrius Romero (UVU) TF Louis Rojas (CBU), 17-2 (7:00)
• 184: Caden Gerlach (CBU) MD Ashton Seely (UVU), 13-5
• 197: Evan Bockman (CBU) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 5-2
• 285: Zach Schrader (CBU) DEC Chase Trussell (UVU), 4-2 (SV-1)

#25 Northern Colorado 35, California Baptist 3

• 125: Jace Koelzer (UNC) DEC Dilan Ajtun (CBU), 5-0
• 133: #7 Mosha Schwartz (UNC) FALL Brandon Paulson (CBU), 3:26
• 141: #30 Chris Sandoval (UNC) DEC Chaz Hallmark (CBU), 12-5
• 149: #7 Andrew Alirez (UNC) DEC AJ Raya (CBU), 6-4
• 157: Nick Knutson (UNC) DEC Zach Rowe (CBU), 11-5
• 165: Josh Grant (CBU) DEC Billy Higgins (UNC), 10-3
• 174: Damen Pape (UNC) DEC Louis Rojas (CBU), 12-5
• 184: #18 Alan Clothier (UNC) MD Caden Gerlach (CBU), 15-5
• 197: #19 Jacob Seely (UNC) MD Evan Bockman (CBU), 9-1
• 285: #11 Dalton Robertson (UNC) FALL Zach Schrader (CBU), 2:28

Individual rankings listed are the highest current ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat and WIN Magazine polls.