UVU Wrestlers Defeat Four Ranked Opponents

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Taylor LaMont, Ty Smith, Cameron Hunsaker and Demetrius Romero all defeated ranked opponents en route to helping Utah Valley University knock off No. 22 Stanford, 19-16, on Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

The sophomore 149-pounder Hunsaker arguably had the win of the day for UVU (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) by recording a first period fall over No. 12 Jaden Abas of Stanford (5-3, 4-0 Pac-12). The redshirt freshman 133-pounder Smith had another strong win for UVU by picking up his second win of the day over a ranked opponent by defeating No. 18 Jason Miranda, 5-1, while two-time UVU NCAA qualifiers and fifth-ranked LaMont and fellow fifth-ranked Romero both remained undefeated on the year by topping No. 26 Jackson DiSario and No. 27 Tyler Eischens, respectively.

"The guys wrestled hard today in both duals. It was especially nice to see Ty and Cameron get wins over ranked guys in the top-20. They were very aggressive and dictated the pace and control of their matches," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "Taylor also had two solid matches against ranked guys. He and Demetrius have looked really solid and are both working on and improving their top wrestling.

"We fell just short against Oregon State (earlier in the day) but we were able to get a win against a very good (and ranked) Stanford team. We feel good about the performances this weekend."

The Wolverines got off to another strong start in the second match of the day against the Cardinal, as both LaMont and Smith defeated ranked foes for the second time on the day. After defeating No. 24 Brandon Kaylor (19-5) and No. 18 Devan Turner (4-1) of Oregon State, respectively, earlier on Sunday, both LaMont and Smith capped their strong outings on Sunday by defeating No. 26 Jackson DiSario and No. 18 Jason Miranda, respectively. The two-time UVU NCAA qualifier and fifth-ranked LaMont started the early rally against Stanford with a 12-8 decision over DiSario behind five takedowns to improve to 6-0 on the season. Smith then recorded his second upset win of the day thanks to scoring a first period and a third period takedown along with a riding time point to defeat the ranked Miranda by a score of 5-1. With the two wins over ranked foes on the day, Smith improves to 6-1 on the year.

Following a 7-3 decision from Stanford's Luciano Arroyo over Nick Rino at 141, the UVU sophomore Hunsaker recorded his upset first period fall over 12th-ranked Abas. In the neutral position, Hunsaker muscled down Abas with a double-leg takedown and quickly followed that up by getting Abas flat on his back to pin him in 2-minues and 16-seconds to give the Wolverines a 12-3 lead on the scoreboard. With the win over the ranked foe, Hunsaker improves to 6-4 on the season.

The Wolverines then extended their advantage to 15-3 thanks to a 10-5 decision from freshman Danny Snediker over Charlie Darracott at 157. After falling behind early in the bout, Snediker then picked up a pair of takedowns in the second period and two more in the third to go on to double up Darracott and win by a score of 10-5. After dropping his bout against Oregon State's 15th-ranked Hunter Willits earlier in the day, Snediker now holds a 7-2 record on the season.

The Cardinal then responded with a 14-3 major decision win from 2020 NWCA All-American and third-ranked Shane Griffith at 165 to make it 15-7, but back answered the Wolverines with a major decision win from the two-time Utah Valley NCAA qualifier and fifth-ranked senior Romero over No. 27 Tyler Eischens at 174 to extend UVU's lead to 19-7. Holding to a 4-2 lead after one, Romero then added an escape, a penalty point, and a takedown in the second to make it 8-2. Romero then locked up his second bonus-point win of the day with his fourth takedown of the bout along with a riding time point to defeat the fellow ranked foe by major decision. With his second win of the day, Romero remains undefeated on the season, as he ups in 2020-21 record to 10-0.

The Cardinal then bounced back by winning the final three matches of the dual with wins from Jared Hill (184), Nick Stemmet (197) and three-time NCAA qualifier Nathan Traxler (285), but it wasn't enough as UVU held on to win the dual by a score of 19-16.

The victory marked UVU's first win over a nationally ranked opponent since Dec. 29, 2018 when the Wolverines knocked off No. 13 Purdue, 28-11. It also marked UVU's first win over Stanford in its last seven tries (UVU's last win over Stanford came on Feb. 1, 2013).

Earlier in the day, UVU split five bouts apiece with Oregon State but bonus points proved to be the difference as the Beavers managed to pull out the tightly contested contest by a score of 18-16. LaMont, Smith, Hunsaker, Romero and Chase Trussell all picked up wins in the that dual, which included wins over ranked foes from LaMont and Smith. To read more about the Oregon State dual, click HERE.

A number of UVU grapplers also competed in extra matches on Sunday and 125-pound freshman Kase Mauger and 133-pound freshman Tyson Humpherys led the group by each recording two wins apiece. Humpherys went 2-0 with a pair of decisions, while Mauger went 2-1 with a pair of falls. Nick Rino (141) and Stockton O'Brien (141) also recorded wins on the day for the Wolverines in the extra matches.

The Wolverines will now return to Orem before heading to the Brookings, South Dakota next weekend for a trio of Big 12 Conference duals against South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Air Force. UVU will first face the host Jackrabbits on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. MT, followed by contests against the Bison at noon MT, and the Falcons at 2 p.m. MT.

Final Results

• Utah Valley 19, #22 Stanford 16
  • 125: #5 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #26 Jackson DiSario (STAN), 12-8
  • 133: Ty Smith (UVU) DEC #18 Jason Miranda (STAN), 5-1
  • 141: Luciano Arroyo (STAN) DEC Nick Rino (UVU), 7-3
  • 149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) FALL #12 Jaden Abas (STAN), 2:16
  • 157: Danny Snediker (UVU) DEC Charlie Darracott, 10-5
  • 165: #3 Shane Griffith (STAN) MD Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 14-3
  • 174: #5 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD #27 Tyler Eischens (STAN), 11-
  • 184: Jared Hill (STAN) DEC Hunter Morse (UVU), 4-2
  • 197: Nick Stemmet (STAN) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 4-1
  • 285: #22 Nathan Traxler (STAN) DEC Chase Trussell (UVU), 6-3
• Oregon State 18, Utah Valley 16
  • 125: #5 Taylor LaMont (UVU) MD #24 Brandon Kaylor (OSU), 19-5
  • 133: Ty Smith (UVU) DEC #18 Devan Turner (OSU), 4-1
  • 141: #16 Grant Willits (OSU) MD Stockton O'Brien (UVU), 16-3
  • 149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Lane Stigall (OSU), 3-2
  • 157: #15 Hunter Willits (OSU) MD Danny Snediker (UVU), 13-3
  • 165: Matthew Olguin (OSU) MD Kekana Fouret (UVU), 10-2
  • 174: #5 Demetrius Romero (UVU) MD Colton Beisley (OSU), 16-5
  • 184: #25 Ryan Reyes (OSU) DEC Hunter Morse (UVU), 4-2
  • 197: #31 JJ Dixon (OSU) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 8-2
  • 285: Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC Brian Barnes (OSU), 4-0
  • * One team point deducted from Utah Valley for unsportsmanlike conduct
• Extra Matches
  • 165: Aaron Olmos (OSU) DEC Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 5-2
  • 149: Nick Rino (UVU) MD Elijah Cleaver (STAN), 9-0
  • 184: Jackson McKinney (OSU) DEC Nick Addison (STAN), 4-2
  • 125: Kase Mauger (UVU) FALL Kade Uyesaka (OSU), 4:53
  • 165: #3 Shane Griffith (STAN) MD Tommy Strassenburg (OSU), 12-1
  • 133: Tyson Humphreys (UVU) DEC Jason Shaner (OSU), 7-6
  • 285: Marshall Kools (STAN) DEC Max Gomez (OSU), 6-0
  • 149: Riley Gurr (OSU) MD Dawson Sihavong (STAN), 11-2
  • 149: Fabian Santillan (STAN) DEC James Emmer (UVU), 4-3
  • 157: Charlie Darracott (STAN) MD Tommy Strassenburg (OSU), 12-3
  • 133: Kyle Rowan (STAN) DEC Kainalu Estrella (UVU), 11-5
  • 184: Ethan Woods (STAN) DEC Spencer Haywood (UVU), 5-3
  • 285: Seamus O'Malley (STAN) DEC Hayden Still (OSU), 9-2
  • 133: Jason Shaner (OSU) MD Kyle Rowan (STAN), 12-3
  • 149: Riley Gurr (OSU) MD Elijah Cleaver (STAN), 12-2
  • 125: Kase Mauger (UVU) FALL Suhas Chandi (STAN), 2:53
  • 141: Stockton O'Brien (UVU) FALL Fabian Santillan (STAN), 6:46
  • 133: Tyson Humphreys (UVU) DEC Kyle Rowan (STAN), 4-0
  • 149: Riley Gurr (OSU) DEC James Emmer (UVU), 5-0
  • 184: Jackson McKinney (OSU) DEC Spencer Haywood (UVU), 6-1
  • 285: Peter Ming (STAN) DEC Hayden Still (OSU), 5-4
  • 133: Jason Shaner (OSU) DEC Kainalu Estrella (UVU), 10-4
  • 165: Aaron Olmos (OSU) DEC Kekana Fouret (UVU), 4-2
  • 125: #24 Brandon Kaylor (OSU) FALL Kase Mauger (UVU), 5:36
  • 165: #3 Shane Griffith (STAN) MD Aaron Olmos (OSU), 10-2

Corvallis, Ore. - Gill Coliseum

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