Feb. 18, 2007: Deseret Morning News

Wolverines Manhandled in Finale
by Jeremy Twitchell

OREM — The UVSC Wolverines showed some signs of a bright future Saturday but remained mired in a difficult present as they lost the season finale in big fashion to Air Force, 38-6.

McAllister followed at the 197-pound class and pulled off a 10-6 decision in a fast-paced match against Jordan Tribble.

"The freshmen were the guys that were out there getting aggressive and taking shots, and I was pretty pleased with that," said UVSC coach Greg Williams. "That's our future."

The Wolverines were working out of a massive hole from the outset, forfeiting the 125-pound and 133-pound weights to start out with a 0-12 deficit.

Things didn't get much better for Utah Valley once the matches began, as 141-pounder Justin Morrill suffered a technical fall at the hands of Air Force's Jake Kriegbaum. The Wolverines lost the next two matches by a decision and a major decision to fall behind 0-24 before Olsen put the team on the board.

"It's been a long season," Williams said. "We didn't end up with the lineup that we thought we would at the start of the year — not even close — because of injuries. But this year was about improvement. The future of the program is stemming on the young guys that we have."

Saturday marked the final meet of the careers of Justin Rawle and Clayton Wolf, the first four-year seniors to graduate from the program in its four-year history.

"It's been kind of a historical year for them," Williams said of the departing seniors. "I think as we go through the next several years, those two especially will be able to look back and say 'We were a part of something very special.'

Williams said he would only focus on the positives when addressing his team after the loss, and after bidding farewell to Rawle and Wolf, would begin work with his remaining athletes for the upcoming season.

"We have a big jump that we need to make," Williams said. "We don't plan on that taking three, four or five years. We want to do that in the next couple years, so we've got a lot of work to do."