Four Wolverines Head to St. Louis for NCAA Championships

OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University wrestling team will send four grapplers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships this weekend, March 18-20, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Both redshirt junior Taylor LaMont (125 pounds) and redshirt senior Demetrius Romero (174) will compete at nationals for the third time, while redshirt freshman Ty Smith (133) and sophomore Cameron Hunsaker (149) will both make their first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

The 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships will run Thursday to Saturday at Enterprise Center and all seven sessions will be televised live on the ESPN family of networks. Thursday's opening session (1A) will begin at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT and will feature first-round matches from the first five weight classes. Session 1B will then follow at noon MT/1 p.m. CT with 165 thru heavyweight and both sessions will be televised on ESPNU. Session 2A will then follow Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT with second round matches from 125 to 157. Session 2B will be held that night at 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. CT with second round matches from 165 thru heavyweight and both sessions will air live on ESPN2. Friday will feature sessions three, four and five and will get underway with the first five weight classes in the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT. The second half of quarterfinals will then follow at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT and both sessions will be televised on ESPNU. Friday night's fifth session-the semifinals-will then take place that evening at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT on ESPN. The sixth session-the medal rounds-will then follow on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT on ESPN2. The seventh session-championship finals-will then close the event on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Each match of the three-day national tournament will also be streamed live on ESPN3. Live results will also be available throughout the duration of the event by visiting TrackWrestling.com.

The two-time Big 12 champion Romero leads the way for UVU as he will enter his third trip to nationals as the highest seeded wrestler in program history by being seeded second at 174 pounds. Romero won his second Big 12 title just 10 days ago by going 4-0 at the conference tournament on his way to securing the automatic bid to nationals and remaining undefeated on the season with a perfect 16-0 record. He is UVU's only Big 12 champion in program history and ranked third in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking and second on the latest InterMat poll (both of those rankings are the highest in program history).

LaMont too reached the finals at the Big 12s but dropped a tightly contested championship bout to the Big 12 top-seed Brody Teske of Northern Iowa, 9-7, to earn a runner-up finish. LaMont will enter nationals this week as the No. 7 seed at 125 pounds and holds a 9-1 record on the year. The seven-seed matches for the second highest seed in program history that he too holds after entering the 2018 NCAAs at No. 7 at 125. Both Romero and LaMont will be looking to secure the first All-American finishes of their standout careers, as both previously have had their best finishes come to a close in the notorious "blood round" (LaMont in 2018 and Romero in 2019). LaMont is currently seventh on the final NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking and also ranked seventh by InterMat.

Smith earned an at-large selection and will enter his first trip to nationals as the No. 28 seed at 133 pounds. The redshirt freshman placed eighth at the 2021 Big 12s, is ranked 27th in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking and holds an 8-5 record on the season. He holds four wins on the year over nationally ranked foes and is 18th currently by FloWrestling.

Originally an alternate for the 2021 NCAA Championships, Hunsaker officially earned a spot as an injury replacement a few days ago as will enter his first trip to nationals as the No. 33 seed at 149. Hunsaker, who recently posted a seventh-place finish at the Big 12 Championships for the second straight season, is ranked 31st in his weight class on the latest NCAA Coaches Panel and holds a 9-7 record on the year. He holds one win on the year over a nationally ranked opponent and is ranked 28th currently by TrackWrestling.

The second-seeded Romero will open his 2021 NCAA Championship run in session 1B against the No. 31 seed from Lehigh Jake Logan (4-5 season record). The seventh-seeded LaMont will begin his third quest for an NCAA Championship against the No. 26 seed Jackson DeSario of Stanford (7-3). LaMont and DeSario matched up against one another last month in dual action and LaMont walked away victorious with a 12-8 decision. The 28th-seeded Smith will face the two-time ACC champion and fifth-seeded Micky Phillippi of Pittsburgh (8-1) in his opening bout. Phillippi is a three-time NCAA qualifier and a 2020 NWCA All-American. The 33rd-seeded Hunsaker will open against Hofstra's Greg Gaxiola (4-3 on the year), a now two-time NCAA qualifier who transferred to Hofstra from Fresno State prior to the season.

The four NCAA qualifiers marks the most national qualifiers for the Wolverines since 2019 when they sent a program-best six grapplers to nationals that season. Last year, UVU was set to send three qualifiers to the NCAA Championships before they were canceled due to COVID-19.

UVU, who went 2-4 overall in duals on the year and 0-3 in Big 12 dual meets, picked up wins on the season over No. 22 Stanford (19-16) and California Baptist (25-16). The Wolverines then posted a 10th-place finish out of 12 teams at the 2021 Big 12 Championships with 55 points. UVU had six total place winners at the event and a pair of finalists for the first time, as both Romero and LaMont wrestled for Big 12 titles.

UVU at the NCAA Championships

With the four qualifiers this season, UVU has now claimed a total of 39 NCAA qualifiers in its 12 seasons as a full-fledged NCAA Division I member. The Wolverines have had at least one wrestler qualify to compete at nationals in each and every year since becoming eligible for postseason competition in 2009-10. UVU sent a program-record six qualifiers in 2019. Utah Valley has crowned a total of three All-Americans in program history in Benjamin Kjar (125) in 2011, Jade Rauser in 2016 (133), and former heavyweight Tate Orndorff in 2020. Kjar reached the semifinals in Philadelphia in 2011 en route to posting a program-best fourth that season, while Rauser reeled off an impressive four-match winning streak in 2016 on his way to taking eighth, and Orndorff was awarded 2020 NWCA First Team All-American honors after having the championships canceled last season.

NCAA Format

Each weight class consists of 33 wrestlers for a grand total of 330 grapplers at the national championship event that will be competed under double-elimination format. The three-day NCAA Championships will feature more sessions this year due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

UVU 1st Round Matches

• 125 - #7 Taylor LaMont (9-1) vs. #26 Jackson DiSario, (Stanford, 7-3)
• 133 - #28 Ty Smith (8-5) vs. #5 Micky Phillippi, (Pitt, 8-1)
• 149 - #33 Cameron Hunsaker (9-7) vs. #32 Greg Gaxiola, (Hofstra, 4-3)
• 174 - #2 Demetrius Romero (16-0) vs. #31 Jake Logan, (Lehigh, 4-5)