LaMont Fifth, Romero Sixth at NCAAs

ST. LOUIS — The Utah Valley University wrestling team crowned multiple All-Americans for the first time on Saturday, as Taylor LaMont placed fifth and Demetrius Romero finished sixth at the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The seventh-seeded junior LaMont earned the fifth-place finish at 125 pounds after posting a 4-2 record at the 2021 NCAAs, while the second-seeded senior Romero finished with a 3-2 outing to place sixth at 174 pounds.

It marked the first All-American finishes for both LaMont and Romero. LaMont's fifth-place finish is the second highest in program history while Romero's finish is the third. LaMont and Romero become just the third and fourth NCAA All-Americans in program history. Benjamin Kjar was the program's first by placing fourth at 125 pounds in 2011, while Jade Rauser finished eighth at 133 in 2016. Former heavyweight Tate Orndorff also earned first team NWCA All-American honors last season after the 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled due to COVID-19.

"It is exciting to have two All-Americans this year, a first for our program," head coach Greg Williams said. "Taylor and Demetrius both fell short of their goals to become national champions, and that was heartbreaking when they lost in the semis last night. They put it all out there and that is what we expect and what they expect in themselves.

"We expect others in our program to look to these two for the processes they go through every day on the mat. That is what got both of them to this level and what we believe will carry them back here again next year with an even better opportunity to win a title."

LaMont and Romero both opened their 2021 All-American runs with identical 3-0 records to both advance to the championship semifinals on Friday. It marked the first time in program history that the Wolverines had multiple semifinalists at the NCAA Championships. Each LaMont and Romero then dropped tightly contested battles in the semis to head to the Saturday morning's medal rounds.

Opening in the consolation semis on Saturday morning, the seventh-seeded LaMont found himself on the wrong end of an 8-3 decision to the two-time NCAA qualifier and No. 15 seed Patrick McKee of Minnesota to head to the fifth-place bout. In the consolation semis, LaMont got in on an early single-leg attack but McKee managed to fight it off and the Golden Gopher then picked up a takedown of his own to take a 2-0 lead after one. LaMont then earned an escape point in the second, but McKee responded with another takedown at the end of the second stanza to take a 4-1 advantage. LaMont was then awarded a pair of penalty points in the third due to McKee's stalling, but McKee would pick up an escape, a late takedown, and riding time to win by a score of 8-3.

Then in the fifth-place bout in a rematch against the No. 2 seed Sam Latona of Virginia Tech, who LaMont previously defeated 7-4 in the quarterfinals, LaMont again took the upper hand against the 2021 ACC champ with a quick escape in the second to take a 1-0 lead. The three-time UVU NCAA qualifier LaMont then followed that up with a takedown and nearly picked up back points as well, as he extended his lead to 3-0 after two. LaMont then capped off the victory by a score of 4-1 with an additional riding time point to finish fifth.

LaMont started his 2021 NCAA Championship run with three straight wins to reach the championship semifinals for the first time. He picked up wins over No. 26 Jackson DiSario of Stanford, 18-1, No. 23 Robert Howard of Penn State, 2-1, and No. 2 Sam Latona of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals, 7-4, during the stretch.

LaMont then matched up with the No. 3 seed and two-time Pac-12 champion Brandon Courtney on Friday night in the semifinals. All knotted up a 1-1 at an escape and apiece and headed for overtime, the contest then went to the tiebreakers to determine a winner. After Courtney managed to ride LaMont out in the first 30-second round, LaMont then gave Courtney an intentional release escape prior to the second 30 seconds to fall behind 2-1. The three-time 125-pound UVU NCAA qualifier then did everything he could to look for the winning takedown, but he couldn't secure it as Courtney went on to win the overtime battle by a score of 2-1.

With the 4-2 record, LaMont finishes his redshirt junior campaign with a 13-3 record, a runner-up finish at the 2021 Big 12 Championships, and his first All-American honors after earning the fifth-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships.

Also opening in the consolation semis on Saturday, the fellow three-time UVU NCAA qualifier Romero dropped a hard fought 5-4 decision to the now three-time All-American and No. 4 seed Mikey Labriola of Nebraska. Early in the match, Romero was the aggressor as he jumped out to a 2-0 lead following a takedown in the first period. Later leading 3-1 in the final period, Labriola then managed to record a takedown to tie the match but the second-seeded Romero responded with an escape to take a 4-3 lead. Towards the end of the final period, Labriola then picked up what proved to be the winning takedown as he managed to keep Romero down and went on to claim a come-from-behind 5-4 victory to send Romero to the fifth-place match.

Romero was then scheduled to face the No. 5 seed and two-time NCAA qualifier from Michigan Logan Massa in the fifth-place match, but Romero had to take a medical forfeit in the contest due to an injury he had previously sustained to end his 2021 NCAA Championship run with a sixth-place finish.

The two-time Big 12 champion for the Wolverines Romero too opened with a three straight wins with victories over No. 31 Jake Logan of Lehigh, 9-6, No. 18 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State, 11-5, and a 6-0 shutout over No. 7 Kaleb Romero of Ohio State in the quarterfinals to also advance to the semis. Then in his first national semifinal appearance, the Wolverine three-time NCAA qualifier Romero battled with the No. 3 seed and 2021 Big Ten runner-up Carter Starocci of Penn State, but in the end Starocci ended up pulling out a tightly contested 2-0 battle. After a scoreless first period, Starocci was able to record a quick escape in the second stanza to take a 1-0 advantage. With Romero later in the bottom position in the third, Starocci managed to ride Romero out in the third to earn an additional riding time point and take the semifinal bout by a score of 2-0.

With the 3-2 outing at the NCAA Championships, Romero finishes his 2021 season with a dominant 19-2 record and the first All-American finish of his esteemed career. He also claimed the second Big 12 title of his career earlier in the month and is planning on coming back for another year of action next year. He now also holds a 75-16 career record in a UVU singlet to tie for the eighth most wins in program history.

"Although it wasn't exactly the finish that I was hoping for, I wrestled a good tournament," the redshirt senior Romero said. "This is where the best people in the country compete and battle it out. I had to wrestle through some injuries, but I showed that I was resilient so It's not a performance for me to look down on. It's now time to start building for next year, as I plan on coming back and will be striving to win an NCAA title."

Romero's No. 2 seed in his weight class, marked the highest national seed in program history, while LaMont's No. 7 seed tied for the second best (which LaMont also holds after entering the 2018 NCAA Championships at No. 7 as a freshman in 2018).

In the team score race, Utah Valley is also currently in a program-best 21st place out of 63 teams with 20.5 total points. By being in 21st, UVU is the fourth highest team from the Big 12 Conference. Iowa leads with 125 points, while Penn State is in second (97.5) and Oklahoma State third (95.5) going into tonight's championship finals.

A pair of other Wolverine grapplers also took part in the 2021 NCAA Championship but both Ty Smith (133) and Cameron Hunsaker (149) had their inaugural runs cut short on Thursday. The 33rd-seeded Hunsaker led the two by going 1-2 with a 5-1 win over No. 32 Greg Gaxiola of Hofstra, while Smith finished with an 0-2 outing.

"We are so proud of all four of our qualifiers this weekend. Taylor, Ty, Cameron and Demetrius battled every second of every match. They represented Utah Valley well. This experience will help them grow and be better prepared for next year's tournament," concluded Williams.

That concludes Utah Valley's action at the 2021 NCAA Championships as well as the season for the Wolverines.

The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will wrap up on Saturday evening with the championship finals live on ESPN at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT.

UVU'S 2021 NCAA All-Americans

• 125 - Taylor LaMont - 5th Place
• 174 - Demetrius Romero - 6th Place

UVU 2021 NCAA Championship Results

125 - #7 Taylor LaMont (4-2) - 5th Place

• #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU) TF #26 Jackson DiSario (STAN), 18-1 (5:37)
• #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #23 Robert Howard (PENN ST), 2-1
• #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #2 Sam Latona (VT), 7-4
• #3 Brandon Courtney (ASU) DEC #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 2-1 (TB-1)
• #15 Patrick McKee (MINN) DEC #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 8-3
• 5th: #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU) DEC #2 Sam Latona (VT), 4-1

174 - #2 Demetrius Romero (3-2) - 6th Place

• #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU) DEC #31 Jake Logan (LEH), 9-6
• #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU) DEC #18 Dustin Plott (OKST), 11-5
• #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU) DEC #7 Kaleb Romero (OHIO ST), 6-0
• #3 Carter Starocci (PENN ST) DEC #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU), 2-
• #4 Mikey Labriola (NEB) DEC #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU), 5-4
• 5th: #5 Logan Massa (MICH) MED FORFEIT #2 Demetrius Romero (UVU)

133 - #28 Ty Smith (0-2)

• #5 Micky Phillippi (PITT) MD #28 Ty Smith (UVU), 14-3
• #21 Jared Van Vleet (AF) DEC #28 Ty Smith (UVU), 4-1

149 - #33 Cameron Hunsaker (1-2)

• #33 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC #32 Greg Gaxiola (HOF), 5-1
• #1 Sammy Sasso (OHIO ST) FALL #33 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 6:34
• #16 PJ Ogunsanya (ARMY) DEC #33 Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 5-3