Wolverine Comeback Falls Short

GREELEY, Colo. — Utah Valley University wrestling won its first three duals of the day against non-Division I opponents before its comeback attempt fell just short to the host Northern Colorado Bears in Big 12 action, 19-15, at the UNC Duals on Sunday at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.

After dropping the first four matches in Sunday's finale against the Bears (4-0, 1-0 Big 12), UVU (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) then responded by winning four of the final six bouts but it wasn't quite enough as UNC held on to win the Big 12 Conference match by four points. Eighth-ranked senior 165-pounder Demetrius Romero and redshirt sophomore Jacob Armstrong (184 pounds) led the way for UVU in Sunday's finale by each pulling out bonus-point victories.

"Today was a great chance to see our top two guys in each weight class wrestle. Our younger guys are going to improve wrestling duals mixed in with our starters," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "We also were able to learn a lot about where our starters are at in the Northern Colorado dual. I feel like we wrestled tough, but I also like that we can improve in some important areas moving forward."

In the nightcap against UNC, the Bears got off to a strong start by reeling off four straight wins to jump out to a 13-0 lead. Jace Koelzer (125), No. 26 Mosha Schwartz (133), No. 13 Andrew Alirez (141) and Chris Sandoval (149) all picked up victories for Northern Colorado during the stretch. Second-year freshman Jaxon Garoutte then helped put a stop to that for UVU by pulling out a hard-fought overtime victory over UNC's Nathan Moore at 157 pounds to make it 13-3 on the scoreboard. With the contest deadlocked at 1-1 and headed to sudden victory, Garoutte got in on a quick shot in the first overtime period and managed to record the takedown and pull out a 3-1 decision for his fourth victory of the day.

In his first action of the 2021-22 campaign, reigning All-American and two-time Big 12 champion Romero didn't disappoint for the Wolverines by following with a technical fall at 165 pounds over Cody Eaton to make it a 13-8 team score. Back down a weight class to 165 this season, the eighth-ranked Romero dominated the match with seven takedowns, a four-point nearfall, an escape, and a penalty point on his way to recording the tech fall.

The Bears then countered back with a 9-5 win from Nick Knutson at 174 over redshirt freshman Kekana Fouret to make it 16-8, but back answered the Wolverines thanks to a 12-3 bonus-point victory from redshirt sophomore 184-pounder Armstrong over Xavier Vasquez to pull UVU within four on the scoreboard with two matches to go (16-12). Up 2-0 in the second, Armstrong picked up an escape and a pair of takedowns to take a 7-2 lead at the end of two. Armstrong then locked up the major in the third by picking up two more takedowns and an additional riding time point to win by a score of 12-3.

The Bears then put the dual away with a tightly contested 5-3 decision from 2021 NCAA qualifier Alan Clothier over UVU sophomore transfer Even Bockman at 197 pounds. With Bockman and Clothier deadlocked at 3-3 at the end of two periods of action, Clothier managed to record a quick escape in the third along with riding time to win the hard-fought match by a score of 5-3 and put the dual away by giving UNC a 19-12 advantage. After being sidelined in 2020-21 with an injury, UVU redshirt sophomore and Elizabeth, Colorado native Jayden Woodruff then capped the dual with a 4-3 victory at heavyweight over UNC's Robert Winters to cap the team score at 19-15. Woodruff started the scoring the bout with a first-period takedown and followed it up with escape points in each of the second and third stanzas to win by one.

UVU opened the day with three straight dominant dual victories over non-Division I foes. The Wolverines opened with a 38-3 victory over third-ranked NAIA institution Doane University and followed it up with a 37-3 win over sixth-ranked Junior College foe North Idaho College. Later in the afternoon, UVU then took advantage of a number of forfeits en route to recording a 50-6 victory over 22nd-ranked JuCo Northwest Kansas Technical College before capping the day by dropping the hard-fought Big 12 contest to UNC.

In all three duals earlier in the day against non-Division I foes, UVU claimed nine of the 10 bouts on its way to cruising to victory in each contest. The Wolverines won eight matches by bonus points-with six coming via forfeit-against NWKTC, six bouts by bonus points against NIC, and five matches by bonus points over Doane. UVU's lone losses in the three dual meets were a forfeit, a tightly contested 5-3 decision from two-time NAIA National Champion and top-ranked Baagii Boldmaa (Doane), and an 8-2 decision victory from eighth-ranked Jett Strickenberger (NIC). In all, Utah Valley outscored the trio of lower division foes by a combined score of 125-12.

Individually, Garoutte (157) and Armstrong (184) led the way for UVU on Sunday by each going a perfect 4-0. Second-year freshman Tanner Lofthouse (165) and sophomore heavyweight Woodruff (heavyweight) were next by going 3-0, while fellow second-year freshman and 27th-ranked Haiden Drury went 3-1 at 133.

With the opening win over Doane on Sunday morning, UVU improves to 10-9 all-time in season opening duals and the Wolverines have also won six of their last seven openers.

Sixth-ranked UVU 125-pounder and 2021 All-American Taylor LaMont missed Sunday's opener as he earned a fifth-place finish at the 2021 U23 World Championships in Greco-Roman competition in Serbia just a few days ago.

The Wolverines will next head to Southern California for a pair of duals on Friday, Nov. 19 in Riverside against CSU Bakersfield and the host California Baptist Lancers. While in SoCal, UVU will also take part in the Roadrunner Open on Sunday, Nov. 21 in Bakersfield. UVU's 2021-22 home opener is set for Monday, Dec. 20 against Big 12 power Oklahoma State.

Final Results

Northern Colorado 19, Utah Valley 15

• 125: Jace Koelzer (NC) DEC Yusief Lillie (UVU), 2-0
• 133: #26 Mosha Schwartz (NC) DEC #27 Haiden Drury (UVU), 7-3
• 141: #13 Andrew Alirez (NC) MD #32 Ty Smith (UVU), 14-4
• 149: Chris Sandoval (NC) DEC Alex Emmer (UVU), 10-4
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) DEC Nathan Moore (NC), 3-1 (SV-1)
• 165: #8 Demetrius Romero (UVU) TF Cody Eaton (NC), 20-5 (6:08)
• 174: Nick Knutson (NC) DEC Kekana Fouret (UVU), 9-5
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) MD Xavier Vasquez (NC), 12-3
• 197: #24 Alan Clothier (NC) DEC Evan Bockman (UVU), 5-3
• 285: Jayden Woodruff (UVU) DEC Robert Winters (NC), 4-3
• EX 133: Dyson Kunz (NC) DEC Kobe Nelms (UVU), 3-2

Utah Valley 38, #3 Doane 3

• 125: Yusief Lillie (UVU) DEC #3 Daniel Vargas (Doane), 3-1 (SV-1)
• 133: #27 Haiden Drury (UVU) DEC Justin Ramirez (Doane), 6-0
• 141: #1 Baagii Boldmaa (Doane) DEC #32 Ty Smith (UVU), 5-3
• 149: Alex Emmer (UVU) MD #9 Tristan Zamilpa (Doane), 8-0
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) TF Gabe Keith (Doane), 25-9 (7:00)
• 165: Tanner Lofthouse (UVU) FALL Benji Dobler (Doane), 4:18
• 174: Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC #10 Michael Scarponi (Doane), 6-2
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) TF Cael Jordan (Doane), 15-0 (4:08)
• 197: Evan Bockman (UVU) FALL #9 Bradley Antesberger (Doane), 3:38
• 285: Chase Trussell (UVU) DEC #7 Odgi Batkhishig (Doane), 3-2
• EX 285: Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD #12 Brandon Antesberger (Doane), 13-0
• EX 133: Kobe Nelms (UVU) TF Jeremy McKee (Doane), 17-1 (6:28)
• *Doane's rankings are from the latest NAIA poll.

Utah Valley 38, #6 North Idaho 3

• 125: #8 Jett Strickenberger (NIC) DEC Yusief Lillie (UVU), 8-2
• 133: #27 Haiden Drury (UVU) MD Earl Blake (NIC), 10-2
• 141: James Emmer (UVU) DEC Brant Porter (NIC), 8-2
• 149: Sam Edelblute (UVU) MD Kana'i Tapia (NIC), 12-4
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) FALL #3 Brandon Bollinger (NIC), 2:48
• 165: Tanner Lofthouse (UVU) DEC #5 Ledger Petracek (NIC), 5-3
• 174: Hunter Morse (UVU) DEC #5 Navarro Nanpuya (NIC), 2-1
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) MD Devin Winston (NIC), 12-3
• 197: Evan Bockman (UVU) TF Mikey Rhea (NIC), 20-3 (4:04)
• 285: Jayden Woodruff (UVU) TF #3 Cohle Feliciano (NIC), 16-1 (4:56)
• *North Idaho's rankings are from the latest NJCAA poll.

Utah Valley 50, #22 Northwest Kansas Tech 6

• 125: Yusief Lillie (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 133: #27 Haiden Drury (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 141: #32 Ty Smith (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 149: Alex Emmer (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 165: Tanner Lofthouse (UVU) TF Richie Lee (NWKTC), 16-1 (5:44)
• 174: Hunter Morse (UVU) DEC Jameel Cole (NWKTC), 6-5
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• 197: Davis Lee (NWKTC) wins by FORFEIT
• 285: Chase Trussell (UVU) wins by FORFEIT
• *Northwest Tech's rankings are from the latest NJCAA poll.