UVU Defeats Both CSUB and CBU

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Led by a pair of bonus-point victories from 2021 All-American Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley wrestling went a perfect 2-0 on Friday with a 32-9 victory over CSU Bakersfield of the Pac-12 and a 20-13 win over future Big 12 foe California Baptist at CBU's Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, California.

Fresh off of his fifth-place finish at the U23 World Championships in Greco-Roman competition in Serbia two weeks ago, the sixth-ranked 125-pound UVU redshirt junior LaMont didn't disappoint in his season debut on Friday by recording a 10-2 major decision against CSUB's Eddie Flores followed by a 16-1 technical fall over CBU's Devin Garcia. Four other Wolverines went a perfect 2-0 on Friday in 28th-ranked Haiden Drury (133 pounds), 174-pounder Kekana Fouret, 184-pounder Jacob Armstrong, and heavyweight Jayden Woodruff.

In all, UVU (5-1) won eight of the 10 bouts-including five by bonus points-against CSUB (0-2) before capping the night by claiming six of the 10 against the host CBU Lancers (0-2) to win both duals.

CSU Bakersfield
In the first dual of the day against the 'Runners, UVU got off to a strong start thanks to back-to-back major decisions to jump out to an 8-0 lead. The sixth-ranked LaMont (125) looked strong in his opening-season match by racking up four takedowns, an escape, and a riding time point to defeat CSUB's Flores by a score of 10-2. UVU freshman and 28th-ranked Drury then followed with a dominant 11-0 major over Aaron Ibarra at 133 pounds to extend UVU's advantage to 8-0.

Filling in for 2021 NCAA qualifier Ty Smith at 141 pounds, UVU redshirt freshman James Emmer looked solid against CSUB 2021 NCAA qualifier and 20th-ranked Angelo Martinoni as he held a 5-3 lead midway through the final period. Martinoni managed to respond late for the 'Runners, however, en route to pinning James Emmer (6:07) and pulling the team score to two at 8-6. CSUB's Josh Brown then followed with a 12-6 decision at 149 over UVU freshman Alex Emmer to give the Roadrunners their only lead of the night at 9-8.

Utah Valley then responded by winning the final six matches to record the victory. Freshman 157-pounder Jaxon Garoutte and 2021 All-American and two-time Big 12 champion Demetrius Romero (165) started the spurt with back-to-back wins to give the Wolverines a 14-9 advantage. In a tight match in the final stanza, Garoutte managed to earn a decisive takedown and later added a two-point nearfall just before time expired and an addition riding time point to defeat CSUB's Brock Rogers by a score of 8-2 and improve to 5-0 on the young season. The eighth-ranked UVU redshirt senior Romero then followed by taking care of business en route to defeating CSUB's Augustine Garcia, 7-1. Holding to a 4-1 lead after securing a pair of first-period takedowns, Romero then locked up the bout in the third with another takedown and a riding time point to win by a score of 7-1.

The Wolverines then extended their lead to 17-9 thanks to a hard fought 4-3 victory from redshirt freshman Fouret at 174 pounds. With the contest tied at 3-3 after one period of action, Fouret took a 4-3 advantage in the second thanks to an escape point. He then managed to ride out CSUB's Albert Urias in the final stanza en route to holding on to win the match. UVU redshirt sophomore Armstrong followed by keeping the Utah Valley winning streak going with a 16-6 major decision over CSUB's Jacob Hansen at 184 pounds. Armstrong looked strong in the bout, as he opened a 7-2 lead after two periods of action. He then followed that up with a pair of reversals, a four-point nearfall, and an escape to record the bonus-point victory.

Then up a weight class and wrestling in his first match of the season and first in a UVU singlet, redshirt sophomore and transfer Hunter Cruz followed for the Wolverines with a win by injury default to lock up the dual for UVU leading 27-9. Ahead 5-0 over CSUB's Mateo Morales in the third, Cruz looked to roll Morales through, but Morales looked to sustain and injury as he had to default out of the contest and give Cruz the bonus-point win. At heavyweight, UVU redshirt freshman Woodruff capped the dual for the Wolverines with a dominant 16-0 first-period tech fall over CSUB's Jake Andrews. Woodruff racked up a pair of takedowns and a trio of four-point nearfall on his way to locking up the win by tech fall in 2:58 and helping the Wolverines defeat the 'Runners by a score of 32-7.

California Baptist
UVU again got off to a strong start in the nightcap against future Big 12 foe California Baptist thanks to back-to-back wins from LaMont and Drury. The sixth-ranked 125-pound Wolverine started the dual with his second bonus-point win of the night with a 16-1 tech fall victory over CBU's Devin Garcia. Leading 11-1 late in the third, LaMont then locked in a front cradle on his way to getting a four-point nearfall and an additional riding time point to win the first bout of the contest against the Lancers by technical fall and give UVU a 5-0 lead. Then in a tightly contested 133-pound contest and with Drury trailing CBU's Hunter Leake 1-0, Drury answered for the Wolverines with a late takedown in the third period and followed by riding Leake out to erase Leake's riding time and go on to record a 2-1 victory and make it 8-0 UVU in the team score.

The Lancers then responded by winning three of the next four matches to pull within a point in the team score at 11-10. Christian Nunez started the spurt for CBU with a 10-2 major decision over James Emmer at 141 to make it 8-4. UVU freshman Alex Emmer then responded for the Wolverines with a 7-0 decision over CBU's Chaz Hallmark at 149 to extend Utah Valley's lead to 11-4. The Lancers then bounced back with an 8-3 decision from AJ Raya over Garoutte at 157 followed by a 5-3 decision from Josh Grant over UVU sophomore Brigg Hoopes at 165 to pull within a point on the scoreboard at 11-10.

UVU then extended its lead to 14-10 thanks to a 9-3 decision from redshirt freshman Fouret at 174 pounds over CBU's Louis Rojas. Fouret recorded a pair of takedowns in the first to jump out to an early 4-1 lead and followed that up with five more points in the second on his way to going on to pulling out the bout by a score of 9-3. The Wolverine sophomore Armstrong then continued his strong 2021-22 campaign by improving to 6-0 with an 8-1 decision over Caden Gerlach at 184 pounds to move the team score to 17-10. Armstrong built a 5-0 lead after two periods of action and went on to add a takedown and riding time in the third to defeat Gerlach by a score of 8-1.

With the 197-pound bout deadlocked at 1-1 between UVU's Cruz and CBU's Arick Lopez and headed to sudden victory overtime, CBU's Lopez was awarded a penalty point due to a grabbing of the singlet call by the official on Cruz to give Lopez a 2-1 OT victory and pull the team score to 17-13 with just one match to go. Then with the dual meet on the line in the final bout of the night, UVU heavyweight Woodruff went on to secure the dual victory for the Wolverines with a 5-2 decision over CBU's Chris Island. Trailing 2-0 early in the bout, Woodruff responded with a pair of escapes followed by a second-period takedown and a riding time point to improve to 5-0 on the season and lock up the dual for the Wolverines.

Final Results

Utah Valley 32, CSU Bakersfield 9

• 125: #6 Taylor LaMont (UVU) MD Eddie Flores (CSUB), 10-2
• 133: #28 Haiden Drury (UVU) MD Aaron Ibarra (CSUB), 11-0
• 141: #20 Angelo Martinoni (CSUB) FALL James Emmer (UVU), 6:07
• 149: Josh Brown (CSUB) DEC Alex Emmer (UVU), 12-6
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) DEC Brock Rogers (CSUB), 8-2
• 165: #8 Demetrius Romero (UVU) DEC Augustine Garcia (CSUB), 7-1
• 174: Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Albert Urias (CSUB), 4-3
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) MD Jacob Hansen (CSUB), 16-6
• 197: Hunter Cruz (UVU) INJ DEFAULT Mateo Morales (CSUB), 5:31
• 285: Jayden Woodruff (UVU) TF Jake Andrews (CSUB), 16-0 (2:58)

Utah Valley 20, California Baptist 13

• 125: #6 Taylor LaMont (UVU) TF Devin Garcia (CBU), 16-1 (7:00)
• 133: #28 Haiden Drury (UVU) DEC Hunter Leake (CBU), 2-1
• 141: Christian Nunez (CBU) MD James Emmer (UVU), 10-2
• 149: Alex Emmer (UVU) DEC Chaz Hallmark (UVU), 7-0
• 157: AJ Raya (CBU) DEC Jaxon Garoutte (UVU), 8-3
• 165: Josh Grant (CBU) DEC Brigg Hoopes (UVU), 5-3
• 174: Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Louis Rojas (CBU), 9-3
• 184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Caden Gerlach (CBU), 8-1
• 197: Arick Lopez (CBU) DEC Hunter Cruz (UVU), 2-1 (SV-1)
• 285: Jayden Woodruff (UVU) DEC Chris Island (CBU), 5-2
• EX 149: Sam Edelblute (UVU) DEC Zander Silva (CBU), 10-3

Riverside, Calif. - Van Dyne Gym

*Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling and WIN Magazine polls.