Wolverines Head to Laramie for Cowboy Open

OREM, Utah — Fresh off of a strong weekend in Southern California which included dual victories over CSU Bakersfield and California Baptist and six Wolverines winning titles at the Roadrunner Open, the Utah Valley University wrestling team will send a contingent of wrestlers to Laramie, Wyoming this weekend to take part at the Cowboy Open.

The Cowboy Open will be held Saturday, Nov. 27 at the University of Wyoming's War Memorial Fieldhouse. Wrestling will get underway at 9 a.m. MT and the open tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling (subscription required). Live results will also be available throughout the day by visiting Arena.FloWrestling.org.

UVU will enter Saturday's event with a 5-1 dual clip on the season after topping both CSU Bakersfield of the Pac-12, 32-9, and future Big 12 Conference foe California Baptist, 20-13, last Friday in Riverside, California. The Wolverines dominated in the opener against the Roadrunners by winning eight of the 10 weight classes-including five by bonus points-before concluding the day by winning six of the 10 bouts to top the host Lancers. Redshirt junior 125-pounder and 2021 All-American Taylor LaMont led the way for UVU by winning both of his matches by bonus points with wins by tech fall and major decision on the day.

The Wolverines then went on to have a strong showing at the Roadrunner Open last Sunday in Bakersfield by winning six of the 10 titles at the open tournament. Freshman 133-pounder and then-28th ranked Haiden Drury and sophomore heavyweight Jayden Woodruff both went a perfect 4-0 en route to winning titles for UVU, while freshmen Kase Mauger (125 pounds), Danny Snediker (165) and Jack Forbes (197), as well as junior Isaiah Delgado (141) all won titles while competing unattached at the open tournament. In all, a total of 13 Wolverines placed at the Roadrunner Open, as sophomore Hunter Cruz (184) placed second, sophomore Kainalu Estrella (133) and redshirt freshman Kekana Fouret (174) took third, and freshman Yusief Lillie (125) placed sixth. Competing unattached, sophomore Cameron Haddock (157) and freshman Levi Kovacs (197) both placed second, while second-year freshman Stockton O'Brien finished fourth at 141.

The majority of Utah Valley's starters are slated to take Saturday's tournament off, as UVU will send primarily backups and redshirts to the Cowboy Open. Having missed last week's action, sophomores Evan Bockman (197) and Chase Trussell (heavyweight) are scheduled to compete for UVU on Saturday, as well as Yusief Lillie (125), Estrella (133), Kobe Nelms (133), Sam Edelblute (149), Brigg Hoopes (157), Tanner Lofthouse (165), and Hunter Morse (174). A contingent of unattached Wolverines are also slated to compete on Saturday in Mauger (125), Tyson Humpherys (141), Snediker (165), Merrell Morley (174), Mahonri Rushton (184), Forbes (197), and Levi Kovacs (197).

Ranked Wolverines

UVU will enter the week with four nationally ranked grapplers and ranked as high as 24th as a team in the latest FloWrestling Team Tournament poll. 2021 All-Americans LaMont and Demetrius Romero lead the way, as the redshirt junior LaMont has moved up a couple of spots and is now ranked as high as No. 4 by both InterMat and FloWrestling at 125, while the redshirt senior and two-time Big 12 champ Romero is tabbed seventh by InterMat at 165. With a 9-1 record on the season, second-year freshman and Fresno State transfer Drury checks in at No. 29 at 133 pounds, while 2021 NCAA qualifier Ty Smith is currently an honorable mention ranked grappler at 141.

UVU Leaders

After going a perfect 6-0 last week, which included four consecutive pins at the Roadrunner Open en route to winning his weight class, sophomore heavyweight Woodruff leads UVU on the young season with a perfect 9-0 record. The 29th-ranked Drury is next with a 9-1 clip at 133, while redshirt freshman 174-pounder Kekana Fouret is 7-2 and sophomore Jacob Armstrong is 6-0 at 184. Both LaMont and Romero too remain undefeated on the season, as they are each 2-0 so far in 2021-22. As a team, UVU's 5-1 start is its best start since 2018-19 when the Wolverines too started that season 5-1.

About the Cowboy Open

The Cowboy Open will be held on six mats at UW's War Memorial Fieldhouse on Saturday. Traditionally, the Cowboy Open features both an Elite Division and an Amateur Division at each weight class, but just one division per weight class is scheduled to be competed this weekend. Grapplers from the host Cowboys, as well as UVU, No. 7 Arizona State, Northern Colorado, Chadron State, CSU Pueblo, and Western Wyoming are slated to take part in Saturday's tournament.

Last Time at the Cowboy Open

With last season's Cowboy Open wiped out due to COVID, the event returns this season and will mark UVU's first appearance since the 2019-20 campaign. With UVU's starters sitting out the event that season, unattached freshman and former Wolverine Corbin Smith led the way by winning the 165-pound Amateur Division title, while fellow former Wolverine and unattached freshman RJ Bingham placed fourth in the same weight bracket. Now UVU junior Isaiah Delgado too had a strong outing by going 4-2 in the 133-pound Elite bracket.

Scheduled Competitors

• 125: Yusief Lillie, Fr. (4-5)
• 133: Kainalu Estrella, RSo. (4-1) & Kobe Nelms, So. (3-3)
• 141: Open
• 149: Sam Edelblute, RFr. (3-2)
• 157: Brigg Hoopes, So. (2-3)
• 165: Tanner Lofthouse, Fr. (3-0)
• 174: Hunter Morse, Fr. (3-2)
• 184: Open
• 197: Evan Bockman, RSo. (2-1)
• 285: Chase Trussell, RSo. (2-0)

Unattached Wolverines

• 125: Kase Mauger, Fr. (4-0)
• 141: Tyson Humpherys, Fr. (1-2)
• 165: Danny Snediker, Fr. (4-0)
• 174: Merrill Morley, Fr. (2-2)
• 184: Mahonri Rushton, Fr. (0-2
• 197: Jack Forbes, Fr. (3-0) & Levi Kovacs, Fr. (2-1)