Wolverines Head to Big 12 Wrestling Championship

OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University wrestling team will head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend to take part at the 2022 Big 12 Wrestling Championship that will run Saturday to Sunday, March 5-6, at the BOK Center.

Auto qualifying bids to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be up for grabs, as the Wolverines will send 10 grapplers to vie for those spots as well as Big 12 titles. Last season, UVU had a program-high two wrestlers reach the championship finals at the event, as senior Demetrius Romero went on to win the second Big 12 title of his career and junior Taylor LaMont earned a runner-up finish. In all, UVU had six grapplers finish in the top-eight at the 2021 Big 12s and four of those individuals went on to qualify for last year's NCAA Championships.

The 2022 Big 12 Championship begins Saturday at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT with preliminary and quarterfinal matches, while the Saturday evening session will continue at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT with semifinal and consolation quarterfinal matches. Sunday's consolation semis, as well as third, fifth and seventh-place matches start at 11 a.m. MT/noon CT and the championship finals will conclude the event on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT.

Each match of the first three sessions will be broadcast live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (subscription required), while the championship session will be televised live on ESPN2. Live results will also be available throughout the tournament by visiting TrackWrestling.com.

"We are excited to get to Tulsa for this weekend's Big 12 Championship. All our training and competitions from last March to now have been in preparation to compete well in this postseason. We have a young team made younger due to some injuries, but our guys have been focused and have worked hard to get to this point," head UVU coach Greg Williams said.

UVU will enter the Big 12 Championships with a 5-6 overall record and having gone 0-5 in Big 12 Conference dual meets. Despite the winless dual mark in conference matches, the Wolverines were right in four of the five Big 12 duals as they dropped four of them by six points or less. UVU is currently ranked 39th in the latest FloWrestling Team Tournament ranking and 40th in the most recent WIN Magazine Tournament Power Index.

The Wolverines also have a trio of wrestlers ranked in the latest NCAA Coaches' Panel rankings and another ranked in the latest FloWrestling individual rankings. Freshman 133-pounder Haiden Drury leads the way by being ranked 13th nationally in his weight class, while reigning All-American and three-time NCAA qualifier LaMont is ranked 17th at 125, and sophomore 197-pounder Evan Bockman is 25th. 2021 NCAA qualifier Ty Smith is also a current honorable mention ranked Wolverine by FloWrestling at 141 pounds.

The Big 12 recently announced the seeding for this weekend's Big 12 Championship and four Wolverines are ranked in the top-eight of their respective weight class. LaMont, who placed second at last year's tournament, leads the way as he is seeded second at 125 pounds. Drury is next as he is seeded sixth at 133, while both Bockman (197 pounds) and freshman 157-pounder Jaxon Garoutte are each seeded eighth. Six other Wolverines will enter the event unseeded in Smith (141), fellow 2021 NCAA qualifier Cameron Hunsaker (149), Danny Snediker (165), Kekana Fouret (174), Jacob Armstrong (184) and Chase Trussell (heavyweight).

Season Leaders
Drury leads UVU on the season with a 17-4 record. Bockman is next at 12-7, while LaMont holds a 6-2 clip. Armstrong (11-5), Fouret (11-9) and Trussell (10-6) all also have over 10 wins on the season for the Wolverines.

First-Round Matches
UVU redshirt junior 125-pounder and second-seeded LaMont (6-2) will open the 2022 Big 12 Championships in a preliminary match against Tanner Jordan of South Dakota State. The 133-pound freshman and sixth-seeded Drury (17-4) has received a first-round bye and will open against the winner of the No. 3 seed Gabe Tagg (SDSU) vs. Connor Brown (Mizzou). Eighth-seeded UVU freshman Garoutte (6-7) too has a first-round bye at 157 pounds and will take on the winner of defending national champion and No. 1 seed David Carr (ISU) vs. Giano Petrucelli (AF). Fellow eighth-seeded Wolverine Bockman (12-7) also has earned a first-round bye and will open his first Big 12 Championship run at 197 pounds against the winner of No. 1 Stephen Buchanan (WYO) vs. Jackson Moomau (WVU).

Of UVU's unseeded grapplers, 2021 NCAA qualifier Smith (3-7) will open against the No. 5 seed Carter Young of Oklahoma State at 141, while fellow 2021 NCAA qualifier for the Wolverines Hunsaker (0-1) will face-off against No. 4 Josh Edmond of Missouri at 149. At 165, Snediker (6-5) will open against No. 6 Tanner Cook (SDSU) while UVU's Fouret (11-9) will face No. 2 Cade DeVos (SDSU) at 174. Armstrong (11-5) will take on No. 7 Keegan Moore (OU) in the prelims at 184 while heavyweight Trussell will face No. 4 AJ Nevills (SDSU) in his opening bout.

To view the full Big 12 Championship brackets, click HERE.

"The Big 12 Conference has progressively gotten tougher over the last few years. Between our conference duals and the other tough competitions, we schedule and compete against throughout the year, our guys have wrestled tough opponents and have gained confidence. They know they can compete well at the Big 12s and put themselves in position to compete and do well at the NCAA tournament. Ultimately that's the goal of the individuals on our team; to get to the top of the podium or on the podium at the NCAA championships," Williams concluded.

2021 Big 12 Recap
This is the seventh neutral-site conference championship for the sport and the sixth in Tulsa. Last year, the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Oklahoma Sooners shared the title, posting 124 points apiece. UVU finished 10th out of 12 teams a season ago with 55 points and had six podium finishes. Romero led the way for the Wolverines by winning the second Big 12 title of his career (at 174), while LaMont placed second (125), Hunsaker seventh (149), Snediker seventh (157), Smith eighth (133), and former Wolverine Koy Wilkinson also placed eighth (165). In 2019, the Wolverines placed a program-best sixth out of 12 teams with 59 points.

Next for UVU Wrestling
The 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held on March 17-19 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. All six sessions will be televised live on the ESPN Family of Networks and both the semifinals (March 18) and the finals (March 19) will air live on ESPN.

UVU Big 12 Lineup
125: #2 Taylor LaMont, RJr. (6-2)
133: #6 Haiden Drury, Fr. (17-4)
141: Ty Smith, RFr. (3-7)
149: Cameron Hunsaker, So. (0-1)
157: #8 Jaxon Garoutte, Fr. (6-7)
165: Danny Snediker, Fr. (6-5)
174: Kekana Fouret, RFr. (11-9)
184: Jacob Armstrong, RSo. (11-5)
197: #8 Evan Bockman, RSo. (12-7)
285: Chase Trussell, RSo. (10-6)
*Rankings listed are Big 12 Championship seeds.

UVU Opening-Round Matches
125: #2 Taylor LaMont (UVU) vs. Tanner Jordan (SDSU)
133: #6 Haiden Drury (UVU) vs. winner of #3 Gabe Tagg (SDSU) vs. Connor Brown (Mizzou)
141: Ty Smith (UVU) vs. #5 Carter Young (OKST)
149: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) vs. #4 Josh Edmond (Mizzou)
157: #8 Jaxon Garoutte (UVU) vs. winner of #1 David Carr (ISU) vs. Giano Petrucelli (AF)
165: Danny Snediker (UVU) vs. #6 Tanner Cook (SDSU)
174: Kekana Fouret (UVU) vs. #2 Cade DeVos (SDSU)
184: Jacob Armstrong (UVU) vs. #7 Keegan Moore (OU)
197: #8 Evan Bockman (UVU) vs. winner of #1 Stephen Buchanan (WYO) vs. Jackson Moomau (WVU)
285: Chase Trussell (UVU) vs. #4 AJ Nevills (SDSU)

2022 Big 12 Wrestling Championship Schedule
Saturday, March 5
Session 1: Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches - 11:00 a.m. CT
Session 2: Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches - 5:00 p.m. CT

Sunday, March 6
Session 3: Consolation Semifinals, Third, Fifth & Seventh Place Matches - 12:00 p.m. CT
Session 4: Championship Matches - 7:00 p.m. CT