UVU WRE Wolverines to Host SDSU Friday 4
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From: Utah Valley Athletics [email protected] Subject: UVU WRE: Wolverines to host SDSU Friday, #4 Wisconsin Saturday Date: November 20, 2019 at 6:12 PM To: [email protected] Wolverines to host SDSU Friday, #4 Wisconsin Saturday 11/20/2019 | Wrestling OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley University wrestling team will host its first two home duals of the 2019-20 season this weekend when it welcomes South Dakota State and No. 4 Wisconsin to town. UVU will first open conference action by hosting Big 12 Conference opponent SDSU on Friday, Nov. 22. Due to a scheduling conflict, the meet will be held at 11 a.m. MT in the UCCU Center and admission will be free of charge. The Wolverines will then cap the weekend by taking on the fourth-ranked Badgers of the Big Ten Conference on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. MT in Lockhart Arena. For tickets to Saturday's contest, click HERE. Friday and Saturday's duals will be streamed live on both the WAC Digital Network as well as FloWrestling (for a fee). Live results will also be available for each contest by visiting TrackWrestling.com. The Wolverines will enter the weekend with a 1-1 dual record after splitting a pair of contests at the Journeymen Northeast Duals two weeks ago. Utah Valley won nine of the 10 bouts en route to a 40-3 victory over Sacred Heart, before falling to Big Ten foe Purdue, 30-12. UVU is currently ranked 16th in the InterMat Tournament Rankings, 18th by FloWrestling, 20th by Win Magazine, 27th by TrackWrestling, and just outside of the latest NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. UVU then took part in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic the following day and sophomore heavyweight Tate Orndorff led the way by winning the 285A title. The then 10th-ranked Orndorff went a perfect 3-0 with a pair of upset wins over No. 2 Tanner Hall of Arizona State and No. 3 Jordan Wood of Lehigh. After the big weekend, Orndorff earned Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week honors as well both USA Wrestling and The Open Mat National Wrestler of the Week accolades. He also moved up to as high as No. 3 in the national rankings, making him the highest ranked Wolverine in program history. A total of five Wolverines will enter this weekend's dual currently nationally ranked. Tate Orndorff leads the way by checking in at No. 3 at heavyweight, while senior Demetrius Romero is No. 6 at 165, junior Matt Findlay is No. 9 at 149, senior Kimball Bastian is No. 13 at 174, and senior Tanner Orndorff is No. 19 at 184. Tate Orndorff leads the group with a perfect 5-0 record on the young season. The rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat, and Win Magazine polls. OLYMPIC REDSHIRT NO MORE After previously declaring that he would take an Olympic redshirt and miss the 2019-20 season, junior 133-pounder Taylor LaMont has since decided to return to action and will wrestle the 2019-20 season for the Wolverines. LaMont was sidelined in 2018-19 with an injury, but previously posted a 27-5 record as a freshman in 2017-18. That season he reached the 'Blood Round' at the NCAA Championships, became UVU's first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion, and earned the Wolverines' highest national seed at the NCAA Championships by entering nationals as the No. 7 seed. ROMERO SIDELINED IN 2019-20 Senior 165-pounder Demetrius Romero has announced that he will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season due to injury. The two-time NCAA qualifier for the Wolverines is currently ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation at 165 pounds and became UVU's first-ever Big 12 champion as well as reached the 'Blood Round' at the NCAA Championships this past March. Romero was off to a 2-0 start on the 2019-20 campaign but will now look to get a medical waiver and be back for his senior year next season. back for his senior year next season. WELCOMING THE No. 4 BADGERS TO TOWN The fourth-ranked Badgers will mark the second highest opponent that the UVU wrestling program has hosted in program history. The Wolverines previously welcomed No. 2 Penn State to town on Feb. 11, 2012. UVU dropped the contest by a score of 39-3. Utah Valley has also wrestled the nation's No. 1 team just once in program history, when it took on the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in a neutral site contest at Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah, on Feb. 6, 2010. Iowa took the contest by a score of 38-0. UVU ALL-TIME IN THE UCCU CENTER Friday's home opener against SDSU will mark UVU's first dual held in the UCCU Center since the 2011-12 season. That season, the Wolverines wrestled a trio of duals in the UCCU Center with contests against South Dakota State, North Dakota State, and Cael Sanderson's No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions. The Wolverines will enter Friday with a 1-2 all-time record in the UCCU Center with a 21-18 victory over SDSU on Feb. 10, 2012. ABOUT THE COMPETITION South Dakota State will come to town with an 0-1 record on the young season after falling to Binghamton last week by a score of 25-16. The Jackrabbits went 3-10 overall a season ago and 2-7 in Big 12 Conference action. One of their victories, however, included a 26-16 win over UVU in Brookings last January. SDSU currently has a trio of wrestlers ranked in the current polls with redshirt freshman Tanner Sloan ranked fourth at 197, senior Henry Pohlmeyer ranked 16h at 149, and senior Zach Carlson ranked 19th at 184. Pohlmeyer is a two-time NCAA qualifier for the Jacks, while Sloan is off to a perfect 3-0 start on the season after winning a Daktronics Open title last week. Friday's contest will mark the 15th all-time meeting between UVU and SDSU. The Wolverines will enter the dual with an 8-6 series advantage despite having dropped each of the last five meetings. The fourth-ranked Badgers will come to town with a perfect 5-0 record on the year after going 3-0 at the Battle on the Midway in San Diego on Nov. 1 with wins over Fresno State, Army and Navy, as well as defeating both Buffalo and Edinboro the following weekend. Wisconsin went 9-6 in 2018-19, 3-6 in Big Ten action, and placed 21st at the 2019 NCAA Championships. The Badgers return a pair of 2019 All-Americans this season in 165- pounder Evan Wick and heavyweight Trent Hillger, and currently have five grapplers nationally ranked. South Dakota State transfer and 2018 National Champion Seth Gross leads the way as he's the nation's top- ranked wrestler at 133, while Wick (165) and Hillger (285) are both ranked second. Tristan Moran is ranked as high as No. 6 at 141, while Cole Martin rounds out UW's ranked grapplers by checking in at No. 13 at 149. Gross will enter Saturday's dual off of an impressive showing last weekend in freestyle action by knocking off a trio of fellow former national champions en route to winning the Bill Farrell Memorial Open at 57 kg. Gross picked up wins over Nick Suriano (2019 NCAA champ from Rutgers), Darian Cruz (2017 NCAA champ from Lehigh) and Nathan Tomasello (2015 NCAA champ from Ohio State) on his way to qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in April. Saturday's dual will mark the fourth all-time meeting between UVU and UW. Wisconsin holds a perfect 3-0 series advantage after pulling out a hard fought 22-17 win in Madison last November. In a dual that came down to the final match at heavyweight, Hillger managed to pull out a controversial overtime bout over Tate Orndorff to lock up the victory for the Badgers. POTENTIAL MARQUEE MATCHES With Tanner Orndorff slated to bump back up to 197 pounds this weekend, Friday's dual against SDSU looks to pit the three-time NCAA qualifier and 19th-ranked Wolverine senior against fourth-ranked freshman Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. Then on Saturday, 2018 UVU NCAA qualifier and seven-time age- group Greco-Roman World Team member Taylor LaMont will look to dethrone the 2018 national champion and top-ranked Seth Gross at 133 pounds, while No. 3 Tate Orndorff will look for revenge against 2019 All-American and second-ranked Trent Hillger at heavyweight. UP NEXT FOR UVU The Wolverines will next head to Las Vegas on Dec. 6-7 to take part at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. A season ago, UVU posted its highest team finish at the event in program history by placing eighth out of 43 teams as well as had a program best four podium finishes. PROBABLE LINEUPS Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat, and Win Magazine polls. Utah Valley (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) 125 - Josiah Nava, RFr. (1-8) OR Will Edelblute, RFr. (3-2) 133 - Taylor LaMont, RJr. (0-0) OR Ty Smith, So. (0-0) 141 - Cameron Hunsaker, Fr. (4-3) OR Nick Rino, RFr. (3-0) 149 - Landon Knutzen, RJr. (1-3) OR Brigg Hoopes, Fr. (7-3) 157 - Jed Loveless, RSo.