Kyle McDonald, Sports Writer, @kylesportsbias
It was just one of those nights for the UVU wrestling team that they would like to forget as the #20th ranked Oregon State Beavers came in and put on a clinic. After Alex Elder of Oregon State defeated Logan Addis by a score of 15-2 in the 157 pound weight class to start off the night, Seth Thomas would follow that up winning by fall over Dalton Harmon at 165 pounds and put Oregon State up 11-0 just two matches into the meet.
Senior Ethan Smith was able to put a quick band aid on the bleeding as he wrestled really well getting 3 take downs and an escape for the 8-3 victory over Joe Latham in the 174 pound weight class.
That band aid didn’t stay on very long as the Beavers would go onto win the next 5 matches in a row. Ross Taylor lost a tough one to 7th ranked Taylor Meeks 13-2 at 184 pounds. Redshirt freshman Cody Crawford would go onto pin Derek Thomas in the third period of their 197 pound matchup. Senior Adam Fager wasn’t able to hold off freshman Nate Keeve as Keeve would get the decision 3-2 in the heavyweight matchup. He was able to achieve that because of the bonus point for riding time. Chasen Tolbert wouldn’t fare any better as he struggled against 14th ranked Ronnie Bresser. He couldn’t catch the break he needed to pull off the upset and eventually lost in a decision 7-3.
Jade Rauser might be one of the most exciting wrestlers here at UVU. With the score 1-0, Rauser was able to get a take down right before the second period buzzer sounded against Jack Hathaway or Oregon State. Oregon State coach Jim Zalesky would attempt to challenge the call but it was to no avail and Rauser had the edge at 3-0 going into the third and final period. Although Hathaway was able to get an escape at the end of the period, Rauser tacked on the bonus point for riding and rode his way to an impressive 4-1 victory.
It was the most excitement the Wolverines would have the rest of the night. Devin Reynolds of OSU was able to defeat freshman Matthew Ontiveros of UVU by fall in the third period of their match at 141 pounds. Abraham Rodriguez would finish of the impressive night for the Beavers with a 7-2 decision over sophomore Trevor Willson. The final tally in this dual meet would end up 36-6 pushing the record for Oregon State to an impressive 7-0 in dual meets while it drops UVU to 2-4 on the year. “I actually felt like we wrestled better tonight than we did two weeks ago,” Coach Greg Williams said after the match in reference to the meet against Wyoming back on January 17th. “Great matches for Ethan and Jade tonight,” Williams said in reference to the wrestling of Ethan Smith and Jade Rauser.
The Wolverines better shake this one off quickly as Saturday afternoon they turn right around and face another ranked opponent in 25th ranked Stanford and according to coach Williams, “we try to get the toughest schedule possible……what we want to do is get guys to nationals.” Let’s just hope that the Wolverines can bounce back and get the momentum, confidence and swagger back.
