Photos courtesy of Julie Ostler and UVU Athletics
A trip to Colorado and Wyoming over the weekend for three Big 12 dual meets didn’t go quite as the UVU wrestling team would have liked. They dropped a 20-13 contest to Air Force on Thursday night and then a closely contested meet against Northern Colorado, 19-18 that came down to the last match of the night. And then they were humbled at Wyoming on Saturday night. Here is a rundown of each match.
Thursday night: Air Force 20 UVU 13
Ross Taylor won the first match of the night at 174-pounds to give UVU an early 3-0 in the match but it didn’t last long. Air Force won the next two matches to take an 8-3 lead.
Dustin Dennison then won in the heavyweight match and 18th-ranked Chasen Tolbert continued to dominate as he won by major decision to give UVU a 10-8 lead with five matches to go.
Jade Rauser, who has been on a hot streak of his own, couldn’t hold on 18th-ranked Josh Martinez in the 133-pound match as Martinez pulled out a controversial 4-3 win over Rauser. According to the UVU Athletics website, Rauser had a takedown nullified in the closing seconds of the third period that would have given him the win.
Jarod Maynes won at 141-pounds to give UVU a 13-11 lead but that was the last match that UVU would win on the night as Air Force won the remaining three matches to win the dual.
Friday night: Northern Colorado 19 UVU 18
Despite splitting the match in wins with five each, Northern Colorado was able to squeak out the one-point victory thanks to a bonus point for a major decision at 165-pounds.
Dustin Dennison, Ross Taylor, and Jarod Maynes each recorded their second win of the weekend for UVU. Taylor won by fall and gave UVU an 18-10 lead with two matches to go. Trevor Willson also picked up a win by decision in the 149-pound match and Jade Rauser got back on track with a 6-1 decision in the 133-pound match.
The difference was in the 197-pound match. 20th-ranked Trent Noon needed to win by fall in order for Northern Colorado to win and he did just that. He pinned Aryton Almberg in less than a minute to give the Bears the victory.
Saturday night: Wyoming 29 UVU 10
Senior Ross Taylor continued to wrestle well as he finished a perfect 3-0 on the weekend with a 4-1 win over Luke Pain at 174-pounds. Jade Rauser picked up another win with a 12-2 major decision win over Drake Foster. Redshirt freshman Tyler Scott picked up his first collegiate win as he finished the night for the Wolverines with a 12-5 decision over Brock George at 125-pounds.
Those were the only bright spots of the night for UVU in an otherwise dominant performance by the Cowboys.
In its first season in the Big 12 Conference, UVU went 0-4 in conference dual meets. They have one final meet at home on Feb. 20 against Grand Canyon. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. MT in the PE Building. The Wolverines will then have two weeks off to get ready for the Big 12 Championships on March 5-6 in Kansas City.
