Photo courtesy UVU Athletics
The UVU wrestling team came away from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with their best finish in six seasons as two wrestlers earned a place on the podium at the prestigious tournament.
Redshirt freshman Kimball Bastian finished seventh in the 174-pound class, while fellow redshirt freshman Tanner Orndorff placed eighth in the 197-pound class.
Bastian started the day with a pair of wins before losing a closely contested match to No. 5 Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Two of Bastian’s final three opponents were ruled out with injuries, giving the redshirt freshman an overall record of 4-2 on the day.
Orndorff finished with a 3-3 tournament record, and also began with a pair of victories before falling to No. 12 Kollin Moore of Ohio State. The redshirt freshman bounced back with a decisive 8-2 decision before dropping his final two matches to a set of ranked opponents.
“We are excited for Kimball and Tanner. They performed well,” UVU head coach Greg Williams said in a statement to wolverinegreen.com. “Tanner is progressing with every match. He is giving himself opportunities to beat ranked opponents. He let one slip away against the 15th-ranked Robertson of Wisconsin, losing in overtime after giving up a lead, but he learned some great lessons in that match and we’re looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Next up for UVU is a date with Boise State on Saturday Dec. 10 before hosting Oregon State on Dec. 15 in their home opener.
