The Utah Valley men’s wrestling team had a great showing on Saturday, Nov. 5 to open their 2022-23 season at the Michigan State Open in East Lansing, Michigan.
UVU had four wrestlers place out of the 14 Wolverines who competed.
Haiden Drury and Isaiah Delgado led the way for the Wolverines, finishing in fourth place in their respective weight classes. Drury competed in the 133-pound weight class and went 3-1 overall. Drury started 2-0 with victories over Vince Perez of Central Michigan and Dylan Koontz of Ohio State, respectively.
Jesse Mendez of Ohio State broke Drury’s start with a 5-0 victory. However, Drury bounced back with a 7-3 win over Jake Manley of Cleveland State to pick up his third win. Unfortunately, Drury’s night ended before he could compete for third place against No. 24 Wyatt Henson due to a medical forfeit.
Delgado competed at 141 pounds, after a bye to start his day, Delgado began with a 1-1 record before winning three straight (including one victory against fellow Wolverine Tyson Humphreys). Delgado then competed for third place against Oklahoma University’s Mitch Moore where he fell in a 3-1 decision to finish with an overall record of 4-2.
The next highest finisher was Chase Trussell who wrestled at 285 pounds and placed fifth. Trussell also had a bye for one round to start his day and started 2-0 in his first two matchups, including a ranked win over No. 23 Matt Wroblewski of Illinois.
Trussell then fell in two-straight major decisions to No. 3 Mason Parris of Michigan and Bryan Caves of Central Michigan. However, Trussell was able to place fifth after a medical forfeit by Ryan Vasbinder of Michigan State and ended his day at 3-2 overall.
No. 18 Ty Smith finished in sixth place after competing at 141 pounds. Smith had a bye to start his tournament before winning two-straight to go 2-0 overall, including a victory over Michigan’s Patrick Nolan in a 10-6 decision. Unfortunately Smith had to medically forfeit the last three matchups which ended his day with a 2-0 record and sixth place finish.
UVU’s No. 23 Evan Bockman competed at 197 pounds. After a first-round bye, Bockman opened his day with two consecutive victories over Isiah Pettigrew of Illinois and Evan Bates of Northwestern to start 2-0. Unfortunately fell to No. 6 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State in the semi finals in a 6-4 sudden victory. Bockman then had to medically forfeit his matchup with Seth Seago of Oklahoma, ending his day with a 2-1 record.
The other nine Wolverines who finished were Kase Mauger (2-2 record), Kobe Nelms (2-2), Humphreys (2-2), Stockton O’Brien (2-2), Jaxon Garoutte (3-2), Cameron Haddock (2-2), Danny Snediker (0-2), Hunter Morse (0-2), and Jack Forbes (0-2).
The Wolverines will next compete at the Cowboy Open on Saturday in Laramie, Wyoming. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Wyoming.
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