Utah Valley Upsets No. 8 Boise State

The upset was the biggest win in school history for the Wolverines.

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spacer Jeb Clark (165)
 
Jeb Clark (165)
  

Feb. 5, 2010

 

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VIDEO COURTESY THE DAILY HERALD

OREM, Utah - Utah Valley University posted its biggest dual victory in school history Friday night with a 22-20 upset over No. 8 Boise State in front of 1,750 fans. It was UVU's first-ever dual win over a ranked opponent.

UVU's Casen Eldredge faced a tough task entering the final match. The Wolverines (8-2) led by five and Eldredge, who normally wrestles at 184 pounds, moved up two weight classes and wrestled heavyweight against Boise State's Sam Zylstra.

Eldredge lost the tight match, 6-4, but clinched the monumental win for UVU.

At 197, UVU freshman Josh Wood set up the possibility of the upset when he defeated Levi Holt by decision, 13-8, in the second-to-last match of the dual to increase UVU's advantage to 22-17.

"It was a great win for our program," UVU head coach Greg Williams. "First and foremost our guys came in with the mentality to go out and wrestle the best they could. Anytime you go out and beat a team ranked as high as Boise is, it is a huge win for your program."

In the upset of the night, 174-pound Wolverine Brad Darrington recorded a takedown with less than 30 seconds left in the match against No. 11 Nate Lee to win 7-6 to increase UVU's lead to 19-11.

Utah Valley's Benjamin Kjar opened the dual on a good note for the Wolverines with a 13-4 major decision over Boise State's Alan Bartelli, who beat Kjar 7-5 earlier in the season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas invitational.

Kjar, ranked 11th in the nation at 125, improved his overall record to 25-6 and his dual record to 9-1. The junior from Centerville, Utah, recorded a takedown and three-point near fall in the opening round to lead 5-1.

In the final round he tallied two takedowns, a three-point near fall, an escape and earned one point for riding time en route to the major decision.

UVU's Flint Ray, wrestling at 133, recorded a huge fall for the Wolverines when he pinned Boise's Mark Bleuze 6:33 into the match. Ray, who improved to 18-7 overall and 5-3 in duals, led 6-0 after the first round before recording the fall in the second round.

UVU's Jeb Clark improved his record to 9-1 overall and 6-1 with a pin of Michael Cuthbertson 2:34 into the 165-pound match, giving UVU a 16-11 dual lead.

In other matches, at 141 Boise State's Eli Hutchison defeated Jeffrey Newby 7-2; at 149, BSU's Jason Chamberlain, ranked No 6 in the nation, won by major decision, 13-5, over UVU's Justin Morrill (16-9, 7-3); at 157, third-ranked Adam Hall defeated UVU's Clay Frost by major decision, 19-4; No. 1-ranked Kirk Smith (20-0, 15-0) pinned UVU's Monte Schmalhaus four minutes into the match.

The Wolverines are back in action Saturday night when they face No. 1 Iowa at Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah. The dual is set to begin at 6 p.m.

"We will come out against Iowa and wrestle the very best we can," Williams added. "No matter the outcome, we want to feel like we battled and gave it everything we had."