Feb. 12, 2013

UVU Match Notes

OREM, Utah -- The Utah Valley University wrestling team will conclude its regular season this week with two duals. The Wolverines will begin the week by taking on No. 21 Boise State in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and will then come home to host Air Force Saturday at 7:00 p.m. for Senior Night.

Wednesday's contest will take place at BSU's Taco Bell Arena and fans can follow live video by visiting BroncoSports.com. Saturday's dual will then take place at UVU's PE Building and live video and live results will be available by visiting WolverineGreen.com.

The Wolverines (5-3, 2-2 Western Wrestling Conference) dropped a tight dual to No. 25 North Dakota State in their last action last weekend by a score of 18-15. The loss snapped UVU's winning streak at four duals. Prior to the loss, the Wolverines defeated Arizona State (26-15), Northern Colorado (39-0), Stanford (18-15) and South Dakota State (22-18) consecutively.

Last week UVU went 1-1 in Western Wrestling Conference action in the Dakotas as it defeated South Dakota State on Wednesday before falling to the ranked Bison on Friday. Against the Jacks, the Wolverines won six of the 10 bouts to take the contest, 22-18. The dual came down to the final match and UVU heavyweight Adam Fager came through with a 5-0 decision over SDSU's J.J. Everard to seal the victory.

Despite taking a forfeit at 125-pounds against NDSU on Friday, UVU still almost upset the Bison. The Wolverines won five bouts in the match but just missed out on defeating the first-place conference foe (4-0 WWC), as they fell 18-15.

Fager earned WWC Wrestler of the Week honors this week after he sealed UVU's win over South Dakota State last week and defeated NDSU's Evan Knutson, who was ranked 31st in the first NCAA Coaches' Panel, two day later (3-2). Fager is now 17-9 on the year and 5-3 in duals.

Josh Wilson (149 pounds), who was an NCAA Qualfier for UVU a year ago, leads the Wolverines with a 19-7 overall record. Jade Rauser (125) and Avery Garner (141) are next with respective 18-6 and 18-9 clips.

About Boise State
Boise State is 9-5 overall in first place in the Pac-12 with a 5-1 conference record. The Broncos have won seven straight duals, which includes four straight Pac-12 matches.

Jason Chamberlain (149) leads BSU as he is 22-1 overall and is ranked second in the country. Jake Swartz is next for the Broncos as he is ranked ninth at 184-pounds and is 26-3. In all, five of Boise State's 10 starters are currently ranked nationally by InterMat.

This will be the seventh all-time meeting between UVU and BSU. The Broncos lead the series 4-2 but one of Utah Valley's wins was when it upset the Broncos when they were ranked eighth in the country in 2010. The Wolverines have also won five straight duals against teams from the Pac-12.

About Air Force
The Falcons are 10-2 overall and 1-1 in WWC action. Air Force has been off since Feb. 2 when it finished second at the All-Academy Championships in Highland Falls, N.Y. Prior to that, AFA defeated South Dakota State (41-5) and Western State (35-4) on Jan. 27.

Air Force is led by 149-pounder Cole VonOhlen who is 22-2 and is ranked third in the nation. Behind him, 125-pounder Josh Martinez is next with a No. 8 national ranking and a 25-6 record.

Saturday will be the 10th all-time meeting between UVU and AFA with the Wolverines leading the war, 5-4. Utah Valley is 3-1 in the last four meetings but fell to the Falcons, 26-15, in Colorado Springs, Colo., last year.

Up Next for the Wolverines
The Wolverines will take the next couple of weeks off to prepare for the WWC Championships/NCAA West Regional that will take place at Wyoming on March 9.

PROMOTIONS
Senior Night: Seniors Glenn Terrano and Josh Wilson will be recognized prior to the start of Saturday's dual against Air Force. All youth wrestlers that show their USA Wrestling Membership Card can get into the dual for just $1.