Fall semester memorable for UVU athletics
Photo by Julie Ostler
Several teams made Utah Valley University history this fall and others brought championships to UVU. With the culmination of the fall 2016 semester rapidly approaching, we take a moment to reflect on the accomplishments of the UVU student-athletes.
Wrestler Dustin Dennison finishes first at national tournament
Nov. 13 on the campus of Iowa State, junior heavyweight Dustin Dennison went 5-0 and took first place in his class at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. Dennison won his first two bouts by decision before pinning three straight opponents, including Nebraska’s 12th-ranked Collin Jensen in the title match. Dennison debuted in the national rankings the following week at No. 20.
Volleyball reaches WAC tournament finals
The Wolverine spikers finished the season on an absolute tear, winning six of their final seven matches to earn a second-place finish in the final regular season conference standings. After pulling off a thrilling win in the second round of the conference tournament, the team advanced to its first-ever appearance in the conference finals, where it fell to UT Rio Grande Valley.
Women’s cross country finishes first at WAC tournament, men finish second.
Both men’s and women’s cross country teams had outstanding showings at the conference championships in Seattle, Washington at the end of October. The women’s team featured three top-four individual performances as the team won its second straight WAC Cross Country Championship. The men’s team narrowly missed out on its fourth consecutive conference title, yet still managed to earn a second-place finish as Camden Smith garnered WAC Freshman of the Year honors.
Men’s soccer upsets No. 20 Washington and wins conference championship
In its first game of the season, the UVU men’s soccer team upset the No. 20 Washington Huskies in a dramatic 2-1 victory. The win propelled the Wolverines onto the national scene as they climbed as high as No. 8 in the polls on their way to a 15-4-1 finish and took home the regular season WAC title.
Men’s basketball has a memorable Thanksgiving
Trailing by 27 points with less than a minute to go in the first half against Denver, the Wolverines rallied behind Kenneth Ogbe’s 28-point performance to secure an improbable come-from-behind victory in Denver, Colorado. The 27-point turnaround is the largest comeback in school history.
Three days later, the team made the crosstown trip to take on rival BYU in the Crosstown Clash. Despite being double-digit underdogs, the Wolverines shocked the world by defeating BYU 114-101 in Provo, Utah as four players recorded 20-plus points. The historic victory was UVU’s first win over BYU and the 114 point total was the highest ever by a BYU opponent in the Marriott Center.