Sports briefs
Women’s basketball
For the second straight week and 10th time in her career, Utah Valley center Robyn Fairbanks has been named the Division I Independent Player of the Week. The award comes a day after the Wolverines received a vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time ever.
Fairbanks averaged 29.5 points and 6.0 rebounds and shot 70 percent (21-for-30) in two wins last week as Utah Valley improved to 6-0 for the first time in school history. She has now won the player of the week award 10 times in her career.
Her week included a 39-point performance in an overtime win over previously unbeaten Big East foe Seton Hall.
She had 20 points in a win at Utah State on Saturday, Utah Valley’s first win ever up in Logan.
She’s currently 6th nationally in scoring and first among all independent players with a 23.8 ppg average. She also leads independents in field goal percentage (.606).
Men’s basketball
Utah Valley’s Ryan Toolson and Chicago State’s David Holston have been named Independent Co-Players of the Week for their respective performances last week.
Toolson averaged 19.5 points, six rebounds and five assists last week for the Wolverines in UV’s 2-0 week.
Against Troy, Toolson scored 17 points while hitting on 5-of-11 three-point shots. He finished with seven rebounds and nine assists, coming up just three rebounds and one assist shy of a triple-double.
In the Great Falls game, Toolson scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds in 29 minutes. On the season, Toolson leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.6 points per game while hitting on 45 percent of his three-point shots and 91 percent of his foul shots.
Wrestling
In its top tournament in program history, six Utah Valley wrestlers placed at the Old Chicago Northern Colorado Open. Impressively, the team had a strong tournament wrestling in tournaments on back-to-back days.
Ben Kjar (125), Flint Ray (133), Sam Allen (149), Gehrhart Vuksinick (165), Marc Fenwick (174) and Casen Eldredge (184) all placed in their respective weight classes.
After going 4-0 at the Jack Hancock Duals on Saturday, Kjar finished second in his weight division, going 3-1 at the Northern Colorado Open. Kjar recorded one fall on his way to his second place finish.
Ray went 7-1 at Sunday’s open, upping his record to 10-2 on the weekend. After Ray lost his opening round match by a slim 12-11 margin, he rebounded with seven consecutive victories. In the third-place match, Ray beat the wrestler who edged him in the opening round.
Allen finished sixth in the 149-pound weight division after pulling out with an injury. Before suffering the injury, Allen posted a 5-1 record on the day and a 9-1 record for the weekend, after a perfect 4-0 showing at the Jack Hancock Duals.
Vuksinick made it to the semi finals and finished in sixth place. He posted a 3-3 record at the tournament. Fenwick finished third with a 4-1 record and his loss was to the eventual champion in the 174-pound weight division. Eldredge finished second with a 3-1 day, pushing his two-day record to 6-2 wrestling at both the 184 and 197-pound weight classes.