Wrestling: UVU downs AFA in Big 12 opener

Photo by Brigham Berthold

The UVU wrestling team returned to dual meet action Friday night when they took on conference foe Air Force Academy in the Lockhart Arena. The dual meet was the conference opener for both teams.

The Wolverines (3-2, 1-0) narrowly defeated the Falcons (4-2, 0-1) by a score of 18-15 in a tightly contested meet.

“It’s always good to win. I can’t stand to lose, our guys don’t like to lose. We go out and work really hard, the win is the payoff,” said head coach Greg Williams. “Wins are going to be hard to come by in the Big 12.”

Utah Valley got on the board first when redshirt sophomore Mitch Brown (125) defeated former NCAA qualifier Drew Romero of Air Force by decision giving the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

The initial Wolverine lead was short lived as the teams traded points for much of the rest of the meet.

With the score deadlocked 15-15, only the heavyweight match remained. Dustin Dennison came through in a big way for the Wolverines as the junior heavyweight won by decision in the final match of the night to give UVU the victory 18-15.

Trevor Willson (141), Grant LaMont (149), Kimball Bastian (174) and Tanner Orndorff (197) each won their respective matches as well.

The win marks Utah Valley’s first conference dual meet victory since joining the Big 12 one season ago. Next up for the Wolverines is a visit from CSU Bakersfield in a non-conference dual meet on Thursday, Jan. 19 in the Lockhart Arena.