Wrestling: UVU downs No. 23 Oregon State in home opener

Photo by Brigham Berthold

OREM, Utah — The UVU wrestling team took to the floor again Thursday night in it’s first home match of the season as it hosted No. 23 ranked Oregon State. Despite a slow start, UVU (2-2) rallied to defeat Oregon State (1-3) 17-16.

Oregon State’s Cody Crawford defeated Dustin Dennison in the heavyweight match to tie the score 16-16 at the end of regulation. With the score tied, the match went to criteria, which gave the victory to the Wolverines as they held the tiebreaker by leading in overall individual points.

After losing their first four individual matches of the night, the Wolverines regrouped and reeled off five straight wins before Dennison’s narrow loss in the final match of the evening. Raider Lofthouse (157 pounds), Koy Wilkinson (165), Kimball Bastian (174), Will Sumner (184) and Tanner Orndorff (197) each won their respective matches by decision, with Orndorff’s victory coming against No. 14 ranked Corey Griego.

“I’ve kind of liked the feeling of being the underdog, at UVU and across the country,” said Tanner Orndorff. “I’ll probably lose the underdog label sooner or later, but my process will never change.”

With the victory the Wolverines tied up their all-time record against the Beavers 2-2.

Next up for both schools is participation in the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nevada on Sunday, December 18. The RTOC has been dubbed the “Toughest tournament in the U.S.” and features several top 15 teams.