Wrestling: UVU places two at Las Vegas tournament

Photo courtesy UVU Athletics

The UVU wrestling team came away from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with their best finish in six seasons as two wrestlers earned a place on the podium at the prestigious tournament.

Redshirt freshman Kimball Bastian finished seventh in the 174-pound class, while fellow redshirt freshman Tanner Orndorff placed eighth in the 197-pound class.

Bastian started the day with a pair of wins before losing a closely contested match to No. 5 Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Two of Bastian’s final three opponents were ruled out with injuries, giving the redshirt freshman an overall record of 4-2 on the day.

Orndorff finished with a 3-3 tournament record, and also began with a pair of victories before falling to No. 12 Kollin Moore of Ohio State. The redshirt freshman bounced back with a decisive 8-2 decision before dropping his final two matches to a set of ranked opponents.

“We are excited for Kimball and Tanner. They performed well,” UVU head coach Greg Williams said in a statement to wolverinegreen.com. “Tanner is progressing with every match. He is giving himself opportunities to beat ranked opponents. He let one slip away against the 15th-ranked Robertson of Wisconsin, losing in overtime after giving up a lead, but he learned some great lessons in that match and we’re looking forward to what lies ahead.”

Next up for UVU is a date with Boise State on Saturday Dec. 10 before hosting Oregon State on Dec. 15 in their home opener.