Wolverines open trip with 25-12 win over Northern Colorado

GREELEY, Colo. – The Utah Valley University wrestling team took care of business in its opening dual meet of a three-match road trip on Wednesday evening by defeating Northern Colorado, 25-12, at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

The Wolverines (6-7, 2-1 WWC) won the Western Wrestling Conference dual by taking seven of the 10 bouts, including four by major decision.

“The guys wrestled hard. I saw some improvements in areas we worked on after last week and I was pleased with how we wrestled through the lineup,” head coach Greg Williams said. “Jade also did a great job against a tough kid tonight.”

Sophomores Chasen Tolbert (133 pound) and Trevor Willson (149) as well as seniors Curtis Abner Cook (165) and Monte Schmalhaus (174) all won their respective bouts by major decision on the evening while senior Avery Garner (141) and sophomores Jade Rauser (125) and Derek Thomas(197) took theirs by decision.

The dual began at 133 pounds and Tolbert, Garner and Willson wasted no time giving Utah Valley an early advantage as the trio of Wolverines won their matches by respective scores of 11-1, 8-3 and 12-1. After a win by UNC’s (5-11, 0-3 WWC) Mitchell Polkowske, who is currently ranked 20th at 157 pounds , Cook and Schmalhaus bounced right back for UVU with back-to-back wins via major decision to give the Wolverines a 19-3 lead after six bouts.

The 165-pound senior Cook jumped out to a 7-0 advantage over Northern Colorado’s Charlie McMartin in the first period thanks to a takedown and two sets of nearfall points. Cook secured the major by picking up another takedown as well as an escape and an additional riding time point to take the bout by a score of 11-3. The fellow senior Schmalhaus dominated the next match over Josh Van Tine as he managed to shutout the Bear, 8-0, with three takedowns, an escape and a riding time point.Following a loss by freshman Abel Gomez at 184 pounds, Thomas came through for Utah Valley with a hard fought 9-7 decision over UNC’s Cole Briegel. The 197-pound sophomore ended the first period trailing Briegel, 6-5, but after a second-period reversal Thomas managed to seal the bout with a late takedown in the final period to win the match by two points. The win by Thomas tied him with for the team with 15 with teammate and No. 13 ranked heavyweight Adam Fager.

After a fall by Northern Colorado’s Henry Chirino over freshmanRichard Larsen at heavyweight, Rauser capped the dual for the Wolverines with an impressive 8-2 victory over the 19-6 Trey Andrews. The UVU 125-pounder and 2013 NCAA qualifier, jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead over Andrews with an opening period takedown and two-point nearfall. Andrews countered at the end of the frame with a reversal but that was the lone points that Rauser would allow the Bear redshirt freshman to score the rest of the match. Following a scoreless second period, Rauser clinched the bout with more back points in the final period (three-point nearfall) as well as a riding time point.

The win marked Utah Valley’s second straight over the Bears as the Wolverines recorded their first-ever shutout against a Division I opponent versus UNC last year in Orem (39-0).

The Wolverines will continue their WWC road trip through the Front Range at Air Force on Friday night. UVU will then head to Laramie, Wyo., the following night for its regular season finale on Saturday. Both conference duals will begin at 7 p.m.

Utah Valley 25, Northern Colorado 12
133: Chasen Tolbert (UVU) MD Sonny Espinoza (NC), 11-1
141: Avery Garner (UVU) Dec. Nick Adams (NC), 8-3
149: Trevor Willson (UVU) MD Nick Alspaugh (NC), 12-1
157: No. 20 Mitchell Polkowske (NC) Dec. Chase Cuthbertson (UVU), 4-1
165: Curtis Abner Cook (UVU) MD Charlie McMartin (NC), 11-3
174: Monte Schmalhaus (UVU) MD Josh Van Tine (NC), 8-0
184: Nick Bayer (NC) Dec. Abel Gomez (UVU), 6-1
197: Derek Thomas (UVU) Dec. Cole Briegel (NC), 9-7
285: Henry Chirino (NC) Fall Richard Larsen (UVU), 4:53
125: Jade Rauser (UVU) Dec. Trey Andrews (NC), 8-2