OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University wrestling head coach Greg Williams has announced his team's 2019-20 schedule and it features another highly competitive slate that includes home matches against Big 12 rival Iowa State, Big Ten foe Wisconsin, and the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12. 
 
After spending a program-record of 10 consecutive weeks nationally ranked in the NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll a season ago, the Wolverines will face off against a total of six teams that finished the 2018-19 campaign nationally ranked in conference foes Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Wyoming, as well as non-conference opponents Purdue, Stanford and Wisconsin. In all, UVU is scheduled to compete in 14 dual meets in 2019-20, which includes seven dual contents at home.
 
"We are excited to have seven home duals this year. Our fans are in for a treat," 14th-year head coach Williams said. "We are bringing in Wisconsin and Iowa State, both of whom will be ranked somewhere near the top 10 this season. Stanford, who had a very young team last year and was a top 25 team a season ago, will also be coming to town, as will NDSU, who is also always in the hunt of being ranked. 
 
"We have a veteran team and should have six or seven ranked wrestlers this season. There will be some great individual matchups in almost all of our duals."
 
After opening with the annual Green & Black Intrasquad Dual on Oct. 30, a number of Wolverine wrestlers will kick-off the season at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming, on Nov. 2. UVU will then officially open its dual campaign the following weekend in New York, when it takes part in the Journeymen Northeast Duals on Nov. 9 at Hudson Valley Community College. There, the Wolverines are scheduled to take on Purdue of the Big Ten Conference as well as Sacred Heart, before closing the weekend by competing in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Nov. 10. A season ago, UVU knocked off the then 13th-ranked Boilermakers at the South Beach Duals as well as the then 15th-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Journeymen Duals. 
 
Utah Valley will then return to Orem to open its seven-match home slate against Big 12 Conference foe South Dakota State on Nov. 22, before turning around and hosting the Wisconsin Badgers the following day on Nov. 23. Due to a scheduling conflict, the South Dakota State dual is slated for 11 a.m. in the UCCU Center, while UVU will host Big Ten Wisconsin at 1 p.m. in Lockhart Arena. Last season, UVU nearly defeated the then 17th-ranked Badgers in Madison as the contest came right down to the wire in the final bout.   
 
UVU will then take part in a pair of tournaments in the month of December, as it will head to Las Vegas and Reno for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Reno Tournament of Champions. The CKLV Invite will run Dec. 6-7 while the Reno TOC will follow on Dec. 15. The Wolverines posted their highest finish in program history at the prestigious CKLV Invite a season ago by placing eighth out of 43 teams. UVU also had a program-best four individual podium finishes in Vegas a season ago led by a second-place finish from heavyweight Tate Orndorff and a third-place outing from 165-pounder Demetrius Romero.
 
Following the Christmas break, UVU will return to Big 12 action with road contests at Fresno State on Jan. 2 and UNI on Jan. 4. The Wolverines will then welcome fellow Big 12 foe Iowa State to town on Jan. 9, followed by the hosting of the annual UVU Open on Jan. 11. Utah Valley will cap the homestand with a home match against the Pac-12 Stanford Cardinal on Jan. 24. 
 
After a neutral-site match against the rival Wyoming Cowboys in Green River, Wyoming, on Jan. 26, UVU will then conclude its home season with three more home conference duals against Air Force (Jan. 30), North Dakota State (Feb. 3) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 14). The Wolverines will then cap their regular season with a non-conference dual at Ohio University on Feb. 21 followed by a Big 12 dual at West Virginia on Feb. 23. 
 
The 2020 Big 12 Championships will again be held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on March 7-8. UVU crowned its first Big 12 Champion in program history a season ago in the now senior 165-pounder Romero. The 2020 NCAA Championships will cap the season on March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. UVU took a program-high six grapplers to nationals a season ago.
 
UVU welcomes back five of its six national qualifiers from a season ago in seniors Romero (165), Kimball Bastian (174) and Tanner Orndorff (184), junior Matt Findlay (141), and sophomore heavyweight Tate Orndorff. The Wolverines also welcome back 2018 national qualifier Taylor LaMont this season. LaMont missed the 2018-19 campaign with an injury. Romero, Findlay and LaMont all advanced to the Round of 12 in their most recent appearance at the NCAA Championships.
 
"Like last year, we are trying to hit as many top-level competitions as possible to prepare ourselves for a great postseason run. We have very high expectations and expect to have several All-Americans this year," Williams concluded.