Utah Valley at 2016 Big 12 Championship 
Saturday, March 5, 2016 - Sunday, March 6, 2016  
Kansas City, Mo.   |   Sprint Center
TV (Sunday's Final Session): Fox Sports Network/Root Sports Rocky Mountain (Comcast 52/693, DIRECTV 683/683-1, Dish 414) {Complete Listings}
Tournament Central  |  Brackets  |  Ticket Info  |  UVU Match Notes
Live Video (Sessions I-III, FloWrestling)  |  Live Video (Final Session)  |  Live Results (FloArena)  

Big 12 Championship Schedule
Saturday, March 5                             
11:00 a.m. CT Session I - Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches - Watch Live
5:00 p.m. CT  Session II - Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches - Watch Live
 
Sunday, March 6                                 
9:00 a.m. CT  Session III - Consolation Semifinals, 3rd & 5th Place Matches - Watch Live
1:00 p.m. CT  Session IV - Championship Matches - Watch Live   
 
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will head to Kansas City, Missouri this weekend to take part in the program's first-ever Big 12 Championship. The two-day qualifying tournament for the NCAA Championships will be held at the Sprint Center and will run Saturday, March 5 to Sunday, March 6.
 
Two sessions will be competed each day, with Saturday's opening session set to open the tournament at 10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT. Saturday evening's session is then slated to get underway at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT while Sunday's third session is set for 8 a.m. MT/9 a.m. CT. Sunday's championship finals are then set to begin at noon MT/1 p.m. CT.
 
Fox Sports Network/Root Sports Rocky Mountain (Comcast 52/693, DirecTV 683/683-1, Dish 414) will televise Sunday's final session live, while the opening three sessions of the tournament will be streamed on FloWrestling.org (pay service). Live results will also be available for the duration of tournament by visiting FloWrestling.org.
 
"We are excited to compete in our first Big 12 Conference tournament. The guys have worked hard all season and are anxious to get to Kansas City and compete for the opportunity to get to nationals," said head coach Greg Williams. "The level of competition will be high, but our wrestlers are confident and feeling ready to battle."
 
A total of 10 teams and 100 wrestlers in all will take part at the tournament, as No. 5 Oklahoma State (13-3, 6-0), No. 11 Oklahoma (10-5, 6-2), No. 17 Iowa State (10-6, 2-2), No. 21 South Dakota State (14-6, 6-2), West Virginia (8-10, 0-4), Air Force (8-6, 2-3), North Dakota State (4-6, 2-2), Northern Colorado (4-7, 1-5), UVU (4-10, 0-4) and Wyoming (6-6, 4-4) will all compete at the championship event. The Wolverines will send a total of 10 grapplers to the tournament and all 10 will be striving to qualify for the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships that will be held March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
 
Senior 125-pounder Chasen Tolbert will enter the tournament pre-seeded sixth in a stacked 125-pound weight class, as he enters the weekend ranked 18th on both the NCAA Coaches' Panel Ranking and the RPI. Fellow seniors Jade Rauser (133) and Derek Thomas (197) will enter pre-seeded fourth and sixth at their respective weight classes, as Rauser will enter the weekend ranked 31st at 133 while Thomas comes in at 32nd at 197.
 
Rauser will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time of his career, while Tolbert will be looking to earn his second trip and Thomas will strive to attain his first. Seven other Wolverines in Jarod Maynes (141), Trevor Willson (149), Raider Lofthouse (157), Brayden Humpherys(165), Ross Taylor (174), Will Sumner (184) and heavyweight Dustin Dennison will also all be looking to earn their first-ever trips to nationals. Maynes will enter the event pre-seeded fourth at 141, while Taylor is fifth, Dennison sixth, Lofthouse and Willson eighth, and Humpherys and Sumner come in at 10th. 
 
Rauser and Tolbert lead UVU on the season with respective win-loss records of 17-5 and 16-4. Rauser will enter the event having won 12 of his last 13 matches, while Tolbert has won four straight including three by bonus points. Thomas, who was sidelined earlier this season with an injury, is next with a 10-3 clip.
 
Utah Valley had three wrestlers qualify for the 2015 NCAA Championships in Tolbert, Rauser and former 174-pounder Ethan Smith. Rauser led the group by going 1-2 with a win over two-time All-American Mason Beckman of Lehigh, while Tolbert and Smith each finished their inaugural trips to the NCAA's with 0-2 records. 
 
The Big 12 Conference has been awarded 36 automatic qualifier spots for this weekend's tournament. The breakdown of the auto bids are as follows: 125 (6), 133 (4), 141 (3), 149 (3), 157 (3), 165 (3), 174 (4), 184 (3), 197 (4) and 285 (3).
 
After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 9. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; quality wins; coaches ranking; results against common opponents; RPI; qualifying event placement; and winning percentage.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The 2016 NCAA Championships will take place March 17-19 at "The World's Most Famous Arena" Madison Square Garden in New York City. 
 
TICKET INFO
Tickets for the Big 12 Wrestling Championship can be charged by phone at 1-888-929-7849 or bought in person at the Price Chopper Box Office at Sprint Center. Online orders can be processed at Big12Sports.com/buytickets or SprintCenter.com.
 
All-session tickets start at $40, with premium seating priced at $60 and VIP seats available for $100. Single-day tickets, which cover both sessions, start at $24, with premium seating priced at $36 and VIP?seats available for $60.
 
Special group rates are available for groups of 10 or more. For information on group tickets, call 816-949-7175, or email grouptickets@sprintcenter.com. Big 12 programs have a rich history of wrestling success garnering 49 NCAA team titles and crowning 277 individual national champions.
 
UVU'S 2016 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP LINEUP
125: #18 Chasen Tolbert, Sr., 16-4, pre-seeded 6th
133: #31 Jade Rauser, Sr., 17-5, pre-seeded 4th
141: Jarod Maynes, RSo., 9-11, pre-seeded 5th
149: Trevor Willson, Jr., 8-5, pre-seeded 8th
157: Raider Lofthouse, RFr., 8-14, pre-seeded 8th
165: Brayden Humpherys, RSo., 5-12, pre-seeded 10th
174: Ross Taylor, Sr., 12-8, pre-seeded 5th
184: Will Sumner, RFr., 10-12, pre-seeded 10th
197: #32 Derek Thomas, Sr., 10-3, pre-seeded 6th
285: Dustin Dennison, RSo., 11-10, pre-seeded 6th