OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will debut its 2016-17 roster to the public for the first time on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the annual UVU Intrasquad Dual. The exhibition contest will be free of charge and will be held in UVU's Grande Ballroom due to ongoing renovations to the PE Building.
 
The Wolverines, who will enter their second season of competition as a member of the Big 12 Conference, crowned their second All-American in program history a season ago when Jade Rauser managed to reel off an impressive four-match winning streak at the 2016 NCAA Championships en route to earning All-American honors. With Rauser (133 pounds) and fellow 2015-16 nationally ranked Wolverines -- Chasen Tolbert (125) and Derek Thomas (197) -- gone now, 11th-year head coach Greg Williams will look to a new group of returners to lead the way for his youthful squad. 
 
"We not only lost our three nationally ranked wrestlers, but also four of the five that placed at last year's Big 12 Championship. We'll now look to a new group of guys to lead the way for us this year, including a number of new starters and a very gifted redshirt class," said Williams. "There's a lot of talent in our room and we're very excited for what lies ahead." 
 
The lone returning placewinner from last year's conference tournament is junior Dustin Dennison, who placed fourth at heavyweight at the 2016 Big 12 Championship. Along with Dennison, the Wolverines also welcome back fellow 2015-16 starters in junior 133-pounder Jarod Maynes, senior 141-pounder Trevor Willson, junior 149-pounder Matthew Ontiveros, sophomore 157-pounder Raider Lofthouse and sophomore 184-pounder Will Sumner.
 
With a total of six starters coming back, UVU will also look to a number of its newcomers or 2015-16 redshirts to help carry the load this season. Probable new starters this season include 125-pound redshirt sophomore Mitch Brown (Payson, Utah/Air Force), 141-pound redshirt freshman Chase Call (Shelley, Idaho/Shelley HS), 149-pound redshirt freshman Grant LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Mapleton HS), 165-pound freshman Koy Wilkinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS), 174-pound redshirt freshman Kimball Bastian (Mapleton, Utah/Maple Mountain HS) and 197-pound redshirt freshman Tanner Orndorff(Spokane, Wash./University HS).
 
UVU is also welcoming in a highly talented freshmen class that will mainly redshirt the 2016-17 season in four-time Fargo national champion and 2016 Junior World bronze medalist Taylor LaMont (Mapleton, Utah/Maple Mountain HS), 2016 FloNational runner-up Durbin Lloren (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan HS), 2013 folkstyle national champion Benjamin Andrew (Mesa, Ariz./Mesa HS), four-time state champion Matt Findlay (Draper, Utah/Alta HS), three-time state champion Gary Jantzer (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield HS) and fellow three-time state champion Kyle Snelling (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS). 
 
Saturday's matches will be contested simultaneously on two mats in UVU's Grande Ballroom. The Grande Ballroom is located on campus in the Sorensen Student Center.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
The Wolverines will officially begin their 2016-17 season on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming. Following next Saturday's opener at Wyoming, UVU will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for a pair of duals against Nebraska-Kearney and host Northern Iowa on Nov. 11 before closing the trip at Iowa State's Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Nov. 13. Utah Valley's first home meet will come on Dec. 15 when it welcomes Pac-12 foe Oregon State to town for a dual.
 
TENTATIVE MATCHES FOR SATURDAY
165 – Koy Wilkinson vs. Dalton Harmon
149 – Grant LaMont vs. Matthew Ontiveros
125 – Taylor LaMont vs. Mitch Brown
125 – Tyler Scott vs. Heston Woolsey
285 – Jordan Karst vs. Dustin Dennison
141 – Matt Findlay vs. Trevor Willson
174/184 – Kimball Bastian vs. Will Sumner
197 – Tanner Orndorff vs. Aryton Almberg
157/165 – Koy Wilkinson vs. Raider Lofthouse
165 – Michael Milliner vs. Dalton Harmon
149 – Grant LaMont vs. Landon Knutzen
285 – Jordan Karst vs. Benjamin Andrew
125 – Taylor LaMont vs. Heston Woolsey
133/141 – Matt Findlay vs. Jarod Maynes