UTAH VALLEY WRESTLING SET TO OPEN SEASON SATURDAY IN LARAMIE
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will open its 2016-17 season on Saturday at the 39th annual Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming. The all-day opening-season tournament will begin at 9 a.m. MT and will take place at Wyoming's War Memorial Fieldhouse.
 
"It's always exciting to get the guys out and competing. There should be some good competition there and we're looking forward to seeing where the guys are at," 11th year UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "It's a younger team this year, but all 10 of our starters should be competitive and we expect to have some of them ranked by the end of the season."
 
UVU welcomes back 11 letterwinners and six starters from last year's squad that went 4-10 overall and 0-4 in its first season of action in the Big 12 Conference. Utah Valley will also mix in 11 newcomers to the fold this season. A total of 16 Wolverine grapplers are scheduled to compete at the Cowboy Open. Eleven of those 16 will compete for the team, while five are scheduled to compete unattached.
 
The 11 that are slated to compete for Utah Valley will be sophomore 125-pounders Mitch Brown and Tyler Scott, junior 133-pounder Jarod Maynes, redshirt freshman 149-pounder Grant LaMont, sophomore 157-pounder Raider Lofthouse, freshman 165-pounder Koy Wilkinson, redshirt freshman 174-pounder Kimball Bastian, sophomore 184-pounder Will Sumner, junior 197-pounder Aryton Almberg, redshirt freshman 197-pounder Tanner Orndorff and junior 285-pounder Jordan Karst. The five Wolverines that are scheduled to take part in the tournament unattached are freshmen Taylor LaMont (125), Landon Knutzen(149), Michael Milliner (165), Benjamin Andrew (285) and junior Matthew Ontiveros (149).
 
UVU will be one of 25 teams scheduled to compete at Saturday's opening tournament, as wrestlers from fellow NCAA Division I rivals Air Force, Boise State, Northern Colorado and the host Cowboys are slated to join the Wolverines at the tournament as well as a slew of other smaller division foes.
 
NEW LOOK TEAM
After losing 2016 NCAA All-American Jade Rauser (133) to graduation, as well as fellow 2016 seniors Chasen Tolbert (125), Derek Thomas (197) and Ross Taylor (174), UVU will look to a number of redshirt freshmen to help fill the void left behind.
 
"We have a number of redshirt freshmen who should step up for us this year. Mitch Brown at 125, Grant LaMont at 149, Kimball Bastian at 174 and Tanner Orndorff at 197, all of those guys really improved last year and we're expecting some good things from them," added Williams. "We also had a good signing class following them, which will give us a solid redshirt class this season that we're excited about. The talent is there, the attitude is there, so we are excited about what it is going to bring over the next couple of years."
 
UVU also welcomes back a solid core of returners, including junior heavyweight Dustin Dennison who just missed out on qualifying for the NCAA Championships a year ago by placing fourth at the 2016 Big 12 Championships. The Wolverines also welcome back returning starters Jarod Maynes (junior, 133), Trevor Willson (senior, 141), Raider Lofthouse (sophomore, 157) and Will Sumner (sophomore, 184).  
 
"It's kind of hard to say who the most improved guy is, but Jarod Maynes is one who stands out a lot. He's dropped down to his natural weight and is really wrestling tough," Williams added. "At 157 we're going to have Raider Lofthouse back, and he should do some great things as a sophomore. At 184 we have Will Sumner. He's really improved and has more confidence. At heavyweight it looks like it's going to be Dustin (Dennison) and he was the closest to getting to nationals out of our returners from last year. We're also expecting good things out of Trevor Willson at 141 as well."
 
THE SCHEDULE
Following Saturday's tournament, UVU will head to Iowa for a pair of duals against Nebraska-Kearney and No. 22 Northern Iowa on Friday, Nov. 11 in Cedar Falls. The Wolverines will then cap the weekend by taking part at Iowa State's Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Sunday, Nov. 13. Following next weekend's action, UVU will be off until early December when it heads to Las Vegas for the annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 2-3. After a quick trip to Boise for a dual meet at Boise State on Dec. 10, UVU will return home for its first home dual of the season when No. 16 Oregon State comes to town on Dec. 15. The contest will be a big one, as the Wolverines knocked off the then 18th-ranked Beavers in Corvallis a year ago.
 
Following a stop at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18 and the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Jan. 1-2, Utah Valley will return home to open a four-meet homestand by hosting the 10th annual UVU Open on Jan. 7. During the homestand, the Wolverines will also welcome fellow Big 12 Conference affiliates Air Force (Jan. 13) and Wyoming (Jan. 28) to town as well as Pac-12 affiliate CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 19. After road matches at conference foes North Dakota State (Feb. 3) and South Dakota State (Feb. 4), UVU will return to Orem to conclude its regular season on Feb. 10 and 11 against No. 17 Stanford and Northern Colorado, respectively. The Wolverines will then prepare for their second Big 12 Championship on March 4-5 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before heading to the NCAA Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 16-18.