LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Utah Valley University wrestling team opened its 2016-17 season with a strong showing at the 39th annual Cowboy Open on Saturday in Laramie, Wyoming, as eight Wolverines placed at the opening-season event.
 
Unattached freshman Taylor LaMont led the way by winning the 125-pound elite title in his first collegiate tournament, while redshirt freshman Kimball Bastian (174), redshirt sophomore Mitch Brown (125) and fellow unattached freshman Landon Knutzen (149 pounds) all placed second in their respective weight classes. Sophomore Will Sumner (184) and junior Jordan Karst (285) were next by each finishing with third-place showings while junior Jarod Maynes (133) and freshman Koy Wilkinson (165) both took fourth.
 
"We had some good wins today. Two of our 125 pounders defeated former national qualifiers and Will and Tanner too posted some solid wins," head Utah Valley coach Greg Williams said. "We saw some things that we definitely need to work on and we saw some really good things where the hard work is beginning to pay off in a lot of ways. But we felt pretty good about it and we'll get back to work and get ready for Northern Iowa, Nebraska-Kearney and the Iowa State tournament next week."
 
LaMont went a perfect 4-0 en route to earning his title, which included an 8-2 decision over 2015 NCAA qualifier Trey Andrews of Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals. He also earned Cowboy Open Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. Bastian and Brown both wrestled their way to identical 3-1 records while Knutzen went 4-1. Brown too picked up a big win on his way to his second-place showing by defeating 2016 NCAA qualifier Drew Romero of Air Force by a score of 8-4 in the semis. 
 
Karst capped his 2016-17 opening season action with a third-place finish after going 5-1 at the tournament, which included a hard fought 3-1 win over Chadron State's Cooper Cogdill in the third-place bout, while Sumner went 3-1 on the day with a pair of wins over the former Wyoming Cowboy national qualifier and now Montana State-Northern standout Ben Stroh. The true freshman Wilkinson reeled off three clutch wins in the wrestlebacks en route to going 5-2 and placing fourth in his first collegiate action while Maynes battled back from an early one-point setback to Air Force's Isaac Jimenez to go 4-2 on the day and too earn a fourth-place finish.
 
Fellow UVU sophomore Raider Lofthouse (157) and redshirt freshman Tanner Orndorff (197) too made deep runs at the tournament, as they finished with respective 3-2 and 2-2 records. Redshirt freshman Grant LaMont (149), sophomore Tyler Scott (125) and junior Aryton Almberg (197) too competed for UVU at the opening tournament and finished with respective 1-2, 0-2 and 0-2 showings.
 
Unattached freshman Benjamin Andrew too wrestled well in his first collegiate tournament as he posted a 5-2 record on the day at heavyweight. After suffering a setback in the quarterfinals, the UVU freshman reeled off four straight wins in the wrestlebacks before having his tournament come to a close in the consolation semis to Air Force's Kerry Powers (6-2).
 
Fellow unattached Wolverines Matthew Ontiveros (149) and Michael Milliner (165) rounded out UVU's 16 grapplers that competed at the opening tournament (11 for the team and five unattached). The junior Ontiveros went 2-2 while the freshman Milliner finished with an 0-2 record.
 
UVU will now head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to face both Nebraska-Kearney and No. 22 Northern Iowa on Friday, Nov. 11 in Utah Valley's first two duals of the season. Following Friday's action, the Wolverines will cap the trip by heading to Ames, Iowa, for Iowa State's Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Sunday, Nov. 13. 
 
COWBOY OPEN RESULTS
125 Elite – Mitch Brown (3-1) – 2nd Place
Mitch Brown (UVU) Dec. Jesse Brown (Unat.), 7-4
Mitch Brown (UVU) Dec. Isaac Wilson (Great Falls), 9-3
Mitch Brown (UVU) Dec. Drew Romero (AFA), 8-4
1st-Place Match: Taylor LaMont (Unat.) MD Mitch Brown (UVU), 8-0
 
125 Elite – Tyler Scott (0-2)
Drake Foster (WYO) MD Tyler Scott (UVU), 9-1
Will Bardezbain (Boise St.) TF Tyler Scott (UVU), 16-0 (3:49)
 
133 Elite – Jarod Maynes (4-2) – 4th Place
Jarod Maynes (UVU) MD Sean Cannon (UNC), 12-2
Isaac Jimenez (AFA) Dec. Jarod Maynes (UVU), 2-1
Jarod Maynes (UVU) Dec. JD Rader (UNK), 7-3
Jarod Maynes (UVU) MD Michael McDanial (Colo. Mesa), 14-6
Jarod Maynes (UVU) Dec. Dylan Hyder (AFA), 4-3
3rd-Place Match: Taylor Summers (Chadron St.) Dec. Jarod Maynes (UVU), 3-2
 
149 Elite – Grant LaMont (1-2)
Jacob Gerken (Colo. School of Mines) Dec. Grant LaMont (UVU), 6-4 (TB-1)
Grant LaMont (UVU) Dec. Robert Walker (AFA), 9-3
Matthew Ontiveros (Unat.) Dec. Grant LaMont (UVU), 4-1
 
157 Elite – Raider Lofthouse (3-2)
Raider Lofthouse (UVU) Fall Devin Vasquez (Adams St.), 1:37
Dane Robbins (AFA) Fall Raider Lofthouse (UVU), 6:47
Raider Lofthouse (UVU) Fall Luke Boyle (AFA), 2:22
Raider Lofthouse (UVU) Dec. Brandon Weber (Unat.), 3-1
Fred Green (Boise St.) Fall Raider Lofthouse (UVU), 3:00
 
165 Amateur – Koy Wilkinson (5-2) – 4th Place
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) Dec. Andrew VonRein (Northwest), 8-5
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) Fall Moses Martinez (Northeastern JC), 0:19
Brenden Gonzales (Western St.) Dec. Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 10-8
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) Fall Tate Allison (Northwest), 3:51
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) MD Kalin Winkler (Otero JC), 15-3
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) MD Austin Saunders (Colo. School of Mines), 16-6
3rd-Place Match: Tyler Wiederholt (AFA) Dec. Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 5-3
 
174 Elite – Kimball Bastian (3-1) – 2nd Place
Kimball Bastian (UVU) MD Koery Windham (Adams St.), 13-1
Kimball Bastian (UVU) Fall Zach Beard (Otero JC), 6:37
Kimball Bastian (UVU) Dec. Austin Dewey (Boise St.), 3-2
1st-Place Match: Chance Helmick (Unat.) Fall Kimball Bastian (UVU), 3:49
 
184 Elite – Will Sumner (3-1) – 3rd Place
Will Sumner (UVU) Dec. Ben Stroh (MSU-Northern), 10-6
Wesley Schultz (WYO) Dec. Will Sumner (UVU), 11-6
Will Sumner (UVU) Dec. Richard Bencomo (Adams St.), 10-7
3rd-Place Match: Will Sumner (UVU) Dec. Ben Stroh (MSU-Northern), 12-6
 
197 Elite – Tanner Orndorff (2-2)
Tanner Orndorff (UVU) Dec. Brandon Tribble (WYO), 7-3
Tanner Orndorff (UVU) MD Ben Price (Western St.), 13-3
Anthony McLaughlin (WYO) Dec. Tanner Orndorff (UVU), 9-8
Jacob Seely (UNC) Dec. Tanner Orndorff (UVU), 13-6
 
197 Elite – Aryton Almberg (0-2)
Cody Vigoren (WYO) Fall Aryton Almberg (UVU), 3:58
David Traynor (Western St.) Dec. Aryton Almberg (UVU), 8-7
 
285 Elite – Jordan Karst (5-1) – 3rd Place
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Kevin Barrett (UNK), 3-0
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Matt Hopkins (Great Falls), 7-3
Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Gabriel Gonzalez (Boise St.), 3-0
Jarrod Hinrichs (UNK) Fall Jordan Karst (UVU), 10:00 (SV-2)
Jordan Karst (UVU) Fall Sam Eagan (WYO), 4:56
3rd-Place Match: Jordan Karst (UVU) Dec. Cooper Cogdill (Chadron St.), 3-1
 
Unattached Wolverines
125 Elite – Taylor LaMont (4-0) – 1st Place
Taylor LaMont (Unat.) Fall Trenton Piatt (Western State), 6:44
Taylor LaMont (Unat.) Dec. Trey Andrews (UNC), 8-2
Taylor LaMont (Unat.) M. For. Cole Verner (Western Wyo.)
1st-Place Match: Taylor LaMont (Unat.) MD Mitch Brown (UVU), 8-0
 
149 Elite – Matthew Ontiveros (2-2)
Matthew Ontiveros (Unat.) Fall Isiah Yates (Great Falls), 4:34
Dakota Wall (Boise St.) Dec. Matthew Ontiveros (Unat.), 2-0
Matthew Ontiveros (Unat.) Dec. Grant LaMont (UVU), 4-1
Jake Valverde (Boise St.) Inj. Default Matthew Ontiveros (UVU), 0:52
 
149 Amateur – Landon Knutzen (4-1) – 2nd Place
Landon Knutzen (Unat.) Dec. Aiden Cockrell (Unat.), 3-2
Landon Knutzen (Unat.) Dec. Jake Kurzhals (AFA), 4-3
Landon Knutzen (Unat.) Fall Donte Madril (Otero JC), 4:10
Landon Knutzen (Unat.) Dec. Justin Chenoweth (Western St.), 8-3
1st-Place Match: Sean Glasgow (Chadron St.) Dec. Landon Knutzen (Unat.), 5-3
 
165 Amateur – Michael Milliner (0-2)
Mason Perkins (Western Wyo.) Dec. Michael Milliner (Unat.), 5-3
Macoy Flanagan (Unat.) Fall Michael Milliner (Unat.), 0:58
 
285 Amateur – Benjamin Andrew (5-2)
Benjamin Andrew (Unat.) MD Gabriel Ledesma (Colby CC), 12-2
Odgerek Batkhishig (NW KS Tech) Dec. Benjamin Andrew (Unat.), 12-7
Benjamin Andrew (Unat.) TF Colton Horn (Northwest), 16-0 (5:55)
Benjamin Andrew (Unat.) Fall Lewis Arendall (Unat.), 2:08
Benjamin Andrew (Unat.) MD Wade French (Western Wyo.), 15-1
Benjamin Andrew (Unat.) TF Hunter Mullins (WYO), 18-0 (2:41)
Kerry Powers (AFA) Dec. Benjamin Andrew (Unat.), 6-2