Utah Valley vs. #6 Nebraska-Kearney
Cedar Falls, Iowa  |  West Gym
Friday, Nov. 11  |  3 p.m. MT/4 p.m. CT
Live Video (subscription required)  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes

Utah Valley at #23 Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa  |  West Gym
Friday, Nov. 11  |  6:30 p.m. MT/7:30 p.m. CT
Live Video (subscription required)  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  UNI Notes

Utah Valley at Harold Nichols Cyclone Open
Ames, Iowa  |  Hilton Coliseum
Sunday, Nov. 13  |  9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT
Live Results  |  UVU Notes
 
UTAH VALLEY SET TO OPEN DUAL SLATE FRIDAY IN CEDAR FALLS
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University wrestling team will head to the state of Iowa this weekend to open its dual slate with a pair of duals on Friday in Cedar Falls before concluding the weekend at Iowa State's Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Sunday in Ames.
 
UVU will open the weekend on Friday at 3 p.m. MT/4 p.m. CT against NCAA Division II power Nebraska-Kearney before capping the evening against the 23rd-ranked and host Northern Iowa Panthers at 6:30 p.m. MT/7:30 p.m. CT. Both contests will be held at UNI's West Gym and will be streamed live on FloWrestling.org. The Wolverines will then close the weekend on Sunday at fellow Big 12 foe Iowa State for the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. The all-day tournament is slated to begin at 9 a.m. MT/10 a.m. CT.
 
Utah Valley (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) will enter Friday's dual meets off of a strong opening-season showing at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming, last Saturday. There, eight Wolverines placed at the event, including a title from unattached freshman Taylor LaMont (125 pounds) and second-place finishes from starters Mitch Brown (125) and Kimball Bastian (174). The unattached LaMont went an unblemished 4-0 en route to earning most outstanding wrestler of the tournament honors, while Brown and Bastian each went 3-1.
 
LaMont, Brown, and Will Sumner (184) all recorded big wins for UVU at last weekend's event, as all three defeated former NCAA qualifiers. LaMont picked up his win over 2015 NCAA qualifier Trey Andrews of Northern Colorado (8-2), while Brown beat 2016 qualifier Drew Romero of Air Force (8-4) and Sumer picked up a pair of wins over two-time NCAA qualifier Ben Stroh (10-6 and 12-6) to place third at the event.
 
The Wolverines will enter Friday's duals off of a 4-10 showing last season that included a 0-4 record in their first season of Big 12 Conference action. Despite winning just four duals a year ago, one of those was an upset victory over the then 18th-ranked Oregon State Beavers on Nov. 21 in Corvallis by a score of 20-19. UVU and OSU each won five bouts on the night, but three bonus-point victories from the Wolverines marked the difference. Raider Lofthouse (157) is Utah Valley's lone returning starter that won his match for bonus points that day against the Beavers, as he defeated Oregon State's Abraham Rodriquez by major decision (13-5).
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
UNK will enter Friday's contest as the sixth-ranked team at the Div. II level. Friday's contest with UVU will too mark Nebraska-Kearney's opening dual meet of the season. The Lopers also took part at the Cowboy Open a week ago and had nine of their grapplers place at the opening-season event.
 
Two-time All-American and defending national champion Destin McCauley leads the way for the Lopers as he's currently the top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 149 pounds while Zach Stodden will enter Friday's dual as the eighth-ranked at 184 pounds.
 
Friday's contest with UNK will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Lopers. UVU will enter the match holding to a 1-0 series lead after defeating UNK by a score of 24-19 on Jan. 3, 2004 at the Lone Star Duals.
 
UNI will first take on Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at 4:45 p.m. MT/5:45 p.m. CT before grappling with the Wolverines later in the evening. The 23rd-ranked Panthers will enter Friday's action with a 0-0 record (0-0 MAC) after taking part at the Grand View Open last Saturday. UNI crowned six champions and 22 placers at last week's tournament.
 
The Panthers will enter Friday with five of their grapplers currently ranked. Two-time All-American Dylan Peters leads the way, as he's currently listed as the No. 2 wrestler at 125 pounds. Cooper Moore is next as he's ranked 10th at 165, while Bryce Steiert is 13th at 157, Josh Alber is 16th at 133 and Max Thomsen is 18th at 149.
 
Friday's nightcap will renew a rivalry between former Western Wrestling Conference foes Utah Valley and Northern Iowa. The contest will mark the third all-time meeting between the schools. The series is currently tied at 1-1 after UVU defeated UNI, 19-16, in Laramie in 2010 and the Panthers pulled out a 24-18 victory in Orem in 2012.
 
ABOUT THE CYCLONE OPEN
Sunday's Harold Nichols Cyclone Open will be held at ISU's Hilton Coliseum and around 20 teams are scheduled to participate in the one-day tournament. Wrestlers from UVU, the host Iowa State Cyclones, and fellow Div. I foes No. 3 Iowa, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 21 South Dakota State, No. 23 UNI and Boise State are all scheduled to participate in the tournament along with a number of lower division institutions.
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
Following the conclusion of this weekend's events, UVU will be off until Dec. 2-3 when it will head to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
 
UTAH VALLEY'S PROJECTED LINEUP
125 – Mitch Brown, RSo. (3-1, 0-0 duals)
133 – Jarod Maynes, Jr. (4-2, 0-0)
141 – Trevor Willson, Sr. (0-0, 0-0) or Chase Call, RFr. (0-0, 0-0)
149 – Grant LaMont, RFr. (1-2, 0-0) or Matthew Ontiveros, Jr. (2-2, 0-0)
157 – Raider Lofthouse, So. (3-2, 0-0)
165 – Dalton Harmon, RSo. (0-0, 0-0) or Koy Wilkinson, Fr. (5-2, 0-0)
174 – Kimball Bastian, RFr. (3-1, 0-0)
184 – Will Sumner, So. (3-1, 0-0)
197 – Tanner Orndorff, RFr. (2-2, 0-0)
285 – Jordan Karst, Jr. (5-1, 0-0) or Dustin Dennison, Jr. (0-0, 0-0)