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No. 22 UVU to face Stanford & Harvard Saturday in Palo Alto

By UVU Athletics, 01/11/19, 11:00AM MST

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#22 UTAH VALLEY vs. HARVARD
Saturday, Jan. 12  |  11:30 a.m. MT/10:30 a.m. PT
Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center  |  Palo Alto, Calif.
UVU Notes  |  Harvard Notes

#22 UTAH VALLEY at STANFORD (RV)
Saturday, Jan. 12  |  1 p.m. MT/12 p.m. PT
Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center  |  Palo Alto, Calif.
Live Video  |  Live Results  |  UVU Notes  |  Stanford Notes
 
OREM, Utah – The 22nd-ranked Utah Valley University wrestling team will head to California's Bay Area this weekend to face both Stanford and Harvard on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12) in Palo Alto. 
 
The Wolverines (6-5, 0-0 Big 12) will first face the Harvard Crimson (0-0, 0-0 EIWA) of the Ivy League that morning at 11:30 a.m. MT/10:30 a.m. PT before closing the day against the host Stanford Cardinal (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) of the Pac-12 Conference at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT. Both duals will be contested at Stanford's Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center and the UVU vs. Stanford contest will be streamed live via Pac-12.com
 
The 22nd-ranked Wolverines will enter Saturday's action with a 6-5 dual record on the season after wrestling their way to a 1-3 outing against stiff competition at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in late December. UVU first knocked off then-No. 13 Purdue (28-11), before falling to No. 7 NC State (23-11), No. 9 Minnesota (36-6) and Virginia (26-19). 
 
In Utah Valley's 28-11 victory over the 13th-ranked Boilermakers, the Wolverines won seven of the 10 bouts including falls from 184-pounder Will Sumner and heavyweight Tate Orndorff. UVU won a trio of matches over Purdue via bonus points, as 165-pounder Demetrius Romero also won his match over Cole Wysocki by major decision (11-2). 
 
Romero was the lone Wolverine at the dual meet event to go undefeated, as he went a perfect 4-0 with wins over No. 18 Cam Coy of Virginia (6-4), NC State's Thomas Bullard (8-4) and a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win over Minnesota's Carson Brolsma (12-10, SV-1) in which the contest was later featured by TrackWrestling as the publication's "Match Monday". Matt Findlay too had a strong outing for the Wolverines at 141 pounds by going 3-1 with wins over No. 15 Jamal Morris of NC State (5-3), No. 17 Sam Krivus of Virginia (10-4) and Purdue's Nate Limmex (9-3). His lone setback was an 11-6 tightly contested loss to No. 5 Mitch McKee of Minnesota. 
 
Romero will enter Saturday's duals leading UVU with a 15-2 record, while Tate Orndorff is 14-3 and Findlay is 10-1. 
 
RANKED WOLVERINES
A total of five Wolverines will enter the weekend nationally ranked with a program-best four currently ranked in the top 10 of the latest FloWrestling poll. Findlay and Romero lead the way as they both currently check in at No. 9, while Tate Orndorff and his brother Tanner Orndorff (197) are both ranked 10th, and 174-pounder Kimball Bastian is 13th. Romero, Tanner Orndorff and Bastian are all returning NCAA qualifiers for UVU.
 
WELCOME TO THE TOP 25
Utah Valley will enter Saturday currently ranked 22nd on both the most recent NWCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and the InterMat Dual Poll. This week marks the eighth consecutive week that the Wolverines have been ranked 22nd nationally and the ninth in all that they have appeared in the NWCA Coaches Poll this season after debuting at a program-best No. 21 after knocking off then-No. 15 Rutgers on Nov. 10. 
 
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
This weekend will mark Harvard's first dual competition of the 2018-19 season. The Crimson went 6-4 overall a season ago and 4-4 in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association action. Harvard has won three straight duals dating back to last season with wins over Brown, Columbia and Hofstra. The Crimson will enter Saturday's action off of a strong outing at the David H. Hehman Franklin & Marshall Open on Jan. 5 in which it recorded a trio of top-five finishes at the open tournament. 
 
Hunter Ladnier (157) leads Harvard on the season with a 16-7 record, while Joshua Kim is 12-9 at 165 and Lukus Stricker is 10-8 at 133. No Crimson grapplers are currently ranked by InterMat. 
 
Saturday's contest will mark the fourth all-time meeting on the mat between the Wolverines and Crimson. UVU will enter the competition holding to a 2-1 series lead after pulling out a 40-10 win over Harvard in 2010 and a 22-20 victory in 2004. Harvard's lone win came in 2006. All three previous matches were held at the Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas. 
 
Stanford will enter the contest currently receiving votes for the NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and off to an unblemished 3-0 start in 2018-19. The Crimson holds its wins over No. 11 Northwestern, in-state and Big 12 foe Fresno State, and San Francisco State. Stanford will enter Saturday's action off of a program-best fourth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle in which nine grapplers placed at the premier New Year's tournament. Nathan Traxler led the way by placing second at 197 pounds 4-1 outing en route to earning Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors. 
 
A total of three Stanford grapplers will enter Saturday's contest currently ranked in the latest InterMat poll. Traxler leads the way by checking in at No. 8 at 197, while Requir van der Merwe is 15th at 149 and Paul Fox is 20th at 157. Traxler and Fox lead the way with respective 17-4 and 16-4 records while van der Merwe is 13-6. Traxler, Fox, 125-pounder Gabriel Townsell and 133-pounder Mason Pengilly are all retuning NCAA qualifiers for the Cardinal.  
 
Saturday's dual will mark the seventh all-time meeting between UVU and Stanford. The Cardinal will enter the contest with a 4-2 series advantage and having won each of the last four matches. After Utah Valley won a pair of duals in 2012 (25-10) and 2013 (18-15), the Cardinal has since returned the favor by winning four straight contests – 20-16, 28-6, 37-5, 34-3 – all when nationally ranked. Stanford also holds a slim 2-1 advantage on its home mat in Palo Alto. 
 
UP NEXT FOR UVU
Following Saturday's action, Utah Valley will return to Orem to host their first home action of the season by welcoming both Big 12 foe Fresno State and Western Wyoming to town for a pair of duals on Friday, Jan. 18. The Wolverines will then host the annual UVU Open the following day on Saturday, Jan. 19, before returning to dual action when it hosts both Big 12 foe West Virginia and Pac-12 opponent CSU Bakersfield on Friday, Jan. 25. 
 
#22 UTAH VALLEY'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Josh Jensen, Sr. (5-9, 4-7 duals)
133 – Isaiah Delgado, Fr. (5-7, 1-3) OR Dylan Gregerson, Fr. (0-2, 0-0)
141 – #9 Matt Findlay, RSo. (10-1, 9-1)
149 – Landon Knutzen, RSo. (8-7, 2-2) OR Cameron Haddock, Fr. (7-4, 0-0)
157 – Matthew Ontiveros, RSr. (3-10, 1-6)
165 – #9 Demetrius Romero, RJr. (15-2, 8-1)
174 – #13 Kimball Bastian, RJr. (10-7, 5-4) OR Kyle Snelling, RFr. (2-2, 0-0)
184 – Will Sumner, RSr. (10-6, 5-3)
197 – #10 Tanner Orndorff, RJr. (10-7, 6-3) OR Ashton Seely, RFr. (7-7, 2-1)
285 – #10 Tate Orndorff, RFr. (14-3, 7-1) OR Benjamin Andrew, RSo. (6-3, 1-0)
 
HARVARD'S PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Nolan Hellickson, Sr. (8-8, 0-0)
133 – Lukus Stricker, So. (10-8, 0-0)
141 – Ryan Friedman, Sr. (1-6, 0-0) OR Tucker Ribman, Fr. (1-8, 0-0)
149 – Brock Wilson, So. (4-7, 0-0) OR Robert Groves, Fr. (1-6, 0-0)
157 – Hunter Ladnier, Jr. (16-7, 0-0)
165 – Josh Kim, Fr. (12-9, 0-0) OR Tyler Tarsi, Sr. (3-2, 0-0)
174 – Leo Tarantino, Fr. (5-7, 0-0)
184 – Cliffton Wang, So. (7-10, 0-0) or Pierce Bausano, Fr. (0-2, 0-0)
197 – Cole Bateman, So. (1-4, 0-0)
285 – Evan Callahan, So. (3-10, 0-0)
 
STANFORD'S (RV) PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Gabriel Townsell, Jr. (12-6, 2-1)
133 – Mason Pengilly, RSr. (4-3, 1-0) OR Dalton Young, RFr. (6-9, 0-1)
141 – Jack Ramalia, RFr. (7-6, 0-1) OR Brandon Kier, Jr. (0-0, 0-0)
149 – #15 Requir van der Merwe, RSo. (13-6, 2-1) OR Steven Abbate, RFr. (2-2, 0-0)
157 – Dominick Mandarino, So. (17-5, 2-0) OR #20 Paul Fox, RSr. (16-4, 1-1)
165 – Brandon Dallavia RSo. (7-2, 1-0) OR Jared Hill, RSo. (8-7, 1-0)
174 – Rico Stormer, Gr. (12-7, 3-0) OR Foster Karmon, RFr. (6-6, 0-0)
184 – Colbey Harlan, Fr. (10-7, 1-1) OR Austin Flores, RJr. (5-3, 1-0)
197 – #8 Nathan Traxler, RSo. (17-4, 3-0)
285 – Haydn Maley, RFr. (16-7, 1-1), David Showunmi, RJr. (14-5, 0-0) OR Trevor Rasmussen, RJr. (8-5, 1-0)