Coming into the event the Wolverines were outranked by their opponents on paper in every matchup. But what the final score doesn't show is how close the majority of the individual matches really were.
"Overall I was pleased with how technically sound we looked tonight," Utah Valley head wrestling coach Greg Williams said. "What hurt us though was not being able to finish our matches. We will go back, get the tape out, and learn from our mistakes to help prepare us for Saturday."
"Cody and Cael Sanderson are both tremendous coaches and we were very pleased and grateful for this opportunity to face so many highly-ranked individuals," Williams added. "Tonight's matches against such good competition will definitely help lead us down the path to prepare ourselves to meet our goals and reach nationals next year."
UVU star-sophomore Benjamin Kjar's (125), who's ranked 18th nationally, matchup with ISU's Tyler Clark (7th nationally) went right down to the wire but finished with Kjar losing 4-2. Utah Valley junior Jeffrey Newby (141) in another close match fell 5-3 to the Cyclones Nick Gallick (2nd nationally).
In other very tight matches on the night the Wolverines sophomore Jeb Clark (165) was downed 5-3 by hand of (4th nationally) Jon Reader. In the match Clark took a 3-2 advantage midway through the second round after a 2-point nearfall but ended up falling in the end of the match. Redshirt-freshman Brad Darrington (174) had a great match but ended up losing 6-4 to ISU's Chris Pursel. Darrington took a 4-3 lead late in the third round after a takedown but Pursel was able to rally and get an escape and a takedown to win.
In the 184-pound bout UVU sophomore Casen Eldredge was involved in the tightest matchup scoring-wise of the evening against the Cyclones Jerome Ward. Eldredge ended up losing by only one point, 3-2.
With the loss UV falls to 0-3 all-time against ISU. For in-depth results and final scores see the attached PDF at the top of this page.
The Wolverines will continue their road trip this Saturday in Iowa as they will take part at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. Following Saturday's tournament Utah Valley will be back in dual action as they will travel to Boise to face-off against No. 14 Boise State November 19 at 7 pm.
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