The Wolverines came out ahead in four of the seven bouts that took place, but three forfeits (two by UV and one by Northern Colorado) overshadowed what could have been a win for UV.
"It's frustrating to lose a match like that," said Utah Valley head coach Cody Sanderson. "We beat them in just about every position. But to give up 12 points on forfeits is just too much to come back from. I'm pleased with our effort but I'm just frustrated with the outcome."
The Wolverines jumped ahead early when star 133 pound senior Erkin Tadzhimetov made quick work of Adam Garcia, pinning him 1:51 into the contest. The win boosted his season record to 23-7 as the 20th ranked wrestler (Amateur Wrestling News) has now won seven straight matches.
"Erkin did what we needed him to do. We needed those bonus points and went out there and got them," said Sanderson.
The match of the night was at 141 pounds, when Wolverine freshman Daniel Polkowske erased an early deficit scoring a takedown with :25 seconds left to win 7-6 over Richard Lohr. That win gave the Wolverines a 15-6 lead.
"Polkowske did a great job. He made some mistakes early and got behind but he did an incredible job to come back in the third period," said Sanderson. "In college wrestling to come back from that point just doesn't happen very often, especially with a freshman."
Tanner Cowan won his third match in the last four chances when he topped Nathan Gerrard in a competitive match, 4-1, putting UV on top 18-9.
"Earlier on in the season Tanner was really struggling with his confidence," said Sanderson. "But the last couple of weeks he has kind of relaxed and refocused and he's gotten some wins."
After UNC's Devan Lewis came back in the third period to top Devin Siddoway 6-3, 20th ranked Shawn Hart scored a tech fall over UV's DJ Meis to give the Bears a huge advantage down the stretch. That match put the score at 18-17 Wolverines, but with one forfeit remaining the Bears had a five point advantage.
That put all of the pressure on Wolverine senior Ivan Bigney in the final match of the night. Bigney scored a decisive 10-3 win over Tim Sexton in the 184 pound match, but needed to score at least a tech fall to force a tie.
"That was one of the best matches that I've seen Ivan wrestle," said Sanderson. "That kid he wrestled is real good. And to win in the fashion that he did, that was impressive."
Up next the Wolverines will compete in the Cowboy Duals at Wyoming on Saturday. Their next home match comes on February 4th against South Dakota State.
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