After having the week of Thanksgiving off, the Wolverines will compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The invitational will be the first tournament this year that the Wolverines will compete for an overall team score.
The invitational will feature some of the top individual and team talent in the country, including #2 Illinois and #3 Michigan and several nationally ranked individual wrestlers.
"This is one of the toughest tournaments in the country because of the size and the wide range of teams nationally," said Utah Valley State coach Cody Sanderson. "Because of the competition, we've got to get our guys in to compete and get a good look at NCAA wrestling around the country. I think we're ready for it."
The weekend is a big one for 18th ranked Wolverine Erkin Tadzhimetov. The senior from Uzbekistan will compete against other ranked wrestlers at 133 lbs. and have the opportunity to make some more national noise, both for himself and for the Utah Valley State wrestling program.
"In this tournament there are a lot of ranked guys in his weight class," said Sanderson. "It's a great chance for him to get in there and prove he can compete with the best in the country."
Tadzhimetov was ranked last week in the first season rankings of the year by the NWCA and Intermat Wrestling. It's the second time during his career at Utah Valley that he has been ranked after reaching as high as #16 in the nation during the 2003-04 season. He is the only UV wrestler to be ranked nationally during the wrestling program's three-year history.
Coming Up...
The Wolverines will host their first home dual of the season next Saturday against Western State at 7:00pm in the Activity Center. Utah Valley State is 0-1 in duals this season, suffering a loss at Iowa State. Following the matchup with Western, the Wolverines will compete in the Reno Tournament Tournament of Champions on Sunday, December 18th.
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