Several wrestlers came up huge for the Wolverines, none more so than freshman heavyweight Dallin Norton. Norton had the weight of both matches on his massive shoulders, picking up two falls to help UV to the victory in both duals.
"Dallin came through," said Utah Valley coach Cody Sanderson. "That's the way he likes it too. He wants the match to come down to him. He likes the pressure."
Erkin Tadzhimetov also earned two falls on the day, while Talon Vickers, DJ Meis and Ivan Bigney also picked up two wins apiece.
Against Wyoming, Vickers opened up the scoring at 125 pounds scoring a 6-3 decision over Cody Grant.
Tadzhimetov then broke his own school record when he pinned Tyson Shatto just 35 seconds into the 133 pound match. His previous record came in January of 2004 when he pinned Garrett Eller of the Colorado School of Mines 38 seconds in.
"He knew we needed those extra points and he made it look really easy," said Sanderson. "He's just wrestling better and better all the time. His emergence as a team leader has been great too."
The two wins for Tadzhimetov extend his winning streak to nine and also add to his school record for wins in a season, giving him 25 victories so far in 05-06.
141 pounder Daniel Polkowske had his way with Shay Lawrence, scoring an 11-3 major decision to give Utah Valley a 13-0 lead.
The Cowboys would fight back though when Carter Downing topped Justin Rawle by major decision 11-1, Dan Clum pinned Tanner Cowan (4:31) and Gary Dack scored three points in the final minute to beat Devin Siddoway 5-3, knotting up the team scores at 13.
At 174 pounds, Meis outscored Dan Barrone 5-1 in the third period to win 7-4, regaining the lead for the Wolverines at 16-13.
"DJ came through huge for us. He was the underdog but he wrestled smart and his patience paid off," said Sanderson.
Bigney used two near falls in the third period to give himself a 15-6 major decision over Preston Pavich at 184 pounds, giving UV a 20-13 advantage.
"Ivan wrestled really well. He wrestled smart, he wrestled patient. Compared to last season he is just a different wrestler," said Sanderson.
A forfeit by Utah Valley at 197 pounds put all the pressure on the heavyweight Norton, who scored his second fall of the day when he pinned Dusty Hoffschneider (1:56) to give Utah Valley State the 26-19 win.
"This win is probably the biggest win we've had as a team in our two and a half years," said Sanderson.
In the opening dual against Western Wyoming, the Wolverines split the 10 matches, giving up a forfeit a 197. All five wins by Utah Valley earned bonus points, with four falls and one technical fall.
Vickers, Tadzhimetov and Norton each pinned their opponents less than 1:20 into the match, while Meis earned his first win as a Wolverine by pinning Craig Mock early in the third period. Bigney scored a tech fall over Colt Reese to round out the wins by Utah Valley over Western Wyoming.
Up next for UV will be Adams State next Saturday night in Alamosa, Colorado. The next home dual for the Wolverines will be the following week, on February 4th against South Dakota State.
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