Utah Valley University opened a non-conference dual at Arizona State with three straight wins but eventually fell, 22-15, on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Wolverines (0-3) built a 12-0 lead before the Sun Devils (3-1) used wins in the next six bouts to secure the dual win. Jade Rauser, Matthew Ontiveros, Trevor Willson and Chasen Tolbert picked up victories for UVU.
The dual started at 133 pounds with Rauser getting the Wolverines six early points with a fall of Cord Coronado just 2:38 into the match. The fall is Rauser’s third of the season, with all three coming in the opening period.
At 141 pounds, Ontiveros trailed late against Mech Spraggins but used riding time and a late takedown to force overtime. In the extra time, Ontiveros picked up an escape to earn the 8-7 win.
Willson wasted little time in scoring against Matt Kraus, getting a takedown and a three-point near-fall in the first minute of the 149-pound bout. Kraus eventually tied it at 6-6 in the third period, but Willson picked up an escape followed by takedown in the waning seconds to win 9-6 and give Utah Valley a 12-0 dual lead.
The string of Arizona State wins started at 157 pounds with Joel Smith scoring a major decision over Logan Addis, 18-7. Jacen Petersen then held off a late charge by Dalton Harmon to win, 8-4, at 165 pounds.
Three of the final four ASU wins all went down to the wire with the exception of No. 8 Blake Stauffer’s pin of Abel Gomez (1:13) at 184 pounds. At 174, Ray Waters edged Ethan Smith, 3-2; at 197 pounds, Josh DaSilveira used a last-second takedown to defeat Derek Thomas, 3-1; and at 285, a single takedown was again the difference in Chase Eskam’s 3-1 win over Jordan Karst.
In the final bout of the night, at 125 pounds, Tolbert used a late takedown in the second and third periods to secure a 5-1 decision over Ares Carpio to move his record to 7-1 on the young season.
The Wolverines stay in the Phoenix area for a dual against Grand Canyon University on Saturday at 7 p.m. It’s the final tune-up prior to the Cliff Keen Invitational Dec. 5-6 in Las Vegas and the last dual before the Western Wrestling Conference opener on Jan. 17 at home against Wyoming.
Clint Burgi is the assistant athletic director for sports information at Utah Valley University. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.