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OREM — The Utah Valley wrestling team has faced the Oklahoma Sooners three times since 2006 prior to Friday night's match at the Lockhart Arena.
In those three dual meets, the Sooners have won by a combined 137-4 score. The lone UVU win in any of the three duals came from current UVU assistant coach Erkin Tadzhimetov, who won by major decision in 2006.
Well, the Utah Valley grapplers changed all that Friday night.
Matt Findlay, a 141-pounder, won in dramatic fashion, taking down Mike Longo in sudden death to propel the Wolverines to a 19-18 win over the Sooners. The score following the 141-pound match was technically tied, but UVU won by criteria as it won six of the 10 matches.
"I'm really pleased with how the guys wrestled," UVU head coach Greg Williams said. "We know we're good and of course, we had to have some things go our way … but I'm not surprised by how we wrestled. It was just a wonderful outcome."
The match didn't get off on the right foot for the Wolverines. UVU found out a few days prior that sixth-ranked Taylor LaMont at 125 pounds wasn't going to be wrestling on Friday. LaMont tweaked something in his knee during practice and rather than risk injuring it further, Williams decided it was best for him not to wrestle.
To add insult to injury, Davion Jeffries pinned UVU's Matthew Ontiveros in the first period of the 149-pound match to kick the dual meet off.
Oklahoma's Justin Thomas followed that up with a close 6-2 decision over Raider Lofthouse at 157 pounds, and Oklahoma had an early 9-0 lead in the team score.
Then it all changed when 16th-ranked Demetrius Romero, who has been battling flu-like symptoms all week, picked up a 3-2 decision over 24th-ranked Dewaylon Barnes in the 165-pound match.
Kimball Bastian picked up the biggest win of his 2017-18 season, knocking off 10th-ranked Yoanse Mejias, 2-1. Bastian's win came after the official reviewed a takedown call made just as time was about to expire. Bastian led 2-1 with 10 seconds to go and Mejias made a shot attempt that Bastian fought off just enough to earn the close win.
"This season's been a rough start for me," Bastian said. "A little bit different than I thought it would be. It's been a hard time coming but … I know I'm on the same level as all these kids no matter where they're ranked."
Gary Jantzer at 184 pounds, Tanner Orndorff at 197 pounds and heavyweight Dustin Dennison all picked up wins to help UVU increase its lead to 15-9 with three matches left.
However, 16th-ranked Christian Moody made the most of his opportunity to not wrestle LaMont in the 125-pound match. Moody pinned UVU's Josh Jensen in the second period and tied the match at 15.
"One of the guys I'm most proud of is Josh Jensen," Williams said. "Josh Jensen knows he's stepping in. He knows everybody's expecting him to lose. He's wrestling a ranked guy. Josh Jensen is a walk-on. And what did he do? He goes out there and attacks. He ended up getting caught and getting pinned, but I was super proud of him."
Jacob Rubio then won by decision at 133 pounds over Durbin Lloren to set the stage for the 141-pound match.
Findlay got off to a quick start with an early takedown. Mike Longo responded with an escape, but Findlay quickly took Longo down again. However, an escape, takedown and near fall as the first period ended gave Longo the 6-4 lead going into the second period.
Findlay got a quick reversal but Longo escaped. And back and forth it went. Nearing the end of the third period and with the score tied, it looked like Longo might get the winning takedown, but Findlay held on to Longo's leg for dear life to force the sudden death period.
"It was an exciting finish," Findlay said. "I did some good things and did some bad things. He was a very talented wrestler and caught me in a few situations where against most guys I would have been able to score points but he didn't give up."
In the one-minute, sudden death period, Findlay got the winning takedown with 17 seconds remaining and UVU claimed its eighth win of the season and fourth in the Big 12 Conference.
"All in all, I just think it was a really fun match," Findlay said. "Fun, fun match, and I'm just grateful it went my way."
Next up for the Wolverines, who are receiving votes in the most recent USA Today/NWCA Top-25 poll, is a trip to the high plains to take on No. 22 Wyoming on Friday and Air Force the next night.
Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
