Wrestling: Falcons defeat Utah Valley State 38-6

  • Published
  • By Melissa McKeown
  • U.S. Air Force Academy
OREM, Utah (AFNEWS) --  A day after turbulent weather and road closures caused the cancellation of its match against Wyoming, the Air Force wrestling team recorded a solid 38-6 victory Feb. 17 over Utah Valley State. 

With the win, the Falcons improve to 5-10 on the season, 2-1 in the Western Wrestling Conference, while the Wolverines fall to 6-12, 0-5 in the WWC.

The match began at 141 pounds, where Air Force junior Jake Kriegbaum registered a 17-0 technical fall over Justin Morrill. 

"Kriegbaum wrestled well tonight," said Falcons head coach Joel Sharratt. "He's been struggling lately with putting points on the board, but he did a good job of scoring tonight. This should send a strong message going into our regional tournament. He'll have a challenge ahead of him when he squares off against Northern Colorado's nationally ranked 141-pounder."

The Falcons' lead grew to 8-0 when senior captain Bridger Lord picked up a 10-4 decision over Justin Rawle, while Zach Lord added a 14-0 major decision over Clayton Wolf at 157 pounds.

Air Force suffered its first loss at 165 pounds, when junior Duane Miller dropped an 8-4 decision to Dustin Olsen. However, the Falcons rebounded at 174 pounds, where sophomore Stephen Crozier pinned Marc Fenwick in a time of 4:24 to give Air Force the 18-3 advantage.

After battling UVSC's Brock Jardine to a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation, 184-pounder Jacob Devlin scored a takedown 20 seconds into overtime to record a 4-2 decision. 

"Jake turned the corner today," Coach Sharratt said. "He fought through some battles and came out on top in overtime. He was able to score when he needed to score."

Following Devlin's overtime victory, the Falcons then suffered their second loss of the day, as sophomore Jordan Tribble dropped a 10-6 decision to Eric McAllister in the 197-pound bout.

With forfeits by the Wolverines at the 125 and 133 weight classes, the final contested match of the day came at heavyweight, where Anthony Stegeman met up with Mark Dennis. Stegeman dominated the bout, registering four near falls en route to a 15-0 technical fall at the 4:36 mark. 

"Stegeman continues to wrestle well," Coach Sharratt said. "He's been able to score a lot of points at heavyweight, and I think he's making a legitimate case to be considered as the top seed at the West Regional."

The Falcons face Northern Colorado in a WWC showdown Feb. 20 in Clune Arena, when the Air Force will salute its six seniors, including captains Bridger and Zach Lord.

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