Dual Season Starts at Home for Bears Wrestling

Saturday, November 16

Greeley, Colo.

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

West Virginia

Photo by: Anna-Lee Marie

11/14/2019 2:41:00 PM | Wrestling

Northern Colorado host West Virginia for a Big 12 dual

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado wrestling opens its dual schedule at home this Saturday, playing host to Big-12 foe, West Virginia. Fans can watch the Bears' first home dual of the season at Bank of Colorado Arena at 7 p.m.(MT).

At the Northern Colorado open this past Sunday, four Bears won championships in their respective weight classes, while 10 others placed. Andrew Alirez(149), Jimmy Fate(157) and Alan Clothier(184) all won titles for the second consecutive week, while freshman Mosha Schwartz debuted for UNC with a championship in the 125-pound bracket. Schwartz wrestled unattached during the Open.

UNC wrestlers continue to move up the national rankings after another successful tournament.

Alirez is ranked as high as No. 13 by Trackwrestling.com. The Greeley native is No. 17 by Intermat.com, No. 20 by The Open Mat.com and No. 24 by FloWrestling.com.

Austin Matthews(165) also made his UNC debut at the NoCo Open and is ranked No. 23 by Open Mat. The redshirt-senior transfer is No. 13 in FloWrestling's rankings, while being No. 19 by Intermat and No. 33 by Trackwrestling.

Clothier receiving more praise from the wrestling media and is now listed No. 18 by Open Mat and No. 21 by FloWrestling. The Lawrence, Kan. native is No. 30 in Trackwrestling's rankings.

Jace Koelzer placed second at both the Cowboy and NoCo Open, earning the No. 17 ranking from FloWrestling at 125-pounds.

Chris Sandoval slated at No. 23 in the 141-pound rankings after winning the championship at the Cowboy Open.

Jacob Seely(197) and Robert Winters Jr.(285) are both ranked No. 31 in their weight classes by Trackwrestling. The two placed in the top four at each of the team's tournaments.

The Bears looks to ride the momentum into dual season as they start their dual schedule in the Big-12.

Scouting the Mountaineers
West Virginia starts year two under head coach Tim Flynn and the team found some early success in their open tournaments. Redshirt-sophomore Noah Adams and Caleb Rea won their weight classes at the 2019 Southeast Open in Roanoke, Virg. Five others would finish in the top three. Adams won his second tournament a week later at the Mountaineer Invitational in Boone, NC. West Virginia also had six top-five finishes at the Invitational. The Mountaineers went 4-14 overall in duals last season, going 3-6 in the Big 12.

UNC dropped its dual against West Virginia, 14-22, to open the 2018-19 season.

Projected Starters

Northern Colorado (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
125 – No. 17 Jace Koelzer(6-2)
133 - Michael Johnson(6-4) OR Mosha Schwartz(4-0)
141 – No. 23 Chris Sandoval(4-0) OR Brody Lamb(4-3)
149 – No. 13 Andrew Alirez(9-0)
157 - Jimmy Fate(8-0)
165 – No. 12 Austin Matthews(2-0) OR Macoy Flanagan(4-4) OR Jordan Robison(8-4)
174 - Billy Higgins(3-1) OR Sethan Bogulski(7-3)
184 – No. 18 Alan Clothier(7-0)
197 – No. 31 Jacob Seely(7-2)
285 – No. 31 Robert Winters Jr.(5-4) OR Dalton Robertson(7-2)

West Virginia (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
125 - Joey Thomas, So.(5-3)
133 - Lucas Seibert, So. (5-3)
141 - Caleb Rea, So. (8-1)
149 - Seth Hogue, Sr. (6-3)
157 - Alex Hornfeck, RFr. (6-3)
165 – No. 18 Nick Kiussis, Jr. (3-1)
174 - Scott Joll, Fr. (7-3)
184 - Jackson Moomau, So. (3-4)
197 – No. 17 Noah Adams, So. (8-0)
285 - No. 24 Brandon Ngati, Sr. (5-3)

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado faces West Virginia on the mat on Saturday, Nov. 16, with the first match starting at 7 p.m.(MT).

Tickets to the dual can be purchased online by clicking the link here.

UNC is excited to announce that they have signed a contract with FloSports and will have all home duals streamed live on FloWrestling.com this season.

Season Tickets
Season Tickets start at just $50 for the five home matches and include the Clash in the Commons dual. Season tickets are on sale now by visiting our ticketing website at uncbears.com/tickets, by calling the ticket office at 970-351-4849, or in person 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the UNC Ticket Office located in the Campus Commons.

New for the 2019 season, members of the Klawz's Cub Club will receive free admission into all regular-season home ticketed events, including football, and there are no longer youth season tickets. Membership is just $40 with each additional child just $25 each. For more details on the Klawz Cub Club, click here.