#25 Bears ready for tri-dual against Utah Valley and California Baptist

Friday, January 8

Orem, Utah

12:45 pm

University of Northern Colorado

California Baptist

Photo by: Anna-Lee Marie

1/7/2021 9:56:00 AM | Wrestling

UNC wrestling heads to Orem, Utah to face UVU and CBU

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – The Bears will have a short turnaround this week, as Northern Colorado travels to Orem, Utah on Friday to compete against Utah Valley and California Baptist in a tri-dual format event.

UNC made history this week as they are ranked for the first time in 51 years in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division I Poll. The Bears are ranked No. 25 after their 24-19 win over Wyoming.

The Bears won five matches against Wyoming. 125-pound Jace Koelzer, 149-Pound Andrew Alirez, and 157-pound Nick Knutson each earned a fall to help secure the Bears win. 133-pound Mosha Schwartz and 141-pound Chris Sandoval each secured a victory by decision.

Scouting the Bears
UNC is led in the rankings by 133-pound Mosha Swartz, who is ranked No. 7 by Intermat and Track wrestling, and 149-pound Andrew Alirez, who is ranked No. 7 by Intermat.

Heavyweight Dalton Robertson is ranked No. 11 by FloWrestling, and Alan Clothier is ranked No. 18 at 184-pounds by TrackWrestling.

Both 197-pound Jacob Seely and 174-pound Jackson Hemauer are ranked No. 19 by FloWrestling.

Open Mat ranks 165-pound Johnny Blankenship No. 26, and Theorius Robison No. 29. Chris Sandoval is ranked No. 30 by both The Open Mat and TrackWrestling.

Scouting the Lancers
California Baptist is in its third season competing at the NCAA Division I level after being one of the top teams in Division II. The Lancers finished in third place in their final season of Division II competition.

Friday's tri-dual is CBU's first action of the year. Last season they finished 3-10 in duals. Five Lancers were names National Collegiate Open All-Americans in 2020. Four of the five return in AJ Raya (149), Zach Schrader (HW), Dilan Ajtun (125) and Garrett Strange (184).

Scouting the Wolverines
Utah Valley enters the tri-dual with two ranked wrestlers. Taylor Lamont is ranked No. 9, and Demetrius Romero is ranked No. 6 at 174-pounds, both by Intermat.

They opened their season at the Cal Poly Tournament with six wrestlers earning a title.

In the dual last season, the Bears lost to Utah Valley 20-16. Returners Andrew Alirez, Jimmy Fate, Alan Clothier, and Jace Koelzer secured wins for the Bears in their last matchup with the Wolverines.

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will wrestle California Baptist and Utah Valley on Friday, January 8. UNC will wrestle California Baptist at 12:45 p.m. and will wrestle Utah Valley at 2:30 p.m. All of Friday's matches can be streamed at no cost to fans via the WAC Digital Network. Live results will also be available via TrackWrestling.

To stay up to date on all things UNC wrestling, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.