Kjar Places Second at Cowboy Open
Nov. 10, 2007
LARAMIE, Wyo. - Ben Kjar's second-place finish in the 125-pound weight division highlighted the Utah Valley wrestling team's appearance at the Cowboy Open hosted by the University of Wyoming. "The guys did very well," Utah Valley head coach Greg Williams said. "It was a good tournament for all of our guys. Two nationally ranked teams in Nebraska and Boise State were at the tournament along with three teams from our conference." Kjar was one of 12 UV wrestlers competing in the Elite Tournament portion of the event. Two of the 12 are redshirting and wrestled unattached at the open tournament. The Cowboy Open is the second consecutive strong showing for the redshirt freshman Kjar and the Wolverine wrestlers. Posting a 3-1 record, Kjar advanced to the final match in the championship bracket of the Elite Division Tournament. Other Utah Valley wrestlers that posted double-digit wins were Flint Ray (3-2), Nate Gardner (2-2), Justin Morrill-who wrestled unattached-(4-2) and Jeb Clark who posted a 2-2 record while also wrestling unattached. Ramsey Nijem and Brad Darrington highlighted the Utah Valley wrestlers competing in the amateur (under-20 tournament). Nijem won the 174-pound division while Darrington won the 184. Impressively, both pinned their respective opponents in their tournament finals. Avery Garner (3-2), along with Joel Polkowske and Zach Williams also participated in the amateur tournament. Facing off against a pair of Western Wrestling Conference foes, Kjar started his day by beating Air Force's Zach Valdez by a 3-2 decision margin. After beating Devlon Webb from Chadron State in the quarter finals (4-3) and Arsenia Barksdale from Adams State in the semis (5-4), Kjar advanced to the finals to face off against Northern Colorado's Tony Mustari. Mustari edged Kjar, 7-5 in overtime to win the weight division. "Ben had a great chance to win the match," Williams said. After falling in his first round to Joey Lucas from Oregon (9-6), Flint Ray rebounded to win three consecutive matches against Jason Venger, Brandon Gifford and Jesse Cruz. Nate Gardner won his first two matches in the 141-pound division against Nebraska's Patrick Aleksanyan (6-5) and Sergio Palomo (fall, 3:18) before falling twice in a row to be eliminated. Morrill highlighted wrestlers that are redshirting and wrestling unattached. After losing his first match, Morrill responded with four consective wins. Morrill's last victory was an 11-5 defeat against the same wrestler who sent him to consolation bracket, Cody Moulton. Next week, Utah Valley will travel to the Jack Hancock Duel Invitational where the Wolverines will start their duel season. |
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