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Show B6 MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008 Sports: Year in Review • THE COLLEGE TIMES Construction continues Wrestling program has plenty to build on after this season By the numbers 2 0 0 7 - 0 8 i l l S h o r t : With so many young wrestlers on the mat for the Wolverines the team got inconsistent performance form a number of wrestlers. With seniors Sam Allen, Nate Kearsley and Marc Fenwick the team had some experience to get some wins. Freshman Ben Kjar stole the show and should be the team's best for three more years. H l C ) h M C j h t ! The way this young squad finished the year leaves more hope for the future. Utah Valley finished with two wins and sent the three seniors out the right way. Ken Hoglund / College Times : After winning the first Western Wrestling Conference meet against South Dakota State, the team struggle in conference and lost its final four to conference Ben Webster (Top) Senior Sam Allen was a big part of the team this season while freshman Ben Kjar (bottom) will be a big part of the program for three more years. opponents. i p o r t s i=-dii<ji A 9-11 record isn't something to be too happy about, but the future for the wrestling program is. Ac the only Division 1 wicstling program in the state, there are a lot of good things to come. And this year's team is only going to help the building process. "We feel pretty good about where we are going," Utah Valley coach Greg Williams said, after the team's final match this season. "We're getting the kinds of kids that will make this a successful program year after year.71 In seniors Sam Allen. Nate Kearsley, and Marc Fenwick, Utah Valley had three athletes who helped the process of maintaining a solid program. "It's been good to be a part of this program," Allen said, after wrestling in what was probably his final meet. "The coaches are great and have things headed in the right direction. It's going to be the best program in the West, and they will compete nationally." Freshman Ben Kjar (who led all Division 1 wrestlers with 39 wins) is the kind of wrestler who is going to brine success to Utah Val- ley, and he's a wrestler who can help some of the great high school wrestlers stay close to home. "With Ben doing so well, it's going to help in having kids come here." Director of Athletics Mike Jacobsen said. "People see what he has done in his first year, and they want that, and they want to wrestle with him." Another advantage of being the state's only program is less competition when it comes to recruiting. In recent years, if high school wrestlers wanted to compete at the collegiate level nationally, they would SOCCER from B4 years as a member of the conference. The young team struggled from start of the season until the start of the conference tournament. After digging a big hole through six games with a 0-5-1 record, the Wolverines pulled off a big win against Howard 5-1 in Washington D.C. In the win, junior Jenni Clough broke the record for career goals with her second goal of the season and 14th of her career. She moved past Carolyn Theurer for the record and finished the year with 20 career goals. And Clough still has a year to add to that record. It didn't take as long to get the team's second win, a 6-0 win over South Caroli- MtM Nurrif garnet tbfevolleyball team lost in the Independent Tournament on their way to the championship, sweeping three matches. have to go out of state. With opportunities to go to nationals in the near future from Utah Valley, Utah high school wrestlers can hit the mat in-state with hopes of a national championship. So there's hope the losing seasons are going to end very soon. In 2007-08 the roster was loaded with sophomores and freshman, and it showed, at times. After winning three of the first four meets against the Colorado School of Mines, Newman, and Air Force Prep, the Wolverines won just two of the next seven. "We had good leaders like Sam and the other seniors who have helped some of the younger guys. Those guys only helped this season and also in the future," Williams said. "We have a good, young team, and we're going to keep improving. We're excited about our progression." In the Western Wrestling Conference, the team didn't do well and finished 1-4. It turned things around and ended with two non-conference wins against Mesa State and Portland State. Majofayvafds given but to outstanding Independent players and coaches—all won by Utah Valley athletes. Wins>thisseiathe s c h o o l " " 3 record set by last year's team of 18. FALL FINISHES from Bl na State for the biggest win of the season two games later, but the team suffered another long drought. During a midseason five-game losing streak, the Wolverines couldn't manage to find the back of the net. Their opponents, on the other hand, went on a scoring frenzy. Utah Valley was outscored 21-2 in those five games, which included a 6-0 loss to Utah, a 5-0 loss to UNLV and a 7-1 loss to South Dakota State. "Playing Utah and UNLV, I don't expect us to go out-there and win right away, but I do expect us to be competitive," Anderson said. A return to USC play turned things around with a pair of wins late in the season and then came the tournament. "We try to go out and work as hard as we can and get the other team to adjust to what we do," sophomore midfielder Andi Bagdan said, after winning the conference. "It's an awesome feeling to play and win." Utah Valley's less-thanspectacular year turned out much better with the conference championship. "We are glad we can compete and play these games and turn the season around," Clough said, after the team's semifinals win against NJIT. With only one senior, Utah Valley will come back next year with a shot to repeat and improve. Kayli Broadbent was Independent Freshman of the Year, and Sam Atoa was named the Independent Coach of the Year. If there was any doubt of whether or not the better competition at the higher level would be too much for Utah Valley, the fall sweep may have answered the question. While the volleyball, soccer and cross country teams ended their seasons against fellow Independents, the competition early in the season was no cake walk. Before facing the likes of New Jersey Institute of Technology, Cal State Bakersfield, Chicago State and others, the women's volleyball team played Arizona State, Michigan and Georgia Tech. The soccer team played a number of Mountain West Conference teams, while the cross country team faced stiff competition in Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota. Winning is winning and that's exactly what happened for these four teams in the fall. "The success that these four teams had in the fall is just outstanding," Jacobsen said. "It's a credit to the quality of student athletes we have and the coaches we have. It's their ability to rise to the occasion." It helped to have both the volleyball and soccer tournaments played on campus. Winning is everything and its benefits are countless, including the exposure the school gets as the athletic programs have success. 'There's no question our athletic teams are a front porch for the school," cross country coach Scott Houle said. "We go talk to people who have never heard of Utah Valley, until we tell them, and then they want to come here." The jump from junior college six years ago to where athletics is now, competing on the top NCAA level, has helped alongside the wins. "There's a difference between junior college athletes both from a physical level and from a mental level," Houle said. "We are recruiting Division I kids and it shows in the way our programs are performing." |