Six Utah Valley University wrestlers are set to compete in rematches during the opening round of the Big 12 Wrestling Championships, according to brackets released by the conference. The event will take place at the BOK Center in Tulsa on Friday and Saturday, with live coverage available on ESPN+. The first two sessions are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT on Friday, March 6, while Saturday’s matches will begin at noon, followed by the championship finals at 7 p.m. CT.
Haiden Drury (141 pounds) and David Evans (149 pounds) have both secured No. 3 seeds for the tournament. Jack Forbes is seeded sixth at 285 pounds and will face South Dakota State’s Luke Rasmussen in what will be their third meeting this season. Rasmussen previously defeated Forbes in Las Vegas, but Forbes won during their dual meet; overall, Rasmussen leads their career series 2-1.
Other Utah Valley wrestlers facing familiar opponents include Geronimo Rivera against Missouri’s Gage Walker (No. 7 seed), Mark Takara versus Cael Swensen from South Dakota State, Zyon Trujillo against Marcus Espinoza-Owens (No. 8 seed) from SDSU, Hudson Rogers facing Cam Steed (No. 3 seed) from Missouri, and Caleb Uhlenhopp matched up with Eddie Neitenbach (No. 3 seed) from Wyoming.
Drury has a bye in the opening round and will meet either Joel Aguilar-Guerrero of Northern Colorado or Oklahoma’s Tyler Wells (No. 6 seed). Drury previously earned a technical fall over Aguilar-Guerrero during a dual match and secured a narrow win over Wells at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.
The rest of Utah Valley’s first-round matches are against Oklahoma State athletes: Bridger Ricks takes on top-seeded Troy Spratley at 125 pounds, while Kael Bennie faces Cody Merrill (No. 3 seed) at 197 pounds.
