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OREM — Utah Valley University has accepted a wrestling affiliate invitation from the Big 12 Conference along with five other schools from the Western Wrestling Conference.
"Becoming a part of the Big 12 Conference is a tremendous opportunity for UVU wrestling," UVU head coach Greg Williams said in a statement. "The timing of this transition is great for our program and competing against these nationally prominent programs demands that we raise our level of competitiveness. The expectations and goals of our team going forward with the talent we have coming into our room are very high and we're eager for the challenge."
Joining Utah Valley in the Big 12 are former WWC members Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State and Wyoming. They join Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
"We are excited to announce the addition of affiliate members in sports where the league already maintains a strong competition level," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. "The additional institutions will improve and strengthen what are already strong postseason events for the Big 12. We are looking forward to welcoming coaches, student-athletes and fans from each of the affiliate institutions to future Big 12 Gymnastics and Wrestling Championships."
As members of the WWC, the Wolverines boasted six conference champions, 17 NCAA qualifiers and an NCAA All-American.
The Big 12 Conference championship will be a two-day event in Kansas City, Missouri. The winner of the tournament will receive the league's automatic big to the NCAA Championships.
Nathan Harker is a sports writing intern currently enrolled at Brigham Young University majoring in broadcast journalism. Nathan can be reached at nathan.harker32@gmail.com or via twitter @nharker3207.
