SDSU wrestling headed west for the final time this season but dropped both dual meets in unceremonious fashion to Utah Valley and Northern Colorado over the weekend.

Northern Colorado rallied after an Aaron Pickrel pin in the meet’s second match to win six of the next eight matches.

Pickrel’s fall came at 125 pounds over Jesse Meis at 4:59 in the match. The Jackrabbits took a 6-3 lead with the win but things would slowly slide for SDSU.

The Bears scored three straight matches, one of which came by injury default. Andrew Youngblom was injured in the second period of his match against Justin Gonzales at 149 pounds. The loss cost the Jacks six points and UNC led 15-6.

Nick Flynn helped the Jacks climb closer with a 6-3 decision at 157 pounds, but it was followed by a Northern Colorado fall.

At 174 pounds, Dillon Reid countered with a fall of his own in slightly quicker fashion than Pickrel. It came with 12 seconds remaining in the second period and narrowed the gap.

SDSU did not get any closer, as the Bears won the final two matches by decision.

“Again, we wrestled hard and had an opportunity to win, but lost four close matches that were the deciding factor,” head coach Jason Liles said. “We need to close out a match. There is a fine line between winning and losing. Right now we are trying to figure out how to get on the other side of that line.”

Utah Valley 21, SDSU 18

SDSU continued its string of near misses for dual wins in a three-point loss to the Wolverines in Orem, Utah on Feb. 10.

SDSU suffered a defeat in the opening match at 149 pounds, but found its lone bright spot in the second match of the dual.

Senior Nick Flynn picked up his first Western Wrestling Conference dual win with a third-period fall at 157 pounds. Flynn improved to 20-9 overall and 7-4 in duals with his third fall of the season, moving the Jackrabbits ahead, 6-3.

The Wolverines went on a three-match winning streak at 165, 174 and 184, including one fall, to build a nine-point lead, 15-6.

Redshirt freshman Nick Mart put an end to the stretch, scoring a 5-3 decision in the third period at 197 pounds over UVU’s Bryan Chamberlain.

Down only six points at that point in the dual, junior heavyweight Joe Skow came through in a big way. Skow earned his first WWC dual win with a first-period fall to even the team score with three matches remaining, picking up the pin in 1:58 over Dustin Dennison.

After starting at 149 pounds, the dual rounded back to the top of the lineup to conclude.

Redshirt junior Aaron Pickrel continued his success at 125 pounds with a 7-2 decision. Pickrel improved to 22-8 overall, 9-2 in duals and 3-1 in the WWC.

Utah Valley responded with a decision at 131 pounds before Avery Garner sealed the meet with 10-6 win over Dustin Walraven.

Next up the Jacks return home for the final dual of the season on Feb. 16. SDSU hosts nationally-ranked Wyoming at 7 p.m. in Frost Arena.