CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Utah Valley State junior wrestler Marc Fenwick has been named the Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials.

Fenwick pinned Portland State's Tony Contreras (3:39) helping the Wolverines to a 26-19 victory over Portland State Saturday. Fenwick, who normally wrestles at 157, wrestled up two weights as he has all season.

"Fenwick has been huge for us all season," UVSC head coach Greg Williams said. "He got a big fall for us against Portland State."

The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State and Wyoming.

Big Ten honors Minnesota's Ness

Redshirt freshman Jayson Ness has been named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced today. The 125-pounder from Bloomington, Minn., posted a pair of decisions last week to jump-start the Gophers in victories over top-ranked Oklahoma State and at No. 7 Iowa State. 

Ness overcame an early deficit against OSU's Tyler Shinn to win 6-3 to give the Gophers an early lead against the Cowboys.  On Friday at Iowa State, Ness scored five takedowns against Nick Fanthorpe to cruise to a 12-5 decision. 

After entering the season unranked, Ness has quickly catapulted himself into the top 10 in the nation and established as one of Minnesota's top wrestlers. Currently ranked No. 9 in the country, Ness now has a 13-2 overall record on the season, including 6-1 dual meets. His 22 team points is tied for fourth on the team.

Ness began the season with three straight pins on his way to a second-place finish at the Bison Open. His only loss came in the championship match to fifth-ranked Tanner Gardner of Stanford. A week later, Ness captured the 125-pound title at the Kaufman-Brand Open, defeating No. 6 Paul Donahoe of Nebraska along the way. After losing his first career dual meet start to No. 20 David Tomasette of Hofstra, Ness has since rattled off six straight victories.

This is the first Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honor for Ness during his career. He is the third Gopher to earn the award this season, following Gabriel Dretsch (Nov. 22) and Roger Kish (Nov. 29). 

Iowa Conference honors Loras College's Figgins

Jay Figgins (Loras College, Clinton, Iowa/Clinton HS) was named Iowa Conference Wrestler of the Week. Figgins, a junior, posted a 5-0 record during the week with four falls and won the 184-pound weight class at the Dick Walker Invitational.  

In a dual meet victory over Dubuque, Figgins pinned Anthony Higgins at 1:47.  At the Dick Walker, he had two more first period falls, including wins over Coe's Jacob Brinkman (at 1:30) and Augustana (Ill.)'s Brian Kerr (at 0:27).  Figgins also pinned Iowa Central's Nate Willard (at 3:31) and won by medical forfeit over Wartburg's Romeo Djoumessi.