Men's swim and dive falls to UNLV

BYU men’s swim and dive fell to UNLV 176-124 in its dual meet versus the Rebels on Friday at Jim Reitz Pool at Buchanan Natatorium.

Author Joseph Hovey
BYU men's swimmer Tama Tuitama competes at the Blue-White Meet on Sept. 15, 2023.BYU men's swimmer Tama Tuitama competes at the Blue-White Meet on Sept. 15, 2023.

LAS VEGAS — BYU men’s swim and dive fell to UNLV 176-124 in its dual meet versus the Rebels on Friday at Jim Reitz Pool at Buchanan Natatorium.

“UNLV was better than us today,” said BYU head coach Shari Skabelund. “We fought hard and had some breakthroughs in close races. I’m really proud of the way our kids stepped up and competed with heart.”

Tama Tuitama scored 12 points to go along with Brad Prolo and Jordan Tiffany’s nine a-piece. Emerson Edwards posted eight points while Mickey Strauss, Russell Haws and Abraham Barragan each pitched in six points.

Tuitama finished the day strong with a win in the 200 individual medley at 1:50.99. The senior from Las Vegas also upped BYU’s score with three points in the 200 free at 1:42.26.

Prolo began the day helping the 200 medley relay squad to a runner-up finish at 1:28.67, then scored big for the Cougars as he won the 200 fly. At 1:48.37, Prolo beat UNLV’s Colby Raffel by over two seconds and sealed his third event win in two meets. Prolo also took third in the 200 breast and fifth in the 200 IM.

Tiffany’s win came at 47.14 in the 100 back, just two-hundredths of a second off his No. 2 all-time mark at BYU set on Oct. 13 at TCU. The freshman from Pleasant Grove, Utah is ranked 28th nationally in the 100 back and beat the nation’s No. 25 100 back swimmer in the Rebels’ Wikus Potgieter.

Edwards earned eight points off two runner-up finishes. The junior from Columbia, South Carolina swam 2:03.63 in the 200 breast and 56.11 in the 100 breast. 

Barragan registered points for BYU with a second-place finish in the 1000 free, third in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 fly.

Strauss and Haws led the Cougar divers on Friday with each recording a runner-up spot. Strauss posted a 322.28 in the 3-meter (6 dives) to take second, then came in fourth in the 1-meter. Haws scored 285.53 to come in second in the 1-meter before boosting his previous 3-meter score by nearly 19 points to take fourth at 306.08.

After a week off, BYU returns to action with swimmers competing at the Mizzou Invitational in Columbia, Missouri Nov. 15-18 while divers do so at the SMU Invite in Dallas, Texas Nov. 16-18.