Five weeks can be an eternity in the sports world. We can go from worrying about how football games are played, to whether or not a team deflated the footballs and cheated. In the Wyoming sports world, a lot did happen over the five weeks students were on break here in Dunk City.
To start, men’s basketball was ranked 25th in the AP poll for college basketball. After a stretch of beating UNLV, San Jose State, Colorado State and Boise State consecutively, college basketball writers deemed Wyoming the 25th best team in the nation. In the Mountain West home opener against UNLV, senior forward Larry Nance Jr. scored 29 points and contributed heavily to Wyoming’s 76-71 win over the Runnin’ Rebels. The Border War featured a battle for first place in the Mountain West, and proved to be a great road win for the Cowboys. With 23 seconds remaining in the game, sophomore guard Jason McManamen provided the 3-point dagger to the Fort Collins crew, and gave Wyoming a six-point victory.
The Cowboys eventually lost their ranking after a home loss to San Diego State, where the Cowboys offense sputtered much of the game, and the Wyoming seven game winning streak came to an end. The Cowboys are currently on a two-game winning streak after impressive wins at Fresno State—in a game that went to triple overtime—and a dramatic home win over the New Mexico Lobos in front of a record-setting home crowd. The Cowboys next game is tonight vs. Utah State in Logan, UT at 7 p.m.
The Cowgirls basketball team did not experience as fruitful a break, but did record their first two Mountain West Conference wins in January. The Cowgirls went 2-5 in conference play over the winter break, and all five losses were within six-points. Wyoming’s two wins came in a rout 96-60 over San Jose State and a steady win over the Boise State Broncos by a score of 64-59. Senior guard Kayla Woodward led the Cowgirls in the win over the Broncos with 24 points. The most heart-breaking loss came at the hands of the Lobos, where the Cowgirls lost a 9-point halftime lead, and the Lobos came away with a 60-54 win. The Cowgirls’ overall record is now 7-10, and their next game will be against Utah State on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. here in Laramie.
Cowboy wrestling was also active over break, and entered in multiple tournaments. On Jan. 1 and 2, the Cowboys wrestled in the Southern Scuffle. They took 13th and 9th respectively each day. Wrestling has won its last two matches against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. and Utah Valley in Orem, UT. Wyoming is now ranked 18 in the nation and has an overall record of 6-3.
There you have it. Five weeks worth of sports all condensed into one article. Not to mention the fact that football is in full recruitment mode and has multiple verbal commitments thus far. Congratulations on making it to the spring semester, and this sports season looks to be filled with unmatched potential.
