The Cowboy wrestling team competed in the NCAA Championships over the weekend with last year’s NCAA finalist and All-American, Bryce Meredith, shining again this year. The four other wrestlers wrestled tough, but weren’t able to get into the metal rounds.
Meredith became just the seventh Poke to earn All-American honors at least twice in a career, and just the first to earn the distinction in two-consecutive years since Alfonso Hernandez in 2012-13. Meredith earned fourth place after losing to former teammate Kevin Jack of NC State by fall at minute 6:55.
The two-time All-American ended another tremendous campaign with a 32-8 record for the Brown and Gold.
“I thought Bryce (Meredith) wrestled extremely well,” head coach Mark Branch said. “It was a dangerous position, but it’s a good teaching point for all our guys. He did great and just like most sports, crazy things can happen. It doesn’t change the way I feel about how our guys showed up here in St. Louis. Just like last year, we came to wrestle. I’m proud of how all the guys wrestled. It’s so must more satisfying to be able to walk away with that All-American plaque.”
Wyoming finished tied with Rider for 21st with 20 total team points. It was the 19th top-25 finish for the Brown and Gold at the NCAA Championships.
“We know we have to build to where we are at,” Branch said. “The goal is always to bring ten guys to Nationals. Drew (Templeman) and Cole (Mendenhall) will be missed and I am proud of how they competed. There are high expectations as always, but we know we’ll have to get back to fixing things. We’ll get better from this weekend and it’s pretty exciting to have some to build off of.”
On the second day of the Championships, junior Archie Colgan shined for the Cowboys. He picked up two wins in the morning session to advance to the blood round against Paul Fox of Stanford. Senior Drew Templeman was the third and final Poke to pick up a win on Friday morning. Templeman ran away with a 10-2 major Jake Gromacki of Clarion.
In the match against seventh-seeded Seth Russell of Edinboro, Templeman scored right away to open the second period, but Russell had back-to-back takedowns to take a 4-1 lead in the third period. Templeman would go on and secure another escape but Russell clamed the match, 4-2. The senior ended his career for the Cowboys as a two-time NCAA qualifier with three wins at Nationals and 62 career victories.
For Colgan, in the blood round of 12 on Friday night, it came down to a tiebreaker, but Fox would hold on for the 5-4 decesion over Colgan. The Westminster, Colorado, native scored a takedown in the first period for an early lead but was unable to get much after that. Fox used a takedown and three escape for the win. Colgan, who qualified for Nationals for the first time in his career, ended his junior season with a 36-10 record.
In Ashworth’s consolation match on Friday morning, the redshirt sophomore was able to score first with an escape in the second period before Joseph Gunther of Iowa came right back with a takedown for a 2-1 advantage. Gunther added a takedown and a two-point nearfall in the final period to Ashworth’s escape. The Spanish Fork, Utah, native and first time NCAA qualifier ended the year with a 36-9 record.
“All the guys have their all, I am extremely proud of the way they wrestled,” Branch said.
Senior Cole Mendenhall lost to Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State in the first round by major decision, 11-2. Mendenhall came back with a victory on Thursday night as he defeated Sam Krivus of Virginia, 4-1. Then the senior’s career came to an end when he lost of Friday morning to Jordan Laster of Princeton, 6-4.
The Cowboys have concluded their season and will look to better themselves in the offseason for next season.
