Fans and students alike filed into the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Jan. 22 to cheer on Wyoming Cowboys wrestling in their dual against the #22 Oregon State Beavers.
Head Wrestling Coach Mark Branch said in a previous interview, “This is a tough team that beat us in a very tight Reno tournament and its senior night and we need to show our fans exactly what type of team we are and compete Cowboy Tough.”
The Cowboys recorded 3 victories out of the 10 bouts, with wins from Junior Cole Moody, Senior Hayden Hastings, and Junior Stephen Buchanan.
Ranked 20, Moody won by decision against OSU’s Lane Stigall 6-2. #12 Hastings won by decision over #26 Mateo Olmos, 7-3 and #7 Buchanan won by pinfall over Ryan Reyes (4:23).
While five Cowboy wrestlers came into the dual ranked within the top 25, the Oregon State Beavers took the first five bouts from the Cowboys, resulting in a team score of 16-0.
It wasn’t until the 165 pound bout that the Pokes were able to secure a victory from #20 ranked Cole Moody.
He won in a decision over OSU’s Lane Stigall 6-2 and provided the Cowboys 3 points as OSU remained at 16.
Although Moody got in on the legs of Stigall in the first period, he was unable to score a takedown.
In the second period, Oregon St. deferred their choice and Moody chose bottom. He quickly escaped for a point and turned around to shoot in on Stigall.
A controversial no-call from the referee led to Head Coach Mark Branch challenging the call leading to a reversal and earning Moody 2 points with a score of 3-0.
A speedy escape from Stigall changed the score to 3-1 as the wrestlers faced off again in neutral.
Going into the third period the score was 3-1, as Stigall chose the bottom position. After a speedy escape from Stigall the score was 3-2.
An explosive double leg shot from Moody resulted in a 2 point takedown tallying the score 5-2. Moody then rode out Stigall as the final seconds of the clock ran out.
Two Cowboy wrestlers took their matches into overtime. Senior Jacob Wright at 157 and Junior Terren Swartz at 285 both fell to their opponents in overtime.
#11 157 pounder Wright took on number #17 Willit’s. It was slow action in the first action with neither wrestler being able to gain an edge on the other.
As the second period began, Wright opted for the bottom position and quickly escaped for a point and a score of 1-0.
Going into the third period, Willits chose bottom and after some scrambling reversed Wright for 2 points. With 1:31 left in the third the score was 2-1 as Wright fell behind.
A quick escape off the whistle for Wright tied the score 2-2 with a little over a minute remaining in the match. With no points being scored for the remainder of the period the match went into its first overtime.
With no points being scored in the first overtime, the two wrestlers went into double overtime.
Willits chose the bottom position, with Wright on top. An explosive scramble resulted in a point for Willits resulting in a score of 3-2
In the remaining 30 seconds, Wright chose bottom and quickly escaped. As the period drew to an end, Willits pulled ahead earning a point for riding time and ending the match 4-3.
#10 Gary Traub for Oregon State took on Wyoming’s Terren Swartz in the 285 bout.
The first period saw little action outside of hand fighting and as the period came to a close the score was 0-0.
Traub took bottom to begin the second period and although Swartz rode hard, Traub managed to escape gaining the lead 1-0.
In the third period, Swartz chose bottom but Traub opted for a neutral position which gave him the escape point. Tied 1-1, the two were standing again, each trying to gain the takedown on the other.
A series of shot attempts and roll throughs led to some fan favorite action, but no points were scored. With a minute left in the match, the swin was up in the air.
As regular time ran out, the 285 bout went into sudden victory. After a minute of action Traub shot in on Swartz but a defensive sprawl for Swartz led to a stalemate call.
With 17 seconds left in the match, Swartz shot in on Traub, but was stopped by a sprawl move and was unable to defend the takedown by Traub. The match ended with a score of 3-1.
The Cowboys look to bounce back on Saturday, Jan. 22 against Utah Valley University.
