The Wyoming Cowboys headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma this past weekend to compete in the Big 12 Wrestling Championships. Garrett Ricks, Stockton O’Brien, Cole Brooks, Gabe Willochell, Jared Hill, Cooper Voorhees, Riley Davis, Eddie Neitenbach, Joey Novak, and Sam Mitchell all made the trip. The team took 10th place, with 5 wrestlers earning bids to the NCAA Championships on March 20, and 1 athlete being sent as an alternate.
The competition took place over two days, with a primary and consolation bracket, meaning each wrestler had at least two matches before being eliminated. If kicked to the consolation bracket early, a wrestler could still make a run and finish in 3rd place.
Unfortunately for Ricks and O’Brien, their bids came to an early close on Saturday, both going 0-2 in Tulsa. Additionally, Voorhees and Davis were only able to pick up 1 win a piece, also bringing their seasons to an end.
“I don’t think we wrestled our best,” said head coach Mark Branch in an interview with Wyoming Athletics after Saturday’s slew of matches.
The 6 other Cowboys were able to move on to Sunday’s showdowns, with all 6 placing in the top ten in their respective weight classes.
Novak, Willochell, and Brooks each did enough to podium on Sunday, and while their NCAA status was still up in the air after leaving the arena, all three will be making the trip to Nationals. After waiting a long two days to see if they would receive an at-large bid to the tournament, Novak and Willochell got those spots, and Brooks will be operating as an alternate. Brooks is first up for his weight class for any other wrestler who is unable to compete due to injury or not making weight.
Mitchell, Hill, and Neitenbach didn’t have to wait, however, all punching tickets to the championships. Hill won two straight consolation matches and the fifth-place match to secure his spot. Meanwhile, Neitenbach went on a run in the 184 weight class and finished in a comfortable 4th place. Finally, Sam Mitchell earned a gutsy victory in the consolation bracket to head to the 3rd place match, where he would also finish in 4th.
Coach Branch was happy for his qualifiers but still believed that there was more for his team to give.
“We have to get better between now and the NCAAs,” he said. “It wasn’t consistent enough…we have to refocus on how we want to compete. We have to be on the attack.”
For Wyoming, this is an improvement from last year’s campaign– where they sent only 3 Cowboys to the final tournament of the season. Willochell and Novak will return to Nationals after continued success, both punching their tickets after representing Wyoming last year.
Missing from last year’s group will be Jore Volk, who put together an incredible run in the tournament last year, earning the title of All-American, but an injury this season made him opt to medically redshirt until next fall.
Coach Branch believes that all 6 Pokes heading to the tournament will have work to do ahead of Nationals, but they will have a short break before it’s time to prove their ability. The championship will kick off from Philadelphia on March 20 and run until March 22.
