Pokes Wrestling Schedule

Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:00 pm

It has been discussed before but I just looked at flowrestling team rankings and WOW! WY has duals against #1. Minn., #9. Nebraska and #10. Oklahoma State. To put this in perspective, if this were football, WY would be playing Florida State, Oklahoma, Arizona, TCU (depending on poll). I know the Pokes won't win all these, and maybe not any of them, but I also know they will bloody some noses and compete against these teams. They won't get embarrassed.

Mon Oct 06, 2014 2:41 pm

Good to see that they're showing they can play with the big boys! We're a legit top 25 wrestling program. No reason we shouldn't be scheduling these duels.

Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:46 am

I did some research on the teams they dual. The teams on their schedule have 36 NCAA qualifiers combined. Of those, 11 of them are 2X NCAA qualifiers and nine of them are 3X qualifiers. Nebraska leads the way with seven returning qualifiers, Oregon State has six, and Minnesota and Oklahoma State have five apiece.

There are 12 returning All-Americans. Five of them are 2X All-Americans and three of them are 3X All-Americans. Minnesota returns five All-Americans (two 2X, and two 3X) which probably justifies their number one preseason ranking. Oklahoma State has three and Nebraska has two returning All-Americans.

Minnesota will bring one 2X NCAA finalist to the dual and Oklahoma State has two wrestlers that were finalists last year.

Wyoming has a solid team with six NCAA qualifiers on the roster. Tyler Cox and Shane Woods each qualified two times with Cox earning All-American honors in the 2012-13 season. Others that have qualified are Benjamin Stroh, Brandon Richardson, Andy McCulley, and Dakota Friesth. Archie Colgan could have a breakout year like Stroh did last year, but he'll have a tough time getting into the starting line-up at the same weight class as Richardson. Maybe one of them can drop down to 149 during the season. Drew Templeman impressed last year as a Freshman before his injury shortened his season. Cole Mendenhall had a great freshman year and looks to build off of that. Tanner Harms has looked good when in the lineup but he too has been plagued with injuries in the past.

If this team can stay healthy and continue to improve, they could really make waves nationally. Considering the schedule they have, they don't have a choice.

Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:59 pm

Anyone in the loop know what happened to Zach Beard? He redshirted last year, but is MIA in all of the official UW wrestling publications? He is arguably the best recruit in UW wrestling history.

Tue Oct 07, 2014 3:33 pm

I was wondering the same thing earlier LP. No sign of him on the UW website and nothing through a Google search. His last post on Twitter was in June or July and his photo on there still has him wearing a Wyoming hat, so it remains a mystery at this point.

Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:52 pm

WestWYOPoke wrote:I was wondering the same thing earlier LP. No sign of him on the UW website and nothing through a Google search. His last post on Twitter was in June or July and his photo on there still has him wearing a Wyoming hat, so it remains a mystery at this point.

Luke Paine?

Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:32 pm

LP=Lander Poke

Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:55 pm

WestWYOPoke wrote:LP=Lander Poke

Ha ha. Sorry. gotcha

Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:13 am

You would think there would start being some press from the school on the upcoming season and how this years team is shaping up.

Fri Oct 17, 2014 4:41 pm

Zach Beard is no longer on the team and so is Cub Yeager. What happened with both these recruits? Both are back in Oklahoma and Zach is a stud. 28-02 record last year. Coach/recruit problem? Pendleton moving on?