Just like that, we are into the final weekend of the season. A lot of unknowns at the beginning of the season and a lot of different starting line-ups. In 2021, Wyoming finished 1-10 in duals and had a different starting lineup for each dual; I am aware of how many different lineups they had this year but finished 7-1 in Big12 duals. Talk about growth from the team and coaching staff.
Wyoming had four automatic qualifiers (Gabe Willochell, Riley Davis, Eddie Neitenbach, Joey Novak) and two at-large bids (Luke Willochell and Christian Carroll). This is the most since the 2021 NCAA tournament where Wyoming brought 8 qualifiers. I believe this team can finish higher with less wrestlers; this is not a knock on the 2021 team as they paved the way for these Cowboys.
The brackets will be released tomorrow at 8pm EST on ncaa.com; I tried to find a link for their live stream but failed. You can, however, head over to WyoNation YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@WyoNation) or the X (@WyoNationDotCom) to check out a podcast covering general Wyoming sports but a focus this week on Wyoming Wrestling.
My assumption is Top-10 seeds for Eddie and Joey, Carroll a Top-15, with Gabe, Luke, and Riley in the 20-29 range. I must say the 149 bracket will be open for Gabe to make a run compared to other weight classes. I have received a lot of questions regarding Carroll and the Big 12 tournament; I think it was a bad tournament for him. ***This is just my opinion*** Carroll looked gassed in the matches which is/was out of character for him. Just felt like he may have gotten too hyped for competition and drained himself before even competing. That is certainly a danger and something younger athletes' reading should consider. Don’t blast Metallica an hour before competition, keep your breathing and heart rate low with something mellow I prefer Last of the Mohicans but dealers' choice. Metallica comes right before the match! Eddie, Joey and Carroll will want matches back from Big 12 and foresee them taking one match at a time with their best effort in Cleveland.
Before Big 12 I brought up the run that Sam Mitchell made last year to qualify. Gabe and Riley made their own Sam run this year. I don’t think Gabe was fairly ranked, but he had to place 5th or higher to qualify since an at-large was probably out of reach. Gabe had to make it dramatic by losing the consi-semi but comes back and nearly tech’s the 4-seed and a Top-15 wrestler to qualify. Riley made his own run and a solid SV win to qualify; I don’t think that smile could have gotten any bigger after his victory against UVU. I would not be concerned that he MFF out after that. Very little to continue wrestling after being qualified.
This past weekend I made a solid observation after the Joey Novak match against Cody Merrill that the OSU fans near the mat and the fans booing above were out of line. Now I first want to apologize to the older OSU fans you love Coach Branch and the Wyoming Cowboys who lived through “stuggling” days in their program but continued to support our Cowboys every match. With every success, however, you get fans up in their feelings and throwing hissy fits in the comments section or my DMs. Listen the AI image was a joke, and not garbage, my son likes to create them with me and generally the one he laughs hardest at is the one we post for the week. For you new OSU Cowboy Wrestling fans don’t be the Charmin Cowboys (soft) take a joke or go touch some grass. One comment I did chuckle at was th real Cowboys are south; buddy our logo is of a REAL Cowboy riding a REAL Bronco so real Cowboys are in Wyoming being harder than Woodpecker Lips. I wonder if Birds Unlimited would NIL Wyoming? Anyway my son helped with AI again this week so ENJOY!
Wrestling starts next Thursday and will be streamed on ESPN+. Be sure to check back frequently for updates!
Wyoming had four automatic qualifiers (Gabe Willochell, Riley Davis, Eddie Neitenbach, Joey Novak) and two at-large bids (Luke Willochell and Christian Carroll). This is the most since the 2021 NCAA tournament where Wyoming brought 8 qualifiers. I believe this team can finish higher with less wrestlers; this is not a knock on the 2021 team as they paved the way for these Cowboys.
The brackets will be released tomorrow at 8pm EST on ncaa.com; I tried to find a link for their live stream but failed. You can, however, head over to WyoNation YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@WyoNation) or the X (@WyoNationDotCom) to check out a podcast covering general Wyoming sports but a focus this week on Wyoming Wrestling.
My assumption is Top-10 seeds for Eddie and Joey, Carroll a Top-15, with Gabe, Luke, and Riley in the 20-29 range. I must say the 149 bracket will be open for Gabe to make a run compared to other weight classes. I have received a lot of questions regarding Carroll and the Big 12 tournament; I think it was a bad tournament for him. ***This is just my opinion*** Carroll looked gassed in the matches which is/was out of character for him. Just felt like he may have gotten too hyped for competition and drained himself before even competing. That is certainly a danger and something younger athletes' reading should consider. Don’t blast Metallica an hour before competition, keep your breathing and heart rate low with something mellow I prefer Last of the Mohicans but dealers' choice. Metallica comes right before the match! Eddie, Joey and Carroll will want matches back from Big 12 and foresee them taking one match at a time with their best effort in Cleveland.
Before Big 12 I brought up the run that Sam Mitchell made last year to qualify. Gabe and Riley made their own Sam run this year. I don’t think Gabe was fairly ranked, but he had to place 5th or higher to qualify since an at-large was probably out of reach. Gabe had to make it dramatic by losing the consi-semi but comes back and nearly tech’s the 4-seed and a Top-15 wrestler to qualify. Riley made his own run and a solid SV win to qualify; I don’t think that smile could have gotten any bigger after his victory against UVU. I would not be concerned that he MFF out after that. Very little to continue wrestling after being qualified.
This past weekend I made a solid observation after the Joey Novak match against Cody Merrill that the OSU fans near the mat and the fans booing above were out of line. Now I first want to apologize to the older OSU fans you love Coach Branch and the Wyoming Cowboys who lived through “stuggling” days in their program but continued to support our Cowboys every match. With every success, however, you get fans up in their feelings and throwing hissy fits in the comments section or my DMs. Listen the AI image was a joke, and not garbage, my son likes to create them with me and generally the one he laughs hardest at is the one we post for the week. For you new OSU Cowboy Wrestling fans don’t be the Charmin Cowboys (soft) take a joke or go touch some grass. One comment I did chuckle at was th real Cowboys are south; buddy our logo is of a REAL Cowboy riding a REAL Bronco so real Cowboys are in Wyoming being harder than Woodpecker Lips. I wonder if Birds Unlimited would NIL Wyoming? Anyway my son helped with AI again this week so ENJOY!
Wrestling starts next Thursday and will be streamed on ESPN+. Be sure to check back frequently for updates!
