Hey Wyoming Wrestling Fans!
Sorry for the delay in writing the blog this week. For this blog I will focus on the Joey Novak match and the controversy as well as the WWCC dual; though I must admit I did not catch a lot of it due to streaming issues at the gym.
Joey Novak
For the second year in a row, Wyoming has sent a wrestler to the NWCA All-Star classic. Novak is a returning AA (5th place) and faced off against Stephen Little from Ark-Little Rock. Little bested Novak his FR year, however Novak, got his revenge last March. One thing I noticed last year after his first lost at NCAA was that Novak seemed not to be the aggressor, but his magical run in the consolation brackets he controlled the pressure, and guys could not keep up. I was expecting to see that for this match, but Novak was not the attacker often and looked for counter’s as Little kept trying to push. Something to note is Novak is Greco Champion at Fargo so a guy pushing on him can lead to big points.
This match would head to SV and Little was gassed this is where I thought Novak was going to hammer down and it appeared he had a late takedown. The ref said no, but Coach Ashworth threw the brick to challenge the call. Unfortunately, the ref would return with a potentially dangerous call on a headlock and give a point to Little, thus Little would win the match 2-1. Coach Branch explained on X that the headlock was illegal in Freestyle, but not in Folkstyle; other respected coaches commented similarly. Now this match is not going to make or break his season, but Joey should have pressed action earlier in my opinion his gas tank would burn most 97s out.
WWCC
Kudos to WWCC team for getting a stream going eventually but the camera angle was from the rafters. I spoke to a few people who attended the dual in person echoed much of the same that Wyoming conditioning just overpowered WWCC late in matches. Wyoming did not wrestle their main 165 (Sloan Swan) in the dual. Instead, they opted for Brett McIntosh at 165 and Seamus Casey, normally at 165, at 184; Neitenbach filled in at 197. Wyoming would go on to win the dual 39-7. 133 and 149 appears to have competition at those weights and expect a dual lineup in flux early in the season to see if any freshmen make their mark. During my interview with Coach Ford he highlighted both Luke Willochel and Lane Foard.
What’s Next
Wyoming heads to the National Duals Nov 15-16 in Tulsa. Their opening draw is against #4 Ohio State and their next match would be against Virginia Tech/Minnesota. Not too long ago Wyoming took down a #4 NCST team with two key pins from Cole Verner and Brian Andrews. Can we see that same spark again?
Other Notes
Be sure to follow Adam Engel on X (@AdamEngel9) as he has some great stories up from media day.
Ryan Thorburn on X (@By_RyanThorburn) has an interview up with Coach Branch and Joey Novak. His podcast name is One Wyoming Podcast
Be sure to also follow Keith Kelley (@kfbcsportszone) as he frequently has Wyoming Wrestlers on his show
Sorry for the delay in writing the blog this week. For this blog I will focus on the Joey Novak match and the controversy as well as the WWCC dual; though I must admit I did not catch a lot of it due to streaming issues at the gym.
Joey Novak
For the second year in a row, Wyoming has sent a wrestler to the NWCA All-Star classic. Novak is a returning AA (5th place) and faced off against Stephen Little from Ark-Little Rock. Little bested Novak his FR year, however Novak, got his revenge last March. One thing I noticed last year after his first lost at NCAA was that Novak seemed not to be the aggressor, but his magical run in the consolation brackets he controlled the pressure, and guys could not keep up. I was expecting to see that for this match, but Novak was not the attacker often and looked for counter’s as Little kept trying to push. Something to note is Novak is Greco Champion at Fargo so a guy pushing on him can lead to big points.
This match would head to SV and Little was gassed this is where I thought Novak was going to hammer down and it appeared he had a late takedown. The ref said no, but Coach Ashworth threw the brick to challenge the call. Unfortunately, the ref would return with a potentially dangerous call on a headlock and give a point to Little, thus Little would win the match 2-1. Coach Branch explained on X that the headlock was illegal in Freestyle, but not in Folkstyle; other respected coaches commented similarly. Now this match is not going to make or break his season, but Joey should have pressed action earlier in my opinion his gas tank would burn most 97s out.
WWCC
Kudos to WWCC team for getting a stream going eventually but the camera angle was from the rafters. I spoke to a few people who attended the dual in person echoed much of the same that Wyoming conditioning just overpowered WWCC late in matches. Wyoming did not wrestle their main 165 (Sloan Swan) in the dual. Instead, they opted for Brett McIntosh at 165 and Seamus Casey, normally at 165, at 184; Neitenbach filled in at 197. Wyoming would go on to win the dual 39-7. 133 and 149 appears to have competition at those weights and expect a dual lineup in flux early in the season to see if any freshmen make their mark. During my interview with Coach Ford he highlighted both Luke Willochel and Lane Foard.
What’s Next
Wyoming heads to the National Duals Nov 15-16 in Tulsa. Their opening draw is against #4 Ohio State and their next match would be against Virginia Tech/Minnesota. Not too long ago Wyoming took down a #4 NCST team with two key pins from Cole Verner and Brian Andrews. Can we see that same spark again?
Other Notes
Be sure to follow Adam Engel on X (@AdamEngel9) as he has some great stories up from media day.
Ryan Thorburn on X (@By_RyanThorburn) has an interview up with Coach Branch and Joey Novak. His podcast name is One Wyoming Podcast
Be sure to also follow Keith Kelley (@kfbcsportszone) as he frequently has Wyoming Wrestlers on his show
