University of Wyoming Athletics

Pokes Conclude Action at UNC Open

Wrestling 11/13/2016 9:19:00 PM

GREELEY, Colo. (Nov. 13, 2016) – The University of Wyoming Cowboy wrestling team brought home five individual titles from the Northern Colorado Open on Sunday. It was the second-consecutive week the Pokes had multiple champions, as they also claimed five titles at last weekend's Cowboy Open.

"Our guys did well today," UW head coach Mark Branch said. "There was definitely improvement from last week, but like any open tournament we did have our ups and downs. I was impressed with having 17 of our 25 guys place today. We would have had more if weren't for our own guys competing against each other. I liked that we had a lot of bonus points and we also had a few guys dominate. For it being the second weekend, that was great to see. With our dual season ahead, we still have areas to improve on but somethings don't happen in one week. We will be ready to get back to work as we want to continue to improve."

Senior Gunnar Woodburn, junior Bryce Meredith, senior Cole Mendenhall, junior Archie Colgan and sophomore Branson Ashworth cruised through the tournament with perfect records to take the individual titles. Ashworth also won the 149-pound championship at the UNC Open last season.

Woodburn used two pins and two major decisions to claim the 125-pound championship. He won by major decision (8-0) over Josiah Seaton (CSU - Pueblo) in the finals. Junior Ronnie Stevens took third at the 125 weight class. He won by decision (8-3) over Alec Opsal (Air Force) in the third-place match.

Freshman Montorie Bridges led the 133 weight class for UW. He took second place for the Pokes and went 3-1 on the day, as he fell by decision (11-5) to Rico Montoya (UNC) in the finals.

Meredith had three pins in Greeley to claim the 141-pound title. In the finals, Meredith won by fall (6:03) over Timmy Box (UNC) to take the championship. Redshirt freshman Ben Hornickle placed third at the 141 weight. In the third-place match, Hornickle won by decision (9-3) over John Twomey (Air Force).

Mendenhall continued his tear after a tremendous weekend at the Cowboy Open. He won the 149-pound championship with a tech fall over Benjamin Polkowske (UNC), after defeating Landon Knutzen (Utah Valley) by tech fall (17-1) in the semifinals. Senior Jake Elliott went 5-1 on the day to take third place in the 149-pound bracket.

Colgan defeated teammate redshirt freshman Dewey Krueger in the 157 finals. Colgan won by decision (11-4) to take the title. Ashworth went 5-0 which included one pin and major decision and two tech falls at the UNC Open to take the 165 championship. He won by tech fall over Tyler Wiederholt (Air Force), after defeating teammate Kyle Pope by major decision (12-3) in the semifinals.

Junior Luke Paine led the 184 weight group by taking second place. He fell to Dylan Gabel (UNC) by decision (5-1) in the finals for Wyoming. Nate Shaw took third place going 4-2 during the day, as Wesley Schultz went 2-2 at the UNC Open.

Redshirt freshman Cody Vigoren finished in third place going 5-1 in the 197 weight class. He won by fall (6:11) over Jareb Aziz (CMU) in the third-place match, as senior Brandon Tribble went 2-2 on the day. Redshirt sophomore Sam Eagan took third in the heavyweight class for the Brown and Gold. He finished with a 5-1 record that included two pins. During the third-place match, Eagan won in a tie breaker over Jack Kuck (UNC).

The Cowboy's open the dual portion of their schedule by hosting Nebraska on Nov. 20. The dual will begin at 3:30 p.m. MT in the UniWyo Sports Complex.

Cowboy Results at the UNC Open

125:

Gunnar Woodburn: 5-0 – 1st place

Ronnie Stevens: 6-1 – 3rd place

Drake Foster: 3-2

Doyle Trout: 2-2

133:

Montorie Bridges: 3-1 – 2nd place

Trent Olson: 5-2 - 4thace

Max Stevens: 2-2

141:

Bryce Meredith: 5-0 – 1st place