Americans
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 15, 2018) – Heading into his 11th season at the helm of the Wyoming wrestling program,
Mark Branch has experienced a decade's worth of moments since arriving in Laramie. During the offseason, GoWyo.com sat down with Branch as he counted down his top-10 favorite moments over his first 10 years leading the Cowboys. Today, we break down Nos. 3 and 4.
No. 4: Cowboys Win WWC Title on Home Mat
Winning conference titles are special, but winning them in front of your home fans is even more so.
The quest for four-straight NCAA West Regional team titles came down to the final matches in 2013 in Laramie, as the Wyoming wrestling team battled hard to claim the team championship.
In front of 1,155 fans in the Arena-Auditorium, UW clawed back from an 11-point Session I deficit and came alive in the finals to total 79 team points, three points better than second-place North Dakota State. The Cowboys, with all 10 wrestlers in the consolation and championship finals, won nine of 10 bouts, but got some assistance from Utah Valley's heavyweight to keep NDSU out of the team lead in the last scoring bout.
The win marked four-consecutive West Regional victories for Wyoming and head coach
Mark Branch. The event also served as the Western Wrestling Conference Championship. After Wyoming and North Dakota State, Utah Valley was third (70), Air Force was fourth and South Dakota State was fifth with 16.5 points.
Four Cowboys won their weight class, including senior
McCade Ford at 141 pounds, senior L.J. Helbig at 174, sophomore Shane Woods at 184 and senior Alfonso Hernandez at 197, who won for the second-straight year. Two other UW grapplers are headed to nationals, including sophomore Brandon Richardson (third at 149) and sophomore Tyler Cox, who was third at 125. The six qualifiers represent the same total from 2011 and 2012. Nine Cowboys placed third or better in the event.
From Coach Branch:
"That was our first and last time to host the conference championship in my tenure. There was a lot going on and we were the defending champions, but North Dakota State had edged us out and were the favorites heading into that tournament. They really wrestled well and had us on the ropes, so even though we were at home and in a great environment, things looked pretty dismal going into that last session.
"I remember going back and meeting right before that last session, and I probably just had a false sense of confidence, but I knew mathematically we were still in it and knew we had to be almost perfect. So I went in and told them that's what we were going to do. We were going to be perfect and win every single match and win this thing. We almost did. We had some pretty crazy matches, and won 10 of our final 12 matches and squeaked it out.
"I think the nail in the coffin was Shane Woods winning his first conference title and upsetting a ranked guy—a guy that he had never beat from North Dakota State. It was just total elation to watch my guys celebrate the way they did. I've probably never seen a team celebrate like they did. It was super exciting.
"We were all over the front of the
Boomerang the next day, and I got pulled over for speeding. I didn't have my license or insurance and I just got a 'good luck'. So that was kind of a funny thing because we were all over the paper so I got a free pass that next morning. It was awesome, and as far as conference championships go, that was definitely my favorite."
No.3: Meredith and Bridges Take All-America Honors in Cleveland
The Cowboys returned from Cleveland last March with two All-Americans—one in second-time national finalist
Bryce Meredith (his third honor at 141 pounds) and another in first-time All-American
Montorie Bridges.
It was the second trip to the finals for Cheyenne native Meredith, as he finished second as a sophomore in 2016. Meredith also became just the fourth grappler in program history to accumulate three of more All-American honors in their careers.
He now joins Ballinger (1958-60), Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc (2009-12) in the exclusive club.
Bridges capped off his redshirt freshman season with an eighth-place finish at the tournament. The All-American became just the second Cowboy to earn the distinction in his freshman season. In the medal round, Bridges fell to two-time All-American and No. 6 Scott Parker of Lehigh, 5-2.
On his way to the seventh-place match, Bridges beat Ben Thornton of Purdue, No. 9 Dennis Gustafson (VaTech), and No. 5 John Erneste (Mizzou) in his first NCAA Championships. He is one of four Cowboys to wrestle at Nationals at 133 pounds and the only one with more than one win.
Bridges joined Joe LeBlanc as the only freshmen to earn All-American honors in their first season. LeBlanc (184 pounds) did so in 2009 when he finished in fifth place. LeBlanc is also UW's only four-time All-American.
It was a successful trip to the Land for the team as well, as the Cowboys wrapped up the weekend tied with Minnesota and Wisconsin for 17th place (27.5 points), and finished off the season with a fourth-place finish at Big 12s, two Big 12 champions, and two All-Americans. It was the 20th top-25 finish and third in a row for the Brown and Gold, as well as the best finish under Branch.
From Coach Branch:
"To have another top-20 finish and to have multiple All-Americans, that's what it's about. I think what made it special, not only Bryce getting into the finals again, but as a head coach you pack a suit going to NCAA's because you want to wear it Saturday night. To be able to do that again with Bryce was very special. Also to show the wrestling community and our fans that we're not done.
"When you have your second freshman All-American come in, Montorie was really a difference-maker in our season last year. It was great to see him get up on that podium. It gave us a sense of continuation--that we aren't going to stop here.
"When you lose a wrestler like Bryce, those are tough shoes to fill, but you realize we have a bright future ahead of us, and that's easy to see. Anytime you have multiple All-Americans, you know you're going to have a strong tournament.
"Our next goal is to have three or four All-Americans and move into that top 10, but those things culminated to finish the season as one of the most special seasons of my career."
