LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 16, 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 round out the list and break down Nos. 1 and 2.
No. 2: Joe LeBlanc Becomes Program's First Freshman All-American
The season ended for the University of Wyoming Cowboy wrestling team on Saturday morning at the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., but not before there was another All-American to add to the list of Cowboy greats.
Wyoming redshirt freshman Joe LeBlanc placed fifth at 184 pounds, becoming the first All-American in 13 years for UW's wrestling program and the 24th in school history. LeBlanc was 1-1 on Saturday, 5-2 overall at the NCAA Tournament and his only two losses came at the hands of top-three finishers.
LeBlanc was UW's first freshman All-American in program history, as well as the Pokes' first All-American in wrestling since 1996 when Brent Voorhees (seventh), Brandon Alderman (sixth) and Reese Andy (second) all earned the distinction. The five wins by LeBlanc at the NCAA Tournament was also the highest number for the Cowboy program since 1996 when Voorhees was 5-2.
LeBlanc matched-up with the event's No. 7 seed Doug Umbehauer from Rider in his first match on Saturday morning. The winner of the match would compete for third and fourth place, while the loser would wrestle for fifth and sixth.
It was a high-scoring, overtime affair with 24 points scored between the two, however, LeBlanc would come out on the losing end by a final of 13-11. LeBlanc used a takedown and nearfall in the first period to lead 5-2 after the first three minutes. He then added to that lead in the second with two escapes and another takedown for a 9-5 advantage heading into the final period. In the third, LeBlanc managed only two escapes and a riding time point, while Umbehauer racked up two takedowns and a nearfall to take the match into sudden victory overtime. In sudden victory, Umbehauer wasted no time getting to LeBlanc's legs and ending the match with a takedown, 13-11.
Umbehauer would go on to take third place later in the day by beating Iowa's Phil Keddy. LeBlanc's only other loss of the tournament came to the No. 1 seed from Northwestern, Jake Herbert, who has cruised through his half of the bracket and will wrestle Saturday night for the title.
LeBlanc had to recover from the heart-breaking loss to Umbehauer quickly, as he had a brief two-hour rest period before meeting No. 12 seed Vince Jones of Nebraska to decide fifth and sixth place. The two had met earlier this season at the Las Vegas Invitational with LeBlanc winning a 9-7 sudden victory overtime decision.
In what would be his final match of the season, LeBlanc dominated from beginning to end. He took Jones down 45 seconds into the match and then earned another takedown with only ten seconds remaining in the first period. Leading 4-1, LeBlanc chose to start the second period on bottom and promptly earned an escape point to take a 5-1 margin into the third period. He gave up only one escape during the final period, adding a takedown, a stalling point and a riding time point to win 9-2.
He finished the season with a record of 45-8 which tied for third place on UW's single-season victories list with Wes Gasner, who had 45 wins during the 1983-84 season.
That season would of course be only the first page of Wyoming wrestling history written by LeBlanc, as the Cowboy went on to win three more All-America honors and become the first four-time All-American in school history.
From Coach Branch:
"I think there was a rejuvenation and a new energy (my first year here). I didn't know what I was doing as a head coach, but I had a room full of guys that were buying in and were energized. I had some young, talented guys, and I didn't know who Joe LeBlanc was when I got here. He wasn't highly recruited out of small-town Meeker, Colo. He actually had a pretty poor record as a redshirt.
"So, I'm trying to get to know my team when I take this job, and I overlook him real quick. I'm looking for my guys that I can kind of build around and his name really didn't get thrown in there. Really, he was one of the most energized guys and it didn't take long to see the confidence that he had, the competitor that he was. He tried to win everything, every situation, every go. Everything we did in the wrestling room, he was trying to be the best. Everybody said it was a complete flip from where he had been as a redshirt freshman.
"You saw that potential, and he had a couple of big wins early in the season that really got us excited, but when you go 13 years without doing something, it starts to look impossible to those guys and you start to wonder if it's ever going to happen again.
"It was monumental, not only as a freshman, but to break that streak that this program had really paved the way for everything that's happened since. Not only being the first freshman All-American but being the first four-time All-American, leading the program in career wins. Joe left his stamp on the program for good."
No. 1: Meredith Shines on the Big Stage at Madison Square Garden
In 2016,
Bryce Meredith became the first Cowboy to make the NCAA finals since Reese Andy in 1996, and he did so under the bright lights of historic Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Seeded 14
th, Meredith fell to the top-seeded Heil by decision 3-2. In a match between Big 12 Foes, Heil scored the only takedown of the match in the first period. Meredith earned a pair of escapes and Heil added an escape to make the match 3-2 late in the third period. Meredith nearly picked up a fall in the third, but fell just short earning runner-up honors.
Meredith finished the season with a 29-5 record becoming the 32nd All-American selection in Cowboy history and the ninth under head coach
Mark Branch. He is also is the eighth All-American from the state of Wyoming and the third equality state native to earn a spot in the finals. His match tonight marked the eighth time in school history that a UW wrestler has wrestled in the finals.
As a team, the Cowboys finished 18th in the team standings with 24.5 points. It is the 18th time in school history the Cowboys have finished in the Top-25 at the NCAA Championship. It was the Pokes' highest finish as well as the third top-25 finish under head coach
Mark Branch. It was the best team finish for UW since finishing 15th in 1996.
From Coach Branch:
"I don't know that you sit there and think about him being in the finals or being a national champion, but that season (leading up to NCAA's), Bryce only had four losses. We all felt like he was disrespected and like we were disrespected because he had a solid season and didn't really have any bad losses. You felt like he kind of got slighted a little bit.
"Bryce was so solid for us that year and brought so much spark and energy to our team that you knew he was capable of doing some great things, but that was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments that you might get to experience where things just keep falling into place. He kept making magic moments happen match after match.
"That was my first national finalist, even though we had been close a couple of times. Like I said, you pack a suit for a reason and for seven or eight years, I took a suit to NCAA's and it never made it out of the closet. That's frustrating coming from a program like Oklahoma State where I wore it every year. Finally, I go 'It's time. It's time to step out there. I don't have to sit up in the stands on Saturday night, and I'm going to miss the rest of the finals because I'll be down in the tunnel.' Those were all things that really made it special.
"But you think about the environment and we were kind of dreading going to New York City. We were just a bunch of country boys from Laramie trying to figure out this tournament. We had plenty of warning that this was going to be a different tournament. It was going to be a little crazy, a little hectic. The hotel situation was a little crazy.
"You were going to be on high alert, but when you stepped up Saturday night in the finals, and you look up and are in Madison Square Garden, it almost takes your breath away. I'm sure it did for those guys that got to compete there. It's got to be one of the all-time best NCAA Tournaments just because of the history of where they made that happen."
