LARAMIE, Wyo. (Dec. 20, 2018) – It marked back-to-back seasons with an Outstanding Wrestler at the Reno Tournament of Champions for the Wyoming wrestling team, as 141-pounder Sam Turner claimed top honors at the tournament on Thursday. It marked the first such honor for Turner and served as a repeat at 141 for the Pokes as Bryce Meredith earned the accolade last season.
 
"It was a pretty good day," Turner said. "I started out feeling a little bit of the weight cut this morning, but as I got deeper into the tournament I stared to put things together and feel good, feel hydrated. Going into that semifinals match, I decided I was going to wrestle my match and not look at Kaid Brock any differently (than anyone else). I think that really paid off and it's good this time of year to build confidence because what matters is March. These wins are good to get, but I think the biggest takeaway is confidence."
 
As a team, Wyoming placed six wrestlers at the tournament. Aside from Turner, Cale Davidson (197) and Brian Andrews (HWT) both took second after advancing to the finals in their respective weight classes. Junior Dewey Krueger took fourth at 157, Cole Verner took fifth at 125 and Casey Randles took sixth at 174. In all, five Cowboy grapplers finished higher than their pre-tournament seeding.
 
Wyoming finished fourth at the event behind Oklahoma State, Michigan State and Old Dominion, despite only bringing 12 wrestlers compared to Oklahoma State's 20 and Michigan State's 18.
 
Wrestling unattached, true freshman Tate Samuelson placed as well coming in third at 184 pounds. He was one of only nine unattached wrestlers in the field to finish on the podium.
 
The Cowboys got off to a strong start to the day, with 11 of 12 attached wrestlers advancing to the round of 16. Dewey Krueger and Casey Randles each recorded falls in their round of 64 pigtail matches to start the event off on a high note for the Pokes. In the following round, the team combined for three falls, two tech falls and a pair of major decisions as just short of a dozen Cowboys moved on.
 
Six Cowboys advanced into the Reno quarterfinals with wins in the following round. Cole Verner earned his second fall of the day with a second-period pin of Fresno State's Jeremy Trinh at 125 pounds. Sam Turner followed it up with an 8-4 decision over Durbin Lloren of Utah Valley to advance. Krueger routed Stanford's Tyler Eischens in a 20-9 major decision at 157, followed by an 11-2 major for Hayden Hastings over MSU-Northern's Chris Nile. At 197, Cale Davidson took a 6-4 win over Nick May of Michigan State, and heavyweight Brian Andrews finished off the round with a dominant, 18-2 technical fall over Southern Oregon's Max Hane.
 
Wyoming pushed four attached wrestlers, along with true freshman Tate Samuelson into the tournament semifinals. After Turner advanced on a medical forfeit, Krueger kept rolling at 157 with a 10-8 decision over Grandview's Steven Lawrence. Competing unattached, Samuelson earned his third win of the day at 184, defeating Tanner Harvey of American, 8-5. At 197 pounds, Davidson earned his second victory of the season over Oklahoma State's Andrew Marsden, knocking off Marsden, 9-5. Finally, Andrews turned in another dominant performance at heavyweight with a shutout, 6-0 win over Chase Trussell.
 
Three Cowboys grabbed wins in the semis, highlighted by a 5-4 upset of two-time All-American and ninth-ranked Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State by Cowboy Sam Turner. Davidson and Andrews also picked up wins, with Davidson dropping No. 2 seed Sawyer Root of The Citadel, 6-4, and Andrews dispatching of Grandview's Cooper Thomas, 5-1, in sudden victory.
 
In the finals, Davidson and Andrews came up short to strong foes from Oklahoma State, but Turner tallied a dominant shutout of Michigan State's Austin Eicher with a couple of takedowns and plenty of riding time on the way to a 6-0 decision.
 
The Cowboys will be back in action on Dec. 29-30 when they travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the South Beach Duals. While in the Sunshine State, the Pokes will face No. 6 Cornell, No. 4 NC State, Michigan State and SIUE.
 
Reno Tournament of Champions Results
Dec. 20, 2018 | Reno Events Center | Reno, Nev.
 
Round of 64
157: Dewey Krueger (WYO) FALL Josh Annis (CSUB) 2:03
174: Casey Randles (WYO) FALL Josh Hammers (Umpqua CC) 1:36
 
Round of 32
125: Cole Verner (WYO) FALL Nick Poalillo (unattached) 2:21
133: Mark McConnell (WYO) dec. Dylan Gregerson (UVU) 3-1
141: Sam Turner (WYO) MD Grayson Brenna (Grandview) 11-1
149: Jaron Jensen (WYO) dec. AJ Raya (Cal Baptist) 6-2
149: Daxton Gordon (Cal Baptist) DEC. Jed Loveless (WYO) 3-1, SV1
157: Dewey Krueger (WYO) FALL Phillip Grajeda (unattached) 0:29
174: No. 19 Hayden Hastings (WYO) TF Nathan Tausch (Cal Poly) 16-1, 4:38
174: Casey Randles (WYO) MD Gabriel Rangel (Rangeview) 12-3
174: Anthony Lombardo (WYO) TF Matt Penyacsek (CSUB) 15-0, 3:39
184: Carless Looney (WYO) dec. Cade Belshay (ASU) 5-2
197: Cale Davidson (WYO) FALL Jacob Gonzalves (Simpson) 1:00
HWT: No. 19 Brian Andrews (WYO) dec. Cornelius Putnam (OSU) 4-0
 
Round of 16
125: Cole Verner (WYO) FALL Jeremy Trinh (FS) 4:19
133: Steven Simpson (ODU) MD Mark McConnell (WYO) 14-4
141: Sam Turner (WYO) dec. Durbin Lloren (UVU) 8-4
149: David Salazar (Embry-Riddle) dec. Jaron Jensen (WYO) 11-10, TB2
157: Dewey Krueger (WYO) MD Tyler Eischens (Stanford) 20-9
174: No. 19 Hayden Hastings (WYO) MD Chris Nile (MSU-Northern) 11-2
174: No. 7 Jacobe Smith (OSU) MD Casey Randles (WYO) 10-2
174: Cameron Caffey (MSU) MD Anthony Lombardo (WYO) 13-4
184: Anthony Orozco (Menlo) dec. Carless Looney (WYO) 9-4
197: Cale Davidson (WYO) dec. Nick May (MSU) 6-4
HWT: No. 19 Brian Andrews (WYO) TF Max Hane (SOU) 18-2, 6:42
 
Quarterfinals
125: No. 17 Michael McGee (ODU) dec. Cole Verner (WYO) 10-5
141: Sam Turner (WYO) MFF Michael Magaldo (OSU)
157: Dewey Krueger (WYO) dec. Steven Lawrence (Grandview) 10-8
174: Drew Hughes (MSU) dec. No. 19 Hayden Hastings (WYO) 9-2
197: Cale Davidson (WYO) dec. Andew Marsden (OSU) 9-5
HWT: No. 19 Brian Andrews dec. Chase Trussell (unattached) 6-0
 
Semifinals
141: Sam Turner dec. No. 9 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) 5-4
157: No. 12 Paul Fox (STAN) MD Dewey Krueger (WYO) 11-3
197: Cale Davidson (WYO) dec. Sawyer Root (CIT) 6-4
HWT: Brian Andrews (WYO) dec. Cooper Thomas (Grandview) 5-1, SV1
 
Finals
141: Sam Turner (WYO) dec. Austin Eicher (MSU) 6-0
197: Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. Cale Davidson (WYO) 5-4
HWT: No. 3 Derek White (OSU) dec. No. 19 Brian Andrews (WYO) 6-2
 
Consolation Round of 32 #2
149: Jed Loveless (WYO) FALL Kobe Olson (Umpqua CC) 4:02
 
Consolation Round of 16 #1
149: Jed Loveless (WYO) dec. Kevin Budock (ODU) 3-1
 
Consolation Round of 16 #2
133: Jason Shaner (Clackamas) dec. Mark McConnell (WYO) 14-9
149: Jed Loveless (WYO) dec. Jaron Jensen (WYO) 3-1
174: Casey Randles (WYO) TF Austin Clayton (unattached) 17-0, 5:41
174: Anthony Lombardo TF Dylan Passalacqua (Embry-Riddle) 16-0, 3:00
184: Carless Looney (WYO) FALL Gottlieb Davis (Umpqua CC) 0:43
 
Consolation Round of 8 #1
149: Jed Loveless (WYO) MD Bernie Truax (unattached) 11-2
174: Casey Randles (WYO) FF Lawton Benna (Grandview)
184: Angel Solis (unattached) dec. Carless Looney (WYO) 8-1
 
Consolation Round of 8 #2
125: Cole Verner (WYO) MD Dilan Ajtun (unattached) 12-4
149: Jed Loveless (WYO) MFF Michael Sprague (American)
174: Hayden Hastings (WYO) dec. Cole Moody (WYO) 9-5
174: Casey Randles (WYO) dec. Christian Bahl (OSU) 13-8
 
Consolation Semifinals
125: Cole Verner (WYO) dec. Logan Griffin (MSU) 8-1
149: Lane Stigall (unattached) dec. Jed Loveless (WYO) 12-10
174: Casey Randles (WYO) dec. Hayden Hastings (WYO) 8-1
 
Third Place
157: Jacob Wright (unattached) dec. Dewey Krueger (WYO) 3-0
 
Fifth Place
125: Cole Verner (WYO) dec. Brandon Courtney (ASU) 13-7
 
 
Unattached Results
Round of 64
141: Trevor Jeffries (WYO) TF Adrian Marrufo (Simpson) 18-2, 4:17
157: Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer (Grandview) FALL Logan Jensen (WYO) 0:57
174: Cole Moody (WYO) dec. Connor Small (ASU) 6-2
 
Round of 32
141: Trevor Jeffries (WYO) FALL Brandon Gibson (Southwestern Oregon CC) 2:50
149: Michael Sprague (AMER) MD Jacob Greenwood (WYO) 8-0
174: Cole Moody (WYO) FALL Iokepa Aken (Pacific) 2:14
184: Tate Samuelson (WYO) dec. Jack Huber (Cal Poly) 8-2
 
Round of 16
141: Brody Lamb (WYO) inj. def. Trevor Jeffries (WYO) 2:52
174: Travis Wittlake (OSU) MD Cole Moody (WYO) 14-6
184: Tate Samuelson (WYO) dec. Antonio Agee (ODU) 4-3
 
Quarterfinals
184: Tate Samuelson (WYO) dec. Tanner Harvey (AMER) 8-5
 
Semifinals
184: No. 15 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. Tate Samuelson (WYO) 5-2
 
Third Place
184: Tate Samuelson (WYO) dec. Anthony Montalvo (OSU) 4-1
 
Consolation Round of 32 #2
149: Jacob Greenwood FALL Michael Murphy (Oregon State) 2:35
157: Logan Jensen (WYO) dec. Colby Winnett (Clackamas) 4-1
 
Consolation Round of 16 #1
149: Jacob Greenwood (WYO) MD Joseph Valdez (unattached) 11-1
157: Logan Jensen (WYO) TF James Calhoun (Pacific) 22-4, 6:38
 
Consolation Round of 16 #2
149: Jacob Greenwood (WYO) FALL Cameron Haddock (unattached) 2:10
157: Logan Jensen (WYO) MFF Larry Early (ODU)
174: Cole Moody (WYO) dec. Garrett Strang (CBU) 6-5
 
Consolation Round of 8 #1
149: Devin Reynolds (Grandview) FALL Jacob Greenwood (WYO) 4:11
157: Rian Burris (CIT) dec. Logan Jensen (WYO) 3-2
174: Cole Moody (WYO) dec. Apollo Santos (Menlo) 6-5