WEST POINT, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2020) – The Wyoming wrestling team was able to pick up a win Saturday over American at the West Point Duals hosted by Army, defeating the Eagles 22-13 in the first of three duals on the day. The Cowboys came up just short in their final two duals at the event, losing to No. 17 North Carolina 20-15 and closing the day with a 19-13 loss to 21st-ranked Army.
After falling behind to American early, 3-0, Montorie Bridges at 133 pounds got the Pokes (3-6) on the scoreboard with the first of what would be four major decisions against AU, as he defeated Daniel Kidd 12-1. After taking losses at 141 and 149, Dewey Krueger's 5-0 upset victory over No. 25 Ethan Karsten at 157, cut the Cowboy deficit to 10-7 at the halfway point. Cole Moody (165) and Casey Randles (174) would both record major decisions in their matches, winning 10-2 and 19-6, respectively to push the Pokes in front, 15-10.
After Tate Samuelson lost a hard-fought match to No. 9 Tanner Harvey, 5-3, Stephen Buchanan at 197 righted the ship for UW, recording a major decision of his own by blanking Will Jarrell, 11-0. At heavyweight, Brian Andrews closed things out for the Cowboys with a 5-2 win over Niko Camacho.
Against North Carolina, the Cowboys fell behind 20-3 in the dual as Bridges' 4-2 win over Jaime Hernandez was the Cowboys' lone victory until they won three consecutive matchups to close the dual.
Samuelson was the first as he pinned UNC's Joey Mazzara just 59 seconds into the match to earn his second win of the day. Then, Buchanan was able to pull out a hard-fought 6-2 victory over Brandon Whitman before Andrews was able to ride-out Andrew Gunning in the second Sudden Victory period for a 2-1 win.
Against the Black Knights, Bridges was able to complete his perfect 3-0 day as he bested Lane Peters 8-5 to tie the dual score at 3-3 early. Trevor Jeffries grabbed his first win of the event next at 141 pounds, defeating Army's Noah Brown, 10-6 to give UW a 6-3 lead.
From there, Army won four consecutive matches to jump out in front, 16-6. Three of those losses came against ranked Army opponents. Samuelson was able to get the Pokes back on track as he again scored a bonus-point victory, beating Jed Smith, 13-4 for the major decision.
Buchanan was able to put the finishing touches on his 3-0 day as he survived a marathon against Alex Hopkins to win in the third period of Sudden Victory. Buchanan was able to ride Hopkins out to close the match after an exhausting six periods. Trailing 16-13 after the two wins, Andrews was defeated 5-0 by Ben Sullivan as Army was able to hang on for the dual victory.
Next up, the Cowboys will again have a busy week next weekend as they return to Big 12 action with a pair of road duals. Wyoming will face North Dakota State at 6 p.m., in Fargo Friday, Jan. 10 and will then travel to Brookings, S.D., to face South Dakota State at noon Sunday, Jan. 12.
West Point Duals vs. American
WYO 22, AU 13
West Point, N.Y. | Jan. 4, 2020 | Christl Arena
125: No. 19 Gage Curry (AU) dec. Doyle Trout (WYO) 7-4
133: No. 7 Montorie Bridges (WYO) MD Daniel Kidd (AU) 12-1
141: Salvatore Profaci (AU) MD Chase Zollmann (WYO) 12-0
149: No. 12 Kizhan Clarke (AU) dec. No. 18 Jaron Jensen (WYO) 5-1
157: Dewey Krueger (WYO) dec. No. 25 Ethan Karsten (AU) 5-0
165: Cole Moody (WYO) MD Timothy Fitzpatrick (AU) 10-2
174: Casey Randles (WYO) MD Ben Root (AU) 19-6
184: No. 9 Tanner Harvey (AU) dec. No. 16 Tate Samuelson (WYO) 5-3
197: Stephen Buchanan (WYO) MD Will Jarrell (AU) 11-0
HWT: No. 18 Brian Andrews (WYO) dec. Niko Camacho (AU) 5-2
West Point Duals vs. No. 17 North Carolina
WYO 15, UNC 20
West Point, N.Y. | Jan. 4, 2020 | Christl Arena
125: Jeremiah Derby (UNC) dec. Trout (WYO) 7-4
133: Bridges (WYO) dec. Jaime Hernandez (UNC) 4-2
141: No. 15 Zach Sherman (UNC) MD Zollmann (WYO) 13-4
149: No. 2 Austin O'Connor (UNC) MD Jensen (WYO) 14-4
157: AC Headlee (UNC) dec. Krueger (WYO) 7-5
165: No. 17 Kennedy Monday (UNC) dec. Moody (WYO) 11-7
174: Clay Lautt (UNC) dec. Randles (WYO) 11-5
184: Samuelson (WYO) Fall Joey Mazzara (UNC) 0:59
197: Buchanan (WYO) dec. Brandon Whitman (UNC) 6-2
HWT: Andrews (WYO) dec. Andrew Gunning (UNC) 2-1 SV-2
West Point Duals vs. No. 21 Army
WYO 13, Army 19
West Point, N.Y. | Jan. 4, 2020 | Christl Arena
125: Trey Chalifoux (Army) dec. Trout (WYO) 4-3
133: Bridges (WYO) dec. Lane Peters (Army) 8-5
141: Trevor Jeffries (WYO)dec. Noah Brown (Army) 10-6
149: PJ Ogunsanya (Army) dec. Jensen (WYO) 14-7
157: No. 14 Markus Hartman (Army) dec. Krueger (WYO) 12-8
165: No. 21 Cael McCormick (Army) dec. Moody (WYO) 5-2
174: No. 21 Ben Harvey (Army) MD Randles (WYO) 11-2
184: Samuelson (WYO) MD Smith (Army) 13-4
197: Buchanan (WYO) dec. Alex Hopkins (Army) SV-3
HWT: Ben Sullivan (Army) dec. Brian Andrews (WYO) 5-0
-WYO-
