LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 8, 2020) – The Wyoming wrestling team returns to Big 12 action with a pair of road duals this weekend as the Cowboys travel to face North Dakota State at 6 p.m., Friday, January 10 and South Dakota State at noon Sunday, Jan. 12.
"Coming up with North Dakota State and South Dakota State, those are two programs we've seen them a little bit this season in Las Vegas and out in South Beach, so we've had a chance to watch them a bit," said Head Coach Mark Branch.
"They're both having good seasons and you can tell that they've really improved from last year and both have solidified their lineups. These are two duals that matter for conference-seeding individually and for bragging rights within the conference. They're important duals and we're going to have to compete our best on the road, it's another big challenge for us as a team," continued Branch.
The Pokes are coming off a 22-13 victory last weekend over American at the West Point Duals. The Cowboys tallied four major decision victories in the win over the Eagles. UW also faced No. 17 North Carolina and No. 21 Army at the event, dropping those duals 20-15 and 19-13, respectively. Montorie Bridges at 133 and Stephen Buchanan at 197, were the only Cowboys to go 3-0 in New York.
Buchanan now has five consecutive wins after the Christmas Break and jumped up to No. 26 in the latest OpenMat rankings to make his career debut in the polls. Bridges moved up one spot in the TrackWrestling polls to No. 6. Bridges has won five consecutive matches as well, including 11-of-12 overall.
"The road trip out East was a chore and an unusual journey for us with the seven duals in a week," said Branch.
"It was a lot for our guys but those are the types of things that need to make you better in the long run, we need to use those experiences to shape and form us from here until the end of the season."
Last year, the Pokes defeated NDSU, 29-6 and SDSU, 32-9 in Laramie. At heavyweight, Brian Andrews defeated Brandon Metz of the Bison, 3-1 in Sudden Victory and pinned SDSU's Blake Wolters. Andrews is again projected to face both competitors this year. Andrews defeated Metz earlier this season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas invite.
This will be the 20th meeting all-time between the Cowboys and Bison and the 21st meeting with the Jackrabbits. UW is 6-2 in Fargo and last made the trip in 2018, a 32-6 win and is 5-2 on the road all time against SDSU. That trip also came in 2018, which was a victory for the Jackrabbits.
Fans can follow the action of both duals this weekend via FloWrestling and links at gowyo.com/coverage.
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