LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 11, 2020) – The NCAA has released the brackets and seeds for the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships, including seeds and matchups for the five Wyoming Cowboys set to compete at the national tournament.
At 133 pounds, Montorie Bridges is the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will face Northern Iowa's Jack Skudlarczyk, the No. 25 seed. Bridges defeated Skudlarczyk in the quarterfinals at last week's Big 12 Championships, 7-4. Bridges, who finished third at the Big 12s, lead the Cowboys with 32 wins this season and is just two wins shy of becoming the 29th Cowboy in program history to record 100 career victories. Bridges, a 2018 All-American, is making his third NCAA Championship appearance and has six ranked victories this season.
Hayden Hastings at 174, comes in as the No. 29 seed and will face fourth-seeded Dylan Lydy of Purdue. Hastings, who finished seventh at the Big 12 Championships, is making his second career NCAA appearance. This season, Hastings sports a 23-11 record and has recorded a team-best 17 bonus-point victories on the year.
At 184, Tate Samuelson will be the No. 31 seed and will face Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech, who is seeded No. 2. Samuelson, who is also making his second consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, was 19-14 on the season and faced a team-high 13 ranked wrestlers this season. Samuelson took seventh at last week's Big 12 Championships.
Stephen Buchanan comes in as the No. 26 seed at 197 pounds for the Pokes. Buchanan is 26-13 in freshman campaign for UW and has posted three ranked wins on the season. Prior to the Big 12 Championships, Buchanan had won seven of his last eight regular season matches. Buchanan will face seventh-seeded Jay Aiello of Virginia. Aiello defeated Buchanan in a hard-fought bout earlier this season at the Cliff Keen, 8-7.
Rounding-out the qualifiers for the Pokes is Brian Andrews at heavyweight. Andrews, who was the Big 12 Champion last week, comes in as the No. 13 seed and will face No. 20 seeded Brandon Metz of North Dakota State. Andrews, who comes in as one of the hottest wrestlers in the field, went 4-0 last week in Tulsa, including recording three ranked victories. On the year, Andrews leads the Cowboys with eight ranked wins, including two over Metz. Andrews enters the tournament having won seven straight matches, including 12-of-13 overall. Overall on the year, Andrews is 30-7.
The 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are March 19-21 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. The NCAA has announced that the championships will be held with only essential staff and limited family attendance due to COVID-19.
-WYO-
