Laramie, Wyo. (March 16, 2021) – The Wyoming wrestling team will head to Detroit, Michigan to compete in the NCAA Championships March 17-19 in the Little Caesars Arena. A total of four Cowboys are set to compete in Detroit with the first round of wrestling starting 10 a.m. MT on Thursday. 
 
Tournament Coverage
Fans can watch the sessions one, three and five on ESPNU. Session two along with the semifinals and finals will all be broadcasted live on ESPN. 
 
Tournament Schedule
 
First round - 10 a.m. MT (ESPNU)
Second Round and Consolation rounds - 5 p.m. MT (ESPN)
 
Friday March 18 - 
Quarterfinals and Consolation rounds - 9 a.m. MT (ESPNU)
Semifinals and Consolation rounds - 6 p.m. MT (ESPN)
 
Saturday March 19 -
Placing Matches - 9 a.m. MT (ESPNU)
Finals - 5 p.m. MT (ESPN)
 
Hear From Head Coach Mark Branch 

"We have been really training hard and then guys have looked great, at this point in the season the most important thing is staying healthy and focused and i think we have been able to do that well." Head Wrestling Coach Mark Branch said " All the guys are starting to do some of their best wrestling and we just need to go out and be confident. Our guys believe in themselves and if we go out there and wrestle the way we know we can we should have some pretty great moments this week." 

The Competing Cowboys 

            The contingent of four Cowboys heading to Detroit will be led by 197 pounder Stephen Buchanan who enters the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed. Buchanan has put together and impressive season building up a record of 23-2 and becoming just the fourth Cowboy in program history to win a Big 12 title. Along with the Big 12 championships, Buchanan has won three other tournaments on the season and will carry a 10-match winning streak into the NCAA tournament. After earning All-American honors a season ago, Buchanan will now look to become just the fourth two-time all American in program history and eighth Poke in total to earn multiple All-American honors. 
 
At 157 pounds, Jacob Wright will enter the tournament as the No. 12 seed which is the highest NCAA seed he has earned during his career. Wright is coming off of a career best third-place finish at the Big 12 championships where he went 4-1 with three wins over ranked opponents. Wright will look to build off of the performance he had last march which saw him come up just one win short of All-American status. 
 
Hayden Hastings will head into his fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament as the No. 20 seed. The Redshirt-Senior from Sheridan, Wyoming showed resilience in punching his ticket to Detroit. After dropping his first match at the Big 12 championships, Hastings outscored his opponent 26-2 in his next to matches and fought his way to fifth place to earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships. 
 
 

The First Round Matchups 
157 – No. 12 Wright (WYO) vs No. 21 Chase Saldate (MSU)
174 – No. 20 Hastings (WYO) vs No. 13 Matt Finesilver (DUKE)
184 – No. 21 Samuelson (WYO) vs No. 12 Brit Wilson (NIU)
197 – No. 2 Buchanan (WYO) vs No. 31 JT Brown (ARMY) 

Wyoming at the NCAA Championships
• Wyoming has crowned 36 All-Americans at the NCAA Championships since 1950. That total includes seven NCAA finalists.
• If the Cowboys are to bring home an individual championship this weekend, it would mark the program's second, and first since Dick Ballinger in 1960.
• Under head coach Mark Branch, 12 Cowboys have returned from the NCAA Championships as All-Americans.
• Branch's teams have recorded three top-20 finishes at the tournament, and five top-25 finishes.
• In Branch's previous 12 seasons, Wyoming has recorded multiple All-Americans in four years, one in five years, and none in just three years.