LARAMIE, Wyo. (2/4/23) – Plain and simple, No. 4 Jore Volk (125) set the tone for the University of Wyoming wrestling team Sunday inside the UniWyo Sports Complex. He came out, earned a first-period technical fall and it snowballed from there.

The Cowboys throttled North Dakota State, 30-13. The victory improves the Pokes to 7-6 on the season and 5-4 in Big 12 play, while the loss drops the Bison to 3-9 overall and 2-4 in league.

"It started with Jore," head coach Mark Branch said. "He came out and wasn't going to wrestle the match he had on Thursday. He was determined to change it. We talk about the team feeding off each other, and those things make a difference, and a lot of guys followed suit and came out and got after guys."

It was a return to the form from what Branch had seen over the past month. Wyoming logged early takedowns – 17 first-period takedowns, to be exact – and dictated how matches went.

"We really came out aggressive and with a little bit of an attitude," Branch said.

As stated, that began with Volk. He had six first-period takedowns en route to a 20-5 technical fall of Ryan Henningson that improved Volk to 19-6 on the season.

While Volk boasted the most takedowns during the first three-minute period, No. 31 Cole Brooks (141) laid claim to the quickest one Sunday. He had one in the first five seconds and cruised to a 17-2 technical fall of No. 28 Gavin Drexler. That moves Brooks to 11-4 on the season and represents his first-career ranked win.

Sloan Swan (157) recorded the first pin against the Bison. He needed just 2:06 to put Landen Johnson on his back, which vaulted Swan's record to 11-5 on the season.

Ethan Ducca (184) and No. 19 Joey Novak (197) went back-to-back with major decisions. Ducca's was 12-3 over Adam Cherne that pushes Ducca's record to 5-2, and Novak's was 13-1 over Spencer Mooberry that moves Novak to 18-10.

Garrett Ricks (133) and Cooper Voorhees (165) stood as the remaining two victorious Cowboys, both registering decision wins. Ricks' was 13-8 over Fernando Barreto, making Ricks 9-7, and Voorhees' was 9-5 over Brendan Howes, making Voorhees 9-14 on the year.  

Wyoming closes out its dual schedule next weekend. The Pokes host No. 21 Oregon State on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside the UniWyo Sports Complex.

Wyoming 30 | North Dakota State 13  
125: No. 4 Jore Volk (Wyoming) tech. fall Ryan Henningson (North Dakota State), 20-5
133: Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) dec. Fernando Barreto (North Dakota State), 13-8
141: No. 31 Cole Brooks (Wyoming) tech. fall No. 28 Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State), 17-2
149: Max Petersen (North Dakota State) tech. fall No. 14 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming), 20-4
157: Sloan Swan (Wyoming) fall Landen Johnson (North Dakota State), 2:06
165: Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) dec. Brendan Howes (North Dakota State), 9-5
174: No. 23 Gavin Sax (North Dakota State) tech. fall Quayin Short (Wyoming), 18-0
184: Ethan Ducca (Wyoming) major dec. Adam Cherne (North Dakota State), 12-3
197: No. 19 Joey Novak (Wyoming) major dec. Spencer Mooberry (North Dakota State), 13-1
HWT: Devon Dawson (North Dakota State) dec. Kevin Zimmer (Wyoming), 9-4