LARAMIE – It never hurts to keep an open mind.
 
Wyoming head wrestling coach Mark Branch thought landing Christian Carroll out of the portal was a "long shot" for the Cowboys.
 
Carroll, an elite prospect from Elkhart, Ind., who started his career at Oklahoma State, had decided to return to his home state and transfer to Indiana until receiving a message from UW associate head coach McCade Ford asking if he would like to visit Laramie.
 
"This guy kept following me on Instagram and I'm like, who is this? It was Coach Ford and he asked, do you want to come out and visit Wyoming?" Carroll said. "Let's do it. Two days later when I got out here, I was like, this is a no-brainer, this is where I need to be."
 
It turned out to be a perfect fit for Carroll and the Cowboys. The redshirt freshman, who competed last fall at Iowa State before sustaining a season-ending injury, has strengthened the Branch's lineup at the heavyweight spot.
 
"I was looking for a place with an atmosphere that really gels with me. A personality, a culture, all those things that will truly bring me happiness," said Carroll,. "I think happiness leads to the best version of myself. Ultimately, I found that at the University of Wyoming. … These coaches do so much for me beyond what they should do emotionally supporting, always texting, always being on your butt in a good way. That was really important, the coaches, but also the lifestyle here, the culture. It's more of a smaller town, which is how I was raised. I graduated with a class of 50, a small farm school I came out.

"The cowboy lifestyle is what personally makes me happy."
 
Sam Mitchell, who is serving as the special assistant to Branch this season, finished his career with an impressive run at the NCAA Championships for the Pokes at heavyweight.
 
Caroll has filled the void quickly and is coming off an impressive run at the Cliff Keen Invite last weekend in Las Vegas. He took down two top 10 opponents, Michigan's Taye Ghadiali (11-2 major decision) and Navy's Spencer Lanosga (8-5 sudden victory), before losing to former Iowa State teammate and top-ranked Yonger Bastida (5-3 decision) in the championship match.
 
UW finished seventh in the loaded field.
 
"Christian showed he could stack up against some of the best guys that are maybe outweighing him from 20 (pounds) to the Navy kid was maybe 40-some pounds (heavier)," Branch said. "I think everybody knew what he was capable of but seeing him be at three different schools the last three years and not finishing the year at Iowa State there were a lot of question marks he answered to a lot of people in Vegas."
 
Carroll went home last spring to figure out his next move without a place to train. Shortly after signing with UW, he was on campus preparing for the U23 Nationals/World Team Trials.
 
"That was one that he really wanted to win and then he went there and got hurt in his third match," Branch said of Carroll's impressive start and sixth-place finish. "We were like, oh man, this guy can really wrestle because he was killing everybody in that tournament and then it was kind of a weird injury. That's obviously been on our minds is we've got to keep him healthy."
 
Leading into the National Duals Invitational to start the season in Tulsa, Okla., Carroll suffered a painful ankle injury while conditioning.
 
"Our trainer said that's a ligament that usually only gets hurt in a car wreck or some traumatic force," Branch said. "He was hobbled in a boot for I think three days. I was very cautious about wrestling him and was talking to him after practice and he was very adamant that, 'I'll be freaking ready.'"
 
Carroll lost his matches against ranked opponents from Ohio State and Virginia Tech. He responded with a dominant win to help UW defeat Cal Baptist in the first Big 12 dual of the season.
 
"I was a little banged up going to National Duals, wasn't 100 percent, was out of shape. That definitely hurt the ego a little bit, taking some of those tough losses," Carroll said. "It felt great getting those wins (in Las Vegas), building the confidence back up and knowing I'm still a really good wrestler, one of the best. …
 
"I think it's going to build on throughout the year. There's a lot more tests, a lot more things coming, the sport is very high and low but just keep chipping away until the NCAA Tournament."
 
UW will face the ultimate test when four-time reigning national champion Penn State arrives for a dual at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium.
 
The top-ranked Nittany Lions have 10 wrestlers ranked by InterMat, including heavyweight Cole Mirasola.
 
"They are the King Kong's on the mat as of right now," Carroll said. "I think it's good for our university to have a top team like that come to us and it's really good because we (usually) never seem them throughout the year until NCAAs. To get that good look no matter how it goes gives us a chance to make the adjustments for when it really matters."

UW spent the first part of the week recovering from the Cliff Keen Invite and Branch said there was some nervous energy in the wrestling room during recent practices. His message to Carroll and the Cowboys vs. powerhouse Penn State?
 
"It truly is one of those situations like what do you have to lose? We have everything to gain in this situation so let's go have fun with it," Branch said. "That's where we have to get their minds and we're not there yet as a team. Let's treat it as something exciting and a privilege and let the chips fall where they are, but let's step on the line and give it our best effort."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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