Senior Alfonso Hernandez attempts to pin an opponent during a match at Saturday’s Cowboy Open in Laramie. The Cowboys took home five titles from the
first major tournament of the 2012-13 season.
The Cowboys wrestling team took away five titles from its first major tournament of the 2012-13 season.
The Cowboy Open took place Saturday at UW’s indoor track facility. The Cowboys returned to the mats after having a successful dual on Nov. 1. Although the annual football Border War occurred at the same time as the tournament, many Poke fans showed up to support the university’s wrestling team.
Winners at the elite level included senior Alfonso Hernandez (197 pounds), sophomore Andy McCulley (157) and sophomore Zach Zehner, who competed unattached at 133 pounds. True freshmen Drew Templeman (125) and Cole Mendenhall (141) won their respective weight classes at the amateur level. Mendenhall was named Outstanding Wrestler of the amateur brackets after he went 5-0 with a technical fall and two pins, while Templeman went 5-0 for the day, according to the Wyoming Athletics Department.
There were other exceptional performances from the Cowboy’s team, which included freshman Brent Havlik; sophomores Tyler Cox, Robert Stroh, Brandon Richardson and Shane Woods; and senior L.J. Helbig. All had notable matches and hope to place at the elite level in the future competitions.
Though the Cowboys had a strong performance at the tournament, head coach Mark Branch said he was frustrated, feeling his team could have been better prepared.
“We had some other guys who didn’t try to separate themselves and let guys hang around, and it cost them some important matches that could’ve moved them to different places in the tournament,” Branch said. “It was sloppy. There were flashes of really nice wrestling, but to be honest, I’m a little frustrated with our performance.”
With their home event against Nebraska coming up Nov. 11, the Cowboys plan to hit the mats hard to bring back more titles to UW’s honor.
“There are so many situations we haven’t talked about,” Branch said. “We had such a short timeframe, so there isn’t a lot of time to prepare. It’s a learning opportunity and there’s a lot we can get out of it.”
