(UW Media Relations Photo)
There was no doubt that this dual was one of the most anticipated in Wyoming wrestling history.
The Cowboys welcomed the top ranked team in the nation, the Penn State Nittany Lions, to Arena-Auditorium for what will likely go down as one of the biggest home duals in Cowboy wrestling history.
An attendance record that was just 2,566 people was absolutely shattered as 4,686 fans ushered into the Arena-Auditorium for the marquee matchup against the Nittany Lions.
The meaning of this dual for the state of Wyoming could not be undermined–just ask Wyoming’s grizzled veteran head coach Mark Branch, who has now donned the head coach position for the wrestling program for over 17 seasons.
“I’ve been in enough big situations and coached in big enough arenas and wrestled in big enough arenas that usually it takes something pretty crazy to get me kind nervy,” Branch said. “And I was nervy all day. I was restless. I was like, ‘man this is the longest day of my life.’”
Branch’s anxiousness came with good reason, as it isn’t everyday the top-ranked team in the entire nation coming off four consecutive national championship wins comes to town.
The Nittany Lions were returning the favor of the Cowboys traveling down to University Park, Pennsylvania a season ago. A depleted Cowboys’ team down multiple starters were completely dismantled in that one, as the Nittany Lions swept the dual by a final score of 54-0.
Junior and current fourth ranked 197-pounder Joey Novak was one of those starters who was unable to wrestle at University Park a season ago. Today, the former All-American was the first Cowboy wrestler to get on the board, the crowd emphatically exploding in cheer as Novak took down the Nittany Lions’ eighth ranked Connor Mirasola, who was undefeated leading into the bout.
“It was great knocking off a top-10 guy who has beat me in the past,” Novak said. “It felt good, especially in front of all these fans. That’s definitely the most I’ve ever seen here.”
Novak broke a spell of eight straight match wins by the Nittany Lions with his win at 197-pound position, as the Nittany Lions had built a 40-0 lead in the dual off the back of four falls, two technical falls and two decisions.
Redshirt freshman Christian Carroll cleaned up the dual with a win of his own at the heavyweight position The match was the closest on paper, as the two heavyweights ranked back-to-back in the national rankings with Carrol at 8th and his opponent Cole Mirasola at 9th.
It’s a much different story if you ask Carrol, who dispatched Mirasola with a final decision of 10-3.
“I think I’m amongst one of the best wrestlers in the country when I’m 100% firing away,” Carroll said after the dual.
The Nittany Lions ultimately won the dual by a final of 40-7, though the dual was much closer than the final score would suggest. The Cowboys’ two decision losses easily could have been converted into victories, particularly at the 184-pound spot. 12th ranked Eddie Neitenbach fell just short on a near-takedown of fourth ranked Rocco Welsh in the dying second of the third period. Neitenbach was ultimately defeated by a final score of 4-1.
“It sucks because he wrestled a good match and those two attacks were really good attacks,” Branch said. “Eddie hadn’t been able to really train at full speed or consistently. I mean, he said ‘I got to get in better shape’ right after the match. But, he wrestled a hard pace.”
Branch knows that even though many of the Cowboys’ bouts didn’t go their way, the opportunity and experience in getting to wrestle the top ranked team in the nation and a program like Penn State will go a long way for his squad down the line.
“That was really the only different feeling I had from going up there last year, is we were scoring some takedowns,” Branch said. “…that is something to build on. These guys aren’t invincible, you can take these guys down.”
Plus, it made for a night his entire team won’t soon forget.
“The whole dual, no matter what the scores of any match, all the fans were screaming. They showed out,” Novak said.
“That might be the biggest dual I ever wrestle in, and I definitely will not forget that.”
