Photo by UW Athletics
After Finishing 16th Nationally last Season, the Cowboys are Getting Ready to Rumble yet Again
As the only sport UW has in a power conference, the wrestling team always has some excitement following them into the season. This year, they return to the mat in less than a month, hosting Western Wyoming on the first of November.
With four wrestlers finishing within the top 15 last year following the national tournament, including three returning All-Americans for the 2026-27 season, expectations are high for this team, despite one of the most demanding schedules in the country.
”We have a veteran and seasoned team, so we are going to challenge ourselves against some of the best teams in the country. When all the dust settles, I have no doubt our schedule will rank as one of the toughest, but our men are up for it,” head coach Mark Branch said in an interview with Wyoming Athletics. “This will prepare them well for March.”
Within that group of returning All-Americans is junior Eddie Netienbach, who placed seventh in the NCAA last year at 184lbs, redshirt sophomore Christian Carroll, who placed eighth at heavyweight, and senior Joey Novak, who lost in the semifinals and finished fourth.
Competing in likely the second hardest conference behind the Big 10 for wrestling, the Big 12, the Cowboys continue to hold their own against the toughest competition year after year. Last year, the Cowboys rounded out the year ranked 16th nationally last year after a strong performance at the national tournament, the fourth highest national ranking in the conference.
In addition to the veteran talent that Coach Branch spoke about, the freshman recruits are also showing promise for this season. Two incoming freshmen for the 26-27 season had an opportunity to compete at the annual Junior Nationals tournament hosted in Fargo, North Dakota. Freshman Austin Collins, a former three-time Colorado state champion and Greco-Roman national champion in 2024, earned two All-American honors while in Fargo competing for the Cowboys.
Starting the 26-27 season, the Cowboys are set to compete in 14 duels and four tournaments, kicking off their season at home here in Laramie on November 1st, a duel against Western Wyoming CC. This will be a true challenge right off the bat, with Western Wyoming being one of the best junior college programs in the nation, winning back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024.
Following that, as Branch said, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the non-conference portion. The Cowboys travel to Lincoln, Palo Alto, and Corvallis for duels against Nebraska, Stanford, and Oregon State. Both Nebraska and Stanford finished top 6 in the country last year, sure to be a challenge early in the season.
Then, after a few tournaments, conference duels begin. The Cowboys are set to host Arizona State, Utah Valley, West Virginia, South Dakota State, and Missouri at the UniWyo Sports Complex here in Laramie. They will travel to Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Air Force, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma. This all leads up to the Big 12 championship in Tulsa in early March, and the NCAA championships in St. Louis at the end of March.
