Wrestling Dominates Utah Valley, 25-10

LARAMIE, Wyoming (1/24/25) – University of Wyoming wrestling head coach Mark Branch wanted his team to wrestle aggressively on Friday in front of a home crowd that hadn’t seen their Pokes in 76 days. He got his wish.

The Cowboys claimed six of the final seven bouts en route to a lopsided 25-10 victory over Utah Valley inside the UniWyo Sports Complex. The win pushes Wyoming to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 action, while the loss drops the Wolverines to 5-6 and 1-3.

“It was a dominating team score and a team effort,” Branch said. “I thought we fought hard, and we are not at our best yet. And that’s great, and we are moving in the right direction.”

Utah Valley took the first two matches and had one of its two ranked wrestlers at the third bout, eying control of the dual. But Cole Brooks (141) flipped the script and logged the biggest win of his career, a 7-2 decision win over No. 16 Haiden Drury.

“That’s a huge win for him for so many reasons,” Branch said. “That’s a huge win to hang your hat on.”

Brooks created a wave of momentum that wasn’t squelched. No. 25 Gabe Willochell (149) followed it up with a 12-3 major decision of Smokey McClure.

No. 15 Jared Hill (157) bounced back with an 8-6 decision win over Ryker Fullmer. Riley Davis (174) returned to the lineup and recorded a 7-3 decision win over Mark Takara.

Eddie Neitenbach (184) registered an 11-4 decision win in his UniWyo debut. Joey Novak punctuated the dual with his second consecutive pin – this time of Kael Bennie – and Sam Mitchell (HWT) finished the dual with a 4-3 decision win over Jack Forbes.

Friday marked Wyoming’s second consecutive win and its third win in the last four matches. The Cowboys are right back at it Saturday in Laramie at 6 p.m. against Cal Baptist.

RV Wyoming 25 | RV Utah Valley 10

125: Bridger Ricker (Utah Valley) decision Garrett Ricks (Wyoming), 4-3

133: Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) decision David Sanez (Wyoming), 9-2

141: Cole Brooks (Wyoming) decision No. 16 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley), 7-2

149: No. 25 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) major decision Smokey McClure (Utah Valley), 12-3

157: No. 15 Jared Hill (Wyoming) decision Ryker Fullmer (Utah Valley), 8-6

165: No. 4 Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley) technical fall Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming), 19-3

174: Riley Davis (Wyoming) decision Mark Takara (Utah Valley), 7-3

184: Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) decision Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley), 11-4

197: No. 10 Joey Novak (Wyoming) fall Kael Bennie (Utah Valley), 5:24

HWT: Sam Mitchell (Wyoming) decision Jack Forbes (Utah Valley), 4-3