Wrestling Excited to Compete at Big 12 Tournament this Weekend in Tulsa

LARAMIE, Wyoming (3/6/25) – The University of Wyoming wrestling team begins its postseason this weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Big 12 Tournament stretches from Saturday-Sunday inside the BOK Center.

“It’s really exciting right now,” head coach Mark Branch said. “A lot of that comes from the development of the team over the last couple of months and how our guys have responded to adversity through the season and where their attitudes are and where their energy is at right now.”

The Pokes surprised at last year’s conference tournament where they tied for seventh with a champion in Jore Volk. When taking into account pre-tournament expectations and seeds, no team performed better than Wyoming.

This year is a little different. A couple Cowboys received top-five seeds while a few go in unseeded, so it’s an eclectic mix of guys with expectations and ones looking to shake up their weight class.

“I like the brackets,” Branch said. “I think we have an opportunity to pull off upsets throughout the tournament. We’ve shown that we can do that before, and that’s how our training is geared. At the same time, we are going to compete hard and if we don’t pull off those huge upsets, we are in a great place in the bracket to fight our way back through.”

No. 10 Joey Novak (197) leads the way after garnering the No. 2 seed at his weight, which has four NCAA Championship allocations. He’s 19-3 with five ranked wins on the season and is currently riding a 13-match win streak. Novak went 8-2 against his bracket with both losses occurring against Oklahoma State’s No. 1-seeded, Luke Surber.

No. 24 Gabe Willochell (149) reeled in a No. 4 seed in a bracket that has four allocations. He’s 16-9 on the year with four ranked wins. Willochell went 7-3 against his bracket and two of those losses were to Northern Iowa’s No. 1-seeded, Colin Realbuto.

No. 18 Jared Hill (157) received a No. 5 seed at a weight that has six allocations. He’s 18-8 on the season, boasting a team-best six ranked victories. Hill went 4-2 against his bracket and has not seen any of the top-three seeds this year.

No. 25 Eddie Neitenbach (184) is a No. 6 seed in a class that has seven allocations. He’s 10-5 on the year with a pair of ranked wins. Neitenbach went 6-5 against his bracket.

Riley Davis (174) and Sam Mitchell (HWT) each garnered a No. 8 seed. Davis went 13-11 this season, while Mitchell was 20-8 and both owned a ranked win. Davis was 3-2 against his bracket, and Mitchell was 6-1. The 174-pound weight class has six allocations and HWT has four.

Garrett Ricks (125), Stockton O’Brien (133), Cole Brooks (141) and Cooper Voorhees (165) travel to Tulsa unseeded. Ricks is 6-7 overall and 3-4 against a bracket that has seven allocations. O’Brien is 9-17 and 1-9 versus a bracket encompassing six allocations. Brooks is 14-14 and 2-7 against his bracket that has seven allocations and Voorhees is 14-13 and 2-7 versus a bracket with seven allocations.

A few of the aforementioned guys competed at last year’s Big 12 Tournament. Novak and Willochell each took fourth. Novak entered as the No. 6 seed, and Willochell went in as the No. 7 seed and each pulled off an upset en route to their high-podium finishes.

Brooks and Voorhees each held serve as No. 8 seeds and finished eighth. Ricks, who was competing at 133 pounds, did not place.

Session 1 of the 2025 Big 12 Tournament commences Saturday at 9 a.m. Session 2 gets underway at 4 p.m. that same day. Session 3 goes Sunday at 11 a.m. The Championship Session is Sunday at 7 p.m. Sessions 1-3 can be streamed on ESPN-Plus and the Championship Session will air on ESPNU.