Red-Hot Cowboys Square Off With Falcons On Road

 

UW battles conference foe Air Force

 

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 10, 2014) Fresh off two dominating performances, the University of Wyoming wrestling team hits the road to face the Air Force Academy Falcons on Tuesday night in Colorado Springs, Colo.

 

The details

Tuesday’s contest marks the 950^th dual in Wyoming wrestling history. Action begins at 7 p.m. from Clune Arena. The matchup also represents the 50^th all-time meeting between the two programs. Live results can be found at TrackWrestling.com and live video will be available on the Air Force YouTube channel.

 

A look at the Cowboys

Two-straight runaway victories have the Pokes riding high. In its last outing, UW cruised to a 41-6 win over Northern Colorado, thanks to four pins and two major decisions. The effort secured career dual win No. 60 for UW head coach Mark Branch.

 

Four Cowboys are in the national rankings this week, including junior Tyler Cox (eighth at 125 pounds), junior Dakota Friesth (18^th at 165), redshirt freshman Benjamin Stroh (16^th at 184) and junior Shane Woods, who is 24^th at 197.

 

A look at the Falcons

Despite leading the conference with eight total wins, Air Force will seek its first WWC victory after dropping duals to No. 23 North Dakota State and South Dakota State. In their last outing, the Falcons finished third in the All-Academy Championships.

 

Sophomore Josh Martinez leads the way for Air Force, ranked fourth in all three major polls at 125 pounds.

 

Last time/series history

The Cowboys ended the 2013 regular season with a narrow 17-16 victory over Air Force on Feb. 21, 2013, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Wins from Cox, Kasey Garnhart, McCade Ford, L.J. Helbig and Alfonso Hernandez sealed the victory.

 

UW leads the all-time series with Air Force with 37 wins and 12 losses. The Pokes have won five-straight contests and haven’t lost to Air Force since Feb. 23, 2008, a 21-12 defeat.

 

The matchups

125 pounds: #8/8/10 Tyler Cox vs. #4/4/4 Josh Martinez (AF)

133: Gunnar Woodburn vs. Greg Rinker (AF)

141: Cole Mendenhall vs. Carter McElhany (AF)

149: Austin Breckenridge OR Brandon Richardson vs. Natrelle Demison (AF)

157: Andy McCulley vs. Connor Hedash OR Jerry McGinity (AF)

165: #NR/NR/18 Dakota Friesth vs. Daniel Baucke (AF)

174: Brent Havlik vs. Konner Witt (AF)

184: #18/16/17 Benjamin Stroh vs. Devin Hightower (AF)

197: #NR/NR/24 Shane Woods vs. Greg Isley (AF)

285: Tanner Harms OR Leland Pfeifer vs. Cody Davis OR Marcus Malecek (AF)

 

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