The Cowboys’ performance at the Big 12 championships two weeks ago wasn’t bad. Wyoming qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships -- one more than they had last year -- but it wasn’t quite the collective effort the Cowboys expected after entering the tournament with nine top-8 seeds in their respective weight classes. Wyoming tallied 58 points to finish seventh in the team standings, three spots lower than the previous year.
“You try to look at every situation and see what you can draw positive out of it,” Wyoming coach Mark Branch said. “We came back from the Big 12s, and I think there were some things we were caught off guard with anxiety-wise and just the level of toughness in certain situations.