Cowboy Joey Novak leading Wyoming wrestling resurgence
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Mark Branch has been searching for leadership in the Wyoming wrestling room since Jore Volk went down with a season-ending injury.
“He was a guy that brought a tremendous work ethic to every practice and when we lost him, we didn’t have that guy to point to so easily,” said Branch, who recently became the program’s all-time winningest head coach. “The good thing about pointing to Jore is he had success and, being an All-America,n it’s easy to say, ‘Look at how he works and look at the results that he got.’
“We have some other guys that have that work ethic; they just don’t have the results yet to back that up, but they’ll get there.”
Joey Novak appears to be well on his way to having a great individual season, and the sophomore is beginning to embrace his role as a team leader.
During UW’s dramatic 19–17 victory on Sunday at Oregon State, Novak pinned Vaun Halstead in five minutes, 36 seconds at 197 pounds to silence a rowdy crowd in Corvallis.
The Pokes also rallied for tight dual wins over Drexel (20–18) and Central Michigan (17–15) at the NWCA National Dual National Championships. The last time UW won three duals in a season by 3 points or less was 2003–04.
“All the work we’ve put in in that room is starting to show. I think everybody is finally starting to buy in to what the coaches are saying and what they’re showing us,” Novak said. “The [Oregon State] fans were chippy, and it felt good to go into their home and have a big win over a good team.”
Novak, who is ranked No. 10 in his weight class this week, is 6–0 since returning from an injury that prevented him from participating in UW’s marquee non-conference dual at No. 1 Penn State.
For the season, Novak has a 12–3 overall record with five ranked wins and five bonus-point victories in his last six matches.
“Joey is just now getting back healthy and getting his shape back underneath him. That’s a little bit of a process,” Branch said. “Besides what he’s doing on the mat, he’s taking over some desperately needed leadership qualities in the wrestling room, which I think is important as anything. We need it, we’ve been lacking it, and it seems like we’ve had too many guys hesitant to step up into that role.”
Novak was a four-time state placer and the 2023 state champion during his decorated high school career in New Prague, Minnesota. The top-50 prospect said Branch and the staff’s aggressive, honest approach to recruiting sold him on UW.
“The first thing that stood out to me was the coaches, just how consistent they were recruiting me right away,” Novak said. “Once I got out here everything they said on the phone and over text to me was true. They’re really freaking good coaches and even better people. There’s nobody else I’d like to wrestle for.”
Novak compiled a 24–14 record with nine ranked wins as a freshman last season. He was one of three Cowboys, along with Volk and Gabe Willochell, to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from myself. I think I didn’t believe in myself right away,” Novak said of his seemingly smooth transition to major college wrestling. “This early success happened but I was still thinking, ‘Am I good enough or is this a fluke that I beat these guys?’ Over time I just grew to believe in myself and expect myself to be good and win all these matches and be the best I can be.”
Novak has faced 30 ranked opponents in his 53 matches at UW. His win over Drexel’s No. 19 Mickey O’Malley was his fifth ranked win this season and the 14th of his career.
“Last year it was just trying to survive the season; this year it’s like trying to go hunt,” Novak. “Instead of beating a guy by decision, beat him by major [decision]. Instead of major, tech [fall]. … Just [getting] better and better and expecting to win every single match I wrestle.”
The Cowboys began the season with wins over Campbell at the Dual at the Daddy at Frontier Park in Cheyenne and over Western Wyoming in Laramie. Over the last two months they’ve been on the road, including challenging trips to Stillwater, Oklahoma; University Park, Pennsylvania; Reno, Nevada; and Coralville, Iowa.
UW will finally return home to face Utah Valley at 6 p.m. Friday and Cal Baptist at 6 p.m. Saturday in the UniWyo Sports Complex.
“I think everybody is relieved to be at home now,” Branch said. “We need to show that energy, we need to show that relief and gratitude to be here in front of our fans and take advantage of it.”
The Pokes are 5–0 when logging a pin, which Novak has done three times beginning with the first two duals on Wyoming soil and the decisive fall at Oregon State.
“It has been way too long since we had a home meet and we have back-to-back home meets,” Novak noted. “I’m super excited about that and seeing the fans there. They always bring the energy.”
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