Pokes Fall to No. 21 Beavers, 34-6, in Final Dual of the Season

* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- The University of Wyoming wrestling team closed out its 2023-24 dual schedule disappointingly Saturday inside the UniWyo Sports Complex. No. 21 Oregon State defeated the Cowboys, 34-6.

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“We had some guys that fought hard,” head coach Mark Branch said. “The dual could have started out a little better. Things didn’t seem to be tilting our way early on. We knew what we had out in front of us in this dual. We needed a lot of things to go our way.”

The loss gives the Pokes a 7-7 overall record this season to go alongside its 5-4 Big 12 mark. Oregon State improves to 6-5 on the year while sitting at 2-2 in Pac 12 play.

Not all was lost Saturday. No. 24 Gabe Willochell (149) picked up the first ranked win of his Wyoming career. He upset No. 17 Nash Singleton via decision, 6-1, to improve his record to 16-8.

“Gabe, coming back from a disappointing match against North Dakota State, I thought he really had composure against a really good kid,” Branch said. “He wrestled smart. I was definitely proud of him.”

Cooper Voorhees (165) registered the other Cowboy win. He defeated Isaiah Crosby via decision, 4-1, to vault his record to 10-14.

“Cooper Voorhees continues to get our confidence,” Branch said. “Moving up in weight class, he’s done nothing but gotten better. He’s become very solid for us.”

As Branch alluded to, the dual was competitive early on, just slanting ever so slightly in favor of the Beavers. Garrett Ricks (133) started the match out with a close 12-9 decision loss to Gabe Whisenhunt.

No. 28 Cole Brooks (141) fought hard against No. 14 Cleveland Belton but lost a 9-4 decision. Sloan Swan (157) dropped a 13-9 decision to Ayden Garver, and Quayin Short (174) lost to Matthew Olguin via decision, 7-3.

The remaining four bouts were not close. Oregon State won by either technical fall or pin from 184 on.

Wyoming closes out the regular season at the Cowboy Shootout. That’s set for Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. inside both the Arena-Auditorium and the UniWyo.

No. 21 Oregon State 34 | Wyoming 6

133: Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon State) dec. Garrett Ricks (Wyoming), 12-9

141: No. 14 Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) dec. No. 28 Cole Brooks (Wyoming), 9-4

149: No. 24 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) dec. No. 17 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 6-1

157: Ayden Garver (Oregon State) dec. Sloan Swan (Wyoming), 13-9

165: Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) dec. Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State), 4-1

174: Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) Quayin Short (Wyoming), 7-3

184: No. 3 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) tech. fall Ethan Ducca (Wyoming), 20-1

197: No. 28 Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) tech. fall Tyce Raddon (Wyoming), 20-4

HWT: No. 16 Boone McDermott (Oregon State) fall Kevin Zimmer (Wyoming), 5:55

125: Maximo Renteria (Oregon State) fall Dylan Catlin (Wyoming), 1:38