Buchanan advances to second straight Big 12 Finals
* University of Wyoming Athletics media relations release
TULSA, Okla., -- The Wyoming Cowboy Wrestling squad got their postseason underway on Saturday at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma held inside the BOK Center.
The highlight of the first day of action was Stephen Buchanan advancing for his second straight Big 12 finals in dominant fashion.
“I was really impressed with Stephen all day and especially in his semifinal win,” UW head wrestling coach Mark Branch said. “Right now Stephen is on fire, he could beat anyone in the country, and I think he’s starting to believe that.”
At 197 pounds No. 1 seeded Buchanan opened the day strong against West Virginia’s Jackson Moomua. Buchanan controlled Moomua from the first whistle going on to pin the Mountaineer in the second period. Buchanan followed up that performance by defeating No. 8 seeded Evan Bockman (UVU) 12-4 in the quarterfinals.
It was the third time this season that Buchanan has defeated Bockman with all three wins coming by major decision.
In the 197-pound semifinals it was a rematch between No. 1 Buchanan and No. 4 seeded Yonger Bastida (ISU). In their first meeting earlier in the season Buchanan came away with an overtime victory. This time around an extra period wouldn’t be needed, Buchanan wrestled a calculated match and held a 1-0 lead with less than 30 seconds left to wrestle.
With time running out, Buchanan struck off a counterattack and pinned Bastida with just three seconds left on the clock to punch his ticket to the Big12 finals. In the process Buchanan also automatically qualified for his third straight NCAA Championships.
In tomorrow night’s final Buchanan will be up against No. 2 seeded Tanner Sloan (SDSU), the finals are set to start at 6 p.m. MT and will be live on ESPN2.
No. 5 seeded Jacob Wright was the second Cowboy to make the semifinals taking a more dramatic route to his semifinal appearance. After downing Alex Hornfeck (WVU) 5-1 in the opening round, Wright faced No. 4 seeded Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ) in the Quarterfinals.
Wright had been bested by Jacques in their previous three meetings, but he flipped the script on Saturday afternoon. At the start of the second period of tie-breaker overtime, Wright trailed 2-1 and chose to start in the bottom position. With only seconds left on the clock Wright scored an emphatic reversal giving him a 3-2 lead and putting him through to the semifinals.
In his semifinal match No. 5 Wright had a tough draw facing No. 1 seeded David Carr (ISU) pushing the top ranked and undefeated wrestler from whistle to whistle, but falling via decision, 4-7.
With his performance, today Wright automatically qualified for his third NCAA championships and will be back in action tomorrow wrestling for a spot on the podium.
“Jacob also wrestled really well today, that was a big win he had in the quarterfinals and It was a really important win,” Branch said. “He’s in a good place and I think he can come back through and get third tomorrow.”
After dropping his first match of the day, No. 5 seeded Hayden Hastings rattled off two straight wins outscoring those two opponents by a total score of 26-2. With those two dominant wins Hastings punched his ticket to his fourth straight NCAA Championships. Hastings will be back in action tomorrow in the consolation semifinals.
“I was impressed with how Hayden bounced back, not only in attitude but wrestling better than I’ve seen him wrestle all year," Branch said. "His last two matches were very impressive and I’m excited about where he’s at.”
At 184 pounds No. 3 seeded Tate Samuelson went 2-2 on the day and will wrap his up his tournament tomorrow in the seventh-place match against West Virginia’s Anthony Carman.
TEAM STANDINGS
- Missouri – 109.5
- Oklahoma – 93.5
- Oklahoma State – 90.0
- UNI – 85.0
- Iowa State – 82.5
- West Virginia – 56.0
- NDSU – 54.0
- SDSU – 54.0
- Wyoming – 43.0
- Air Force – 34.5
- Northern Colorado – 31.5
- Utah Valley – 30.0
COWBOY RESULTS (Numbers listed next to names are tournament seeds)
125 -Jake Svihel
No. 8 Jace Koelzer (UNC) dec. Svihel (WYO) 6-5
No. 2 Taylor LaMont (WVU) fall (2:03) Svihel (WYO)
133 – No. 8 Job Greenwood
No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) tech. fall No. 8 Greenwood (WYO) 17-2
Sidney Flores (AF) dec. No. 7 Greenwood (WYO) 12-9
141 – No. 7 Darren Green
No. 7 Green (WYO) dec. Caleb Rea (WVU) 6-2
No. 2 Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. No. 7 Green (WYO) 6-2
No. 1 Ian Parker (ISU) dec. No. 7 Green (WYO) 9-5
149 – No. 6 Jaron Jensen
Jeff Boyd (WVU) dec. No. 6 Jensen (WYO) 6-3
No. 4 Josh Edmond (MIZZ) major dec. No. 7 Jensen (WYO) 17-8
157 – No. 5 Jacob Wright
No. 5 Wright (WYO) dec. Alex Hornfeck (WVU) 5-1
No. 5 Wright (WYO) dec. No. 4 Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ) 3-2 (TB-1)
No. 1 David Carr (ISU) dec. No. 5 Wright (WYO) 7-4
165 – Cooper Voorhees
No. 2 Peyton Hall (WVU) major dec. Voorhees (WYO) 11-3
No. 8 Joe Grello (OU) dec. Voorhees (WYO) 4-1
174 – No. 5 Hayden Hastings
No. 4 Lance Runyon (UNI) dec. No. 5 Hastings (WYO) 5-1
No. 5 Hastings (WYO) tech. fall Kekana Fouret (UVU) 19-2
No. 5 Hastings (WYO) dec. No. 8 Dennis Robin (WVU) 7-0
184 – No. 3 Tate Samuelson
No. 3 Samuelson (WYO) major dec. Xavier Vasquez (UNC) 13-1
No. 6 Jeremiah Kent (MIZZ) dec. No. 3 Samuelson (WYO) 6-2
No. 3 Samuelson (WYO) dec. No. 5 Cade King (SDSU) 4-2
No. 7 Keegan Moore (OU) dec. No. 3 Samuelson (WYO) 11-5
197 – No. 1 Stephen Buchanan
No. 1 Buchanan (WYO) fall (5:00) Jackson Moomua (WVU)
No. 1 Buchanan (WYO) major dec. No. 8 Evan Bockman (UVU) 12-4
No. 1 Buchanan (WYO) fall (6:57) No. 4 Yonger Bastida (ISU) 6:57
285 – Terren Swartz
No. 3 Sam Schuyler (ISU) tech. fall Swartz (WYO) 24-9
No. 5 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) major dec. Swartz (WYO) 12-3
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