Four Falcon Grapplers Notch First Place at Cowboy Open

Nov. 17, 2003

Wrestling in their first tournament of the season, four Air Force wrestlers took home first place trophies this weekend at the annual Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyo. Several others were place winners in their individual weight classes.

No. 12 Heath McKim (Valley, Neb.) breezed through his bracket, going 4-0 to take home top honors at the 125-pound weight class of the Over 19 side of the event. McKim defeated Wyoming's Bryce Leonhardt 4-2 in the championship match to win the weight class.

In the Under 19 division, freshman Chris Nissen (Denver, Colo.), wrestling in the first collegiate event of his career, went 4-0 to finish in first place in the 149-pound weight class. In his first collegiate match, Nissen pinned Wyoming's Clinton Stout in just 14 seconds. He won his next two matches by decision before defeating Kyle Swain of Western State College by technical fall (15-0) in the championship match.

At 165 pounds, Beau Tresemer (Norman, Okla.) went 4-0 to win the weight class. Tresemer won all four matches by decision, including an 8-3 win over Nick Larsen (Western Wyoming College) in the championship match.

Junior Jacob Lillich (Jay, Okla.) won the 174-pound weight class, winning all four of his matches. Lillich opened the tournament with a 10-2 decision over Wyoming's Matt Henderson. He won his next two matches handily before defeating Max Smith of Adams State College in the championship match, 5-2.

Several other wrestlers were place winners in the Under 19 division. Seth Weatherman (133 pounds), went 3-1 to capture second place. Freshman Matthew Crippes (141 pounds) won third place with a 4-1 record. Jonathan Koch (165 pounds) won more matches than any other Falcon wrestler in the tournament. He went 5-1 for a third-place finish.

The Falcons will be back in action this weekend (Nov. 22) when the head north to Greeley to participate in the Northern Colorado Open.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.