Air Force Academy
Wyoming
Air Force Falls to Wyoming in Road Finale
2/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
LARAMIE, WY - In their final road dual of the season, Air Force dropped a 29-9 loss to Big 12 foe, Wyoming, Saturday evening, in the UniWyo Sports Complex, Laramie, Wyo. The Falcons, who are now 5-5 overall with a 0-3 mark in conference, will complete their final two Big 12 dual matches at home.
Freshman heavyweight Kerry Powers took the mats first for the Falcons against Colorado Springs, Colorado native, Brandon Tribble. The heavyweight duo went scoreless in the first period and exchanged escape points in the following two periods to enter overtime knotted at one. Midway through the first overtime period, Powers sustained an injury and was unable to finish, awarding Tribble the win by injury default and Wyoming an early six-point lead.
The Falcons' Drew Romero met with senior 125-pounder, 16th-ranked Drew Templeman, in the following match. Templeman scored the first takedown but Romero quickly tacked on an escape point of his own. Templeman registered an escape point early in the second period to extend the lead, 3-1. Romero started from the bottom position in the third period and was unable to escape Templeman's ride. The Cowboy rode hard to tack on a riding time point for the 4-1 decision over Romero.
With the team score at 9-0 in favor of the Pokes, Dylan Hyder took the mat against Ronnie Stevens in the 133 class. Hyder started off as the aggressor, scoring the first takedown and logging 1:48 of riding time in the first period. From the bottom position, Hyder scored a quick escape point to extend his lead, 3-0. In the waning seconds of the second period, Stevens scored his first takedown to narrow the lead, 3-2. Stevens pressed the attack in an attempt to rally in the final period. Two stall calls on Hyder in the latter half of the third period led to Stevens being awarded a tying point. Hyder held Stevens off to finalize the match, 4-3, with a riding time point awarded to Hyder for time registered in the first period.
In the following bout at 141, John Twomey met with 2016 NCAA finalist, No. 8 Bryce Meredith. Meredith went on an aggressive attack, scoring a myriad of points by way of takedown and near-fall points. Meredith posted a 19-3 technical fall in the third period, extending the Wyoming lead, 14-3.
Senior team captain Jerry McGinty took the mats against Ben Hornickle determined to change the pace of the battle. McGinty scored first with a takedown late in the first period. Hornickle added an escape point from the down position early in in the second period to put the score at 2-1. McGinty started from the bottom in the third period and registered a quick escape and a late takedown to seal the deal over Hornickle, 5-1, and narrowing the Cowboys' lead to 14-6.
The Falcons went on to drop four of the subsequent matches. Sophomore 157-pounder Alex Mossing met with 19th-ranked Archie Colgan where he dropped a 5-2 decision to the nationally ranked Cowboy. In the following match, Wyoming's Branson Ashworth, who is 16th in the nation, took on Air Force wins leader, Tyler Wiederholt. Ashworth registered a pin in 48 seconds to broaden Wyoming's team lead, 23-6.
In the 174 bout, Michael Billingsley and Kyle Pope exchanged takedowns but the Falcon was unable to find a scoring rhythm late in the match, dropping an 8-6 decision to extend the Pokes' lead, 26-6. In the following 184 bout, Zen Ikehara met with Lucas Lovvorn. The battle was taken into overtime where Lovvorn registered an escape that Ikehara could not match, extending the Cowboy lead, 29-6, with Lovvorn's 2-1 decision.
In the final bout of the night, Anthony McLaughlin took the mat against Nate Shaw in the 197 class. McLaughlin registered the only takedown of the bout. Shaw registered two escapes while McLaughlin added one. At the final whistle, McLaughlin led the Poke, 3-2, finalizing the team score at 29-9.
Air Force returns to conference dual action at home against North Dakota State, Saturday, Feb. 10, at 7:00 p.m. MT. The dual will be broadcast live by FloWrestling. Fans can access the live stream by going to goairforcefalcons.com and clicking the watch live link. A subscription is required for viewing.
AIR FORCE at WYOMING - FEB. 4
285: Brandon Tribble (WYO) def. Kerry Powers (AFA) -Inj. Def. SV-1, WYO 6-0
125: #16 Drew Templeman (WYO) def. Drew Romero (AFA) -4-1, WYO 9-0
133: Dylan Hyder (AFA) def. Ronnie Stevens (WYO) -4-3, WYO 9-3
141: #8 Bryce Meredith (WYO) def. John Twomey (AFA) -TF (19-3), WYO 14-3
149: Jerry McGinty (AFA) def. Ben Hornickle (WYO) 5-1, WYO 14-6
157: #19 Archie Colgan (WYO) def. Alex Mossing (AFA) -5-2, WYO 17-6
165: #16 Branson Ashworth (WYO) def. Tyler Wiederholt (AFA) -F (0:48), WYO 23-6
174: Kyle Pope (WYO) def. Michael Billingsley (AFA) -8-6, WYO 26-6.
184: Lucas Lovvorn (WYO) def. Zen Ikehara (AFA) -2-1, WYO 29-6
197: Anthony McLaughlin (AFA) def. Nate Shaw (WYO) -3-2, WYO 29-9
FINAL: WYOMING 29, AIR FORCE 9
Players Mentioned
