LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and Western Wyoming College will open their 2026-27 wrestling seasons against each other Saturday in the Wild West Showdown. The Cowboys will host the Mustangs at 2 p.m. in the UniWyo Sports Complex, with the dual streaming on FloWrestling.
Western Wyoming College enters the matchup after finishing second at the 2026 NJCAA Wrestling Championships with 188 points. The Mustangs produced nine All-Americans, including four national runners-up, and extended their streak of Region 9/Plains District championships to nine consecutive seasons.
Western has also established itself as one of the NJCAA’s top programs since 2020, winning two national championships and finishing as national runner-up twice. The Mustangs’ only dual loss last year was against Wyoming.
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“I think (this dual) has been mutually beneficial for both programs,” Wyoming head coach Mark Branch said. “They enjoy wrestling a Division I school here and really testing themselves and setting the bar high for themselves. For us, it’s good to have a team we need to be ready for and not overlook.”
The Cowboys enter the season ranked No. 18 in the preseason NWCA Coaches’ Poll. Their lineup was determined during last weekend’s Brown and Gold Intrasquad, where several starting positions were contested, and some younger wrestlers made their case for a spot.
Saturday will test both newcomers and returning wrestlers in different ways for the Cowboys. Several freshmen who earned starting positions will compete against collegiate opponents for the first time in a dual setting, while returning Cowboys will make their first collegiate appearances since the NCAA Championships in Cleveland last March.
“We want to see how we are going to compete when we’re wrestling someone other than our teammate,” Branch said. “Now we’ll have an opponent standing across from us that we’re not familiar with. How are we going to attack that? How are we going to set our standard, pace and tone? Those are things that can illuminate some issues right off the bat. It gives us some direction and where we need to make some tweaks.”
Wyoming is coming off one of the strongest seasons in the program’s 95-year history. The Cowboys finished 12th at the 2026 NCAA Championships, earning three All-Americans. It was the highest team finish of Branch’s tenure and the most All-Americans he has coached in a single season.
All three All-Americans return this season: Eddie Neitenbach at 184 pounds, Joey Novak at 197 and Christian Carroll at heavyweight. The lineup also features returning NCAA qualifiers Luke Willochell at 133 pounds and Riley Davis at 174.
Several starting positions went to wrestlers who earned their spots during last weekend’s intrasquad competition. True freshmen Isaiah Harrison (125) and Derek Barrows (141), redshirt freshman Austin Collins (149) and redshirt sophomore Antonio Avila (157) will all get the opportunity to compete against Western.
Manny Rojas will start at 165 pounds, while Winston McBride will fill in at heavyweight for the injured Carroll.
For now, however, the Cowboys are focused on the Mustangs and their season opener.
“(This dual) gives us something to focus on and revolve around, and I think that’s helped the energy this week,” Branch said. “I think as we near wrestling an outside team our guys will be pretty fired up. We are tired of beating each other up every day.”
Following Saturday’s dual, Wyoming will begin a challenging road stretch with a trip to face No. 3 Nebraska on Nov. 8. The dual is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the Devaney Center. For Western, they travel to Rangely, Colorado, to face Colorado Northwestern on Nov. 3.
