Three UW wrestlers at World Championships

Three University of Wyoming wrestlers, who are each coming off of successful redshirt freshman seasons in college, have qualified to compete for an opportunity to represent the United States in their respective age groups at the World Championships later this year.

UW’s Tyler Davis and Joe LeBlanc will wrestle this weekend at the FILA Junior World Team Trials, while Michael Martinez will participate in two weeks at the Senior World Team Trials.

Each Wyoming wrestler qualified for their slot in the World Team Trials through different means: Davis by placing second at the FILA Junior National Tournament last month, LeBlanc by his All-America finish at last season’s NCAA Tournament and Martinez by his fourth place finish at the U.S. Senior Nationals in April.

Davis and LeBlanc will travel to the FILA Junior Freestyle World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the Olympic Training Center on Saturday. Division champions go to the FILA Junior World Championships representing the U.S. in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 4-9.

For Martinez, the U.S. Senior Freestyle World Team Trials will take place in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on May 31. The winner in each weight class represents the U.S. at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, Sept. 21-27.

All three Cowboy wrestlers will be sophomores at UW during the upcoming 2009-10 season, but since Martinez is older than Davis and LeBlanc, he competes at the senior level.

Davis (Oviedo, Fla.) wrestled for the Cowboys at 157 pounds this past season and posted a record of 21-16. He had two dual wins for the ‘Pokes, scored three victories by fall and had eight major decisions.

LeBlanc (Meeker, Colo.) became the first-ever freshman All-American in the history of Wyoming wrestling by placing fifth in the 184-pound weight class at the 2009 NCAA Championships. He won the West Regional title at his weight and posted a 45-8 overall season record. His 45 wins tied for third-place on UW’s single-season victories list. LeBlanc was the WWC Freshman of the Year and West Region Freshman of the Year by D1CollegeWrestling.net.

Martinez (Pagosa Springs, Colo.) was an NCAA qualifier at 125 pounds and West Regional champion. He finished his season with a record of 38-11, 1-2 at the NCAA Championships. That mark ties him for ninth all-time at UW in single season wins. Martinez won three tournaments during the season.