Stelow wins 50 free; Cowgirls in second

UW senior Cassie Stelow

Cowgirl senior Cassie Stelow won the 2010 Mountain West Conference championship in the 50 freestyle and then anchored the 200 freestyle relay that also placed first to pace the Wyoming swimming and diving program Thursday in the Mountain West Conference Championships in Oklahoma City.

The Cowgirls are currently (288 points) in second place with the Cowboys in third after the second day of competition.

The Cowgirls trail only BYU, which has 320 points. San Diego State (194), Utah (166), Colorado State (141), UNLV (134), TCU (103), New Mexico (92), and Air Force (41) follow the Cowgirls.

On the men’s side, the Cowboys sit in third with 236 points. UNLV leads the way with 303 points while BYU is second at 285.5. Following the Pokes are Air Force (212.5), TCU (146), and Utah (136).

To start the winning ways, Stelow won the 50 freestyle MWC Championship in 22.45 seconds, which set a UW record and is also the fastest time in MWC history in that event.

Stelow and the Cowgirls won their second championship on the day in the 200 freestyle relay. Kelsey Conci, Shelby Bull, Kenzie Hewson, and Stelow not only broke the UW school record, but also set a new MWC record with a first place time of 1:30.55. The relay finished over a second ahead of second-place BYU and is also an NCAA provisional time.

“Cassie (Stelow) dominated the 50 freestyle from the start and smashed the old school record,” said an excited UW head coach Tom Johnson. “The relay was tremendous to watch and we dominated that from the start as well, finishing a full second ahead of second place. Currently, we rank 16th in that nation with that time, so we will wait and see if we can make NCAA’s.”

Senior Stephanie Ortiz and junior Lesley Young also broke UW records on Thursday.

On women’s three-meter springboard, Ortiz finished second with a total of 354.05 points and crushed the old school record she set last year at the conference meet at 325.90. Young also broke her own school record by placing fifth in the 200 IM at 2:01.93, an NCAA provisional time.

In the women’s 500 freestyle, junior Stephanie Vint and freshman Paige Fischer contributed, as Vint placed third in 4:49.76, while Fischer finished sixth in her first MWC Championships.

Also on three-meter diving, junior Allie Smith added an important fourth-place finish at 322.05.

“Stephanie Ortiz and Lesley Young did great and I was proud of their performances tonight,” Johnson said. “They were both against tough competition and battled their way through. Stephanie Vint and Paige Fischer did an awesome job today and had great swims as well. Allie Smith dove very well like she has all year and added great points for us”

The men’s 200 IM was full of Cowboys in the final round. Sophomore Brandon Fischer was fifth at 1:49.42, while fellow sophomore Marshall Dilworth was close behind in sixth (1:50.54) and freshman Kendrick Bachman was seventh (1:50.57).

The Cowboy distance swimmers were also strong in numbers in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Kyle Wemhoff made the final round and finished eighth in 4:34.22. Five Cowboys finished consecutively going 10th through 14th with Tyler Kybartas (4:30:43), Robbie Hilton (4:32.47), Brett Henehan (4:32.83), Tyler Davis (4:34.00), and Sam Holmes (4:34.59) respectively.

The Cowboy diving duo of Mark Murdock and Kyle Bogner had strong finishes on the men’s one-meter springboard. Murdock and Bogner were fourth and fifth respectively at 333.10 and 332.50.

“The men had a very solid day in the pool and on the diving boards,” Johnson said. “I was proud of our guys in the 500 freestyle. Kyle Wemhoff came from behind in a swim-off to qualify for the finals and did great. The IM”s were very good swims with Fischer, Dilworth, and Bachman. They raced very well. The divers did an awesome job and I was very proud of Mark (Murdock) and Kyle (Bogner) as they continue to be excellent divers.

“We will be ready for tomorrow and will look to take advantage of the opportunities we have. We look to move up in the standings and separate ourselves from everyone else and we can do that if we continue what we have done so far.”

Day three of the championships begin Friday with preliminary rounds at 9 a.m. Final rounds will follow later in the day.

Jackson sets UW mark

The University of Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls had a record performance on the first day of the Mountain West Conference Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday.

Junior Britney Jackson completed the women’s pentathlon with a final score of 3,388 points, a school record for the Cowgirls. She overcame Patty Harrington’s score of 3,340 set back in 1986. Jackson’s performance was enough to score her a point for the Cowgirls with an eighth-place finish.

“Britney competed very well today, and was in one of the strongest pentathlon fields ever,” said assistant coach Quincy Howe. “There are three individuals who have qualified for nationals in the field and Britney did a good job.”

Cowboy senior Jay Petsch is competing in his last heptathlon for the Cowboys, and after the first day, sits in third place with 2,818 points. On Thursday, he finished first in the long jump at 23-feet, 1 3/4 inches. Petsch will finish the competition Friday in the pole vault, the 60-meter hurdles and the 1,000-meter run.

“Jay had a solid day and now he controls his own destiny tomorrow, but has a very realistic shot at placing in the top of the group,” said Howe.

Friday will bring the rest of the field to action with many prelims in the track events and finals in a few of the field events.

WWC gets 14 spots for NCAAs

In an announcement made Thursday by the NCAA, the NCAA West Regional Tournament has been allocated 14 automatic qualifier spots for the 2010 Division I Wrestling Championships. Only members of the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) earn bids to the NCAA Tournament at that event.

Also released by the NCAA, the WWC had 22 wrestlers named in the final Coaches’ Panel Rankings and Rating Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2009-10 wrestling season.
The breakdown of the 14 automatic bids per weight class for the West Regional, and subsequently for the fourth-year league, were as follows: 125 pounds (2), 133 (1), 141 (3), 149 (1), 157 (1), 165 (1), 174 (2), 184 (1), 197 (1) and Heavyweight/285 (1).

Last season, the NCAA West Regional Tournament, at which all WWC institutions currently compete to qualify for nationals, was awarded 13 automatic qualifiers. The WWC was also given one additional at-large bid for a total of 14 spots.

The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming.

This year’s NCAA West Regional Tournament will take place March 6 in Brookings, S.D. and is hosted by South Dakota State University. The three-day, NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held in Omaha, Neb., March 18-20 at the Qwest Center Omaha.

Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. A threshold of a 0.725 winning percentage, top 28 in the RPI and top 28 in the coaches ranking was established to allocate 284 of the 330 championships field positions.

For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish.

After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.

Following is a list of WWC wrestlers in each weight class for both the coaches’ panel rankings, as well as RPI. Lists of complete rankings and RPI are attached…

Weight Class WWC Wrestler (Institution) Coaches’ Panel RPI
125 pounds
Ben Kjar (Utah Valley), No. 9, No. 14
Michael Martinez (Wyoming), No. 10, No. 12
133 pounds
Cory VomBaur (Wyoming), No. 20, No. 14
Flint Ray (Utah Valley), No. 31, No. 22
Ryan Jauch (Northern Iowa), NR , No. 31
141 pounds
Cole VonOhlen (Air Force), No. 18, No. 9
Kenny Hashimoto (Northern Colorado), No. 22, No. 14
Ryan Adams (North Dakota State) , No. 25, No. 17
149 pounds
Trent Washington (Northern Iowa), No. 30, NR
157 pounds
Tyson Reiner (Northern Iowa), No. 29, No. 21
Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado), No. 30, No. 14
Vincent Salminen (North Dakota State), NR, No. 24
165 pounds
Shane Onufer (Wyoming), No. 9, No. 4
Jeb Clark (Utah Valley), No. 32, NR
David Bonin (Northern Iowa), NR, No. 32
174 pounds
Jarion Beets (Northern Iowa), No. 24, No. 14
Brad Darrington (Utah Valley), No. 28, No. 26
Brock Smith (Wyoming), NR, No. 30
184 pounds
Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming), T No. 6, No. 7
197 pounds
Tyler Sorenson (South Dakota State), No. 29, No. 28
Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming), NR, No. 33
HWT (285)
Christian Brantley (Northern Iowa), No. 30, No. 33

Season ends for UW hockey

The University of Wyoming hockey club fell short in its bid to return to the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) National Championships.

Needing to win back-to-back games at the Division III Pacific Regional Tournament in Las Vegas, the Cowboys dropped a 4-1 decision against Dordt College of Iowa in Saturday's semifinals.

UW, which rallied to defeat Fresno State University in its Friday opener, finished 20-12 this season. The Blades beat Air Force 6-4 in their regional opener.

The Cowboys, who won the 2001 ACHA championship and finished second in 2002, have not qualified for nationals since 2006.

UW tennis falls to UC Santa Barbara

In their first home match of the spring, the Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team (2-2 overall) suffered a 5-2 loss against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday.

“We had some good individual performances, but as we all know, we score as a team,” said UW head coach Kati Gyulai. “We had another slow start in doubles. Our first serve percentage was somewhere in the mid 20s and we didn’t do our job pushing forward. I certainly credit UCSB for their clean performance.”

The Cowgirls were only able to come up with three wins during the match with the Gauchos. The doubles team of Sarah Summerfield and Kim van Ginkel grabbed the first win for Wyoming, defeating Bryanna Ojeda and Asagi Onaga, 8-5.

In singles action, Alexandra Kovacs and Kim van Ginkel also picked up wins for the Cowgirls. Kovacs in the number three position defeated Annabel Gledden in a tough three set match, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 10-3. van Ginkel also had to comeback after falling in the first set, 6-7, to take the next two 6-3, 11-9, over Tova Hausman.

The Cowgirls were defeated at the number one and three positions in doubles. At the number one position, Kovacs and Simona Synkova lost to Natalia Lozano and Jordan Dockendorf, 8-1. Rebecca Berger and Paloma Navarro were defeated by Tova Hausman and Sofia Novak, 8-5.

Wyoming would also lose four of six singles matches against the Gauchos. At the number one position, Summerfield was defeated by Lozano, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, as did Synkova in two sets, 6-3, 6-2, to Novak. Berger was defeated by Dockendorf, 6-2, 6-4, while Ojeda defeated Nemcova, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

The Cowgirls host the Northern Colorado Bears on Feb. 27. The match is set to begin at 11 a.m.

UW hockey rolls in regular-season finale

The University of Wyoming hockey club capped an undefeated home season with an 11-0 rout Friday night at the Laramie Community Ice Arena against the Colorado School of Mines.

In their regular-season finale, the Cowboys got three goals from Erik Blomberg (Parker, Colo.) and three assists from Tyler Yorke (Calgary, Alberta) en route to their seventh victory in Laramie. In those games, UW (19-11) outscored its opponents 48-12 -- highlighted by a 7-1 win Nov. 14 over the College of the Canyons, the top-ranked team in the Pacific Region of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).

Mitch Nelson (Sheridan) added two goals, his team-leading 20th and 21st of the season, for the Cowboys, and Elliott Bauder (Douglas), Willie Forbes (Casper), Willy Miller (Arvada, Colo.) and T.J. Peters (Jackson) each had a goal and an assist.

Michael Leriger (Houston, Texas) and Craig Luplow (Banner) also scored goals for UW, and Seth Farrell (Longmont, Colo.) and Cody Leeper (Jackson) each recorded a pair of assists.

The Cowboys travel to the ACHA Pacific Regional Tournament this week, needing two victories to qualify for the national championship tournament for the first time in four seasons. UW faces Fresno State at 9:45 a.m. MST Thursday in its first-round game.

The Cowboys defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 this season in the teams' only matchup.

The College of the Canyons and the University of Colorado earned the region's automatic bids to nationals. The top two finishers at regionals will also advance to the March 10-13 national championship event in Estero, Fla.

Cowboys roll on Senior Night

The University of Wyoming Wrestling team defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans (2-8-1), 28-13 on Senior Night in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Friday, improving their record to 11-3 overall.

Cowboy seniors Cory VomBaur and Alex Rieder competed in the last home dual of their UW careers. VomBaur wrestled Aaron Navarrete at 133 pounds, recording four takedowns and a reversal during the match and cruising to a 11-3 major decision for the Cowboys. Unfortunately, Rieder was not able to win his match with Todd Noel of the Titans at 174 pounds, wrestling tough for the Cowboys but losing in a decision to Noel, 10-5.

As a whole, the ‘Pokes won six of 10 bouts with the Titans, which included five bonus-point victories.

“Tonight was good and I’m proud of what we were able to do,” UW head coach Mark Branch said. “I think it was important to send the seniors out right. Rieder’s match didn’t end the way he wanted, but it was nice to have him out there representing us since he has meant so much for this program.

“That’s (aggressive wrestling) what we hope for. It was good to see Cory come out and open up. Overall, I’m proud of the way we competed.”

The dual began at heavyweight with Cowboy L.J. Helbig wrestling a tough match against the Titans’ No. 17-ranked Kurt Klimek. Helbig trailed the entire match, but closed the gap at the 6:55 mark of the match with a big takedown. Helbig would ultimately lose to Klimek by decision, 9-6

No. 12 Michael Martinez then battled Andre Gonzalez of the Titans at 125 pounds. Martinez controlled the entire match, taking his first lead at 2:28 with a takedown and never giving it up. Martinez wrestled his way to a major decision, 10-2.

Following VomBaur’s win, Cowboy Kasey Garnhart (141 pounds) wrestled up from his normal weight of 133 pounds for the third straight match. Garnhart lost, 9-1, in a major decision to No. 27 (NCAA Coaches’ Rankings) Adin Duenas.

The Cowboy’s Chase Smith, also wrestling up a weight class, could not avoid a second straight UW loss at 149 pounds. Smith wrestled Nick Jordan to a close 3-0 loss. After no scoring in the first period, a quick three-point nearfall from Jordan at the beginning of the second period proved to be the deciding moment of the match. Smith was close to nearfall points of his own in the second period, but time expired before the points could be awarded.

After that match, the Titans would take their second lead, 10-8, of the dual but they would not lead again. Wyoming would then win four of the next five matches.

Freshman Jimmy Belleville would wrestle his way to a solid victory over Steven De La Fuente at 157 pounds. Belleville came out early with a takedown at 1:07 and would earn two more takedowns and a reversal on his way to a 10-4 decision. That gave the Cowboys an 11-10 team lead over the Titans and UW would never let up.

No. 9-ranked Shane Onufer and No. 9 Joe LeBlanc would once again prove invaluable to the Cowboys, pinning both of their opponents. Onufer, at 165 pounds, wrestled Clayton Schuelke of the Titans and controlled his entire match, leading 11-3 before sticking his opponent at the 4:11 mark. Like Onufer, LeBlanc at the 184 pounds was controlling his match against Mark Savalle, leading 12-0, before pinning his opponent at 3:11. The win by fall was LeBlanc’s 10th of the season and Onufer’s pin was his eighth this season.

Rieder’s loss was sandwiched between Onufer and LeBlanc’s wins.

The final match of the evening was ay 197 pounds and it pitted UW’s Alfonso Hernandez against Ethan Weisrock. Hernandez would come out of the gate quickly with a takedown at :39 and would never look back. He would score five takedowns and three nearfalls on his way to winning by technical fall, 18-3.

“We trained right through this dual and we will do the same next week with the Air Force match-up,” Branch said. “Although our eyes are on the postseason right now, that match is important to us and we want to finish the dual season strong. Just like tonight, I will expect us to come out, perform well and dominate.”

Up next for the Cowboys, they will travel to Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Falcons Thursday at 7 p.m.