GOLDEN, Colo. Mountaineer wrestling finished out its regular season schedule Sunday as the program's reserves and redshirts participated in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, hosted by Colorado School of Mines.
Western Colorado pushed one wrestler into a championship match, two others into 3rd/4th-place matches, and three more into 5th/6th-place bouts.
Jacob McCarley went the furthest in the brackets for the Mountaineers, advancing to the championship match at 141 pounds.
His march toward the finals opened with a pair of technical falls – one in the second period and the next in the third – before an 11-5 decision over teammate Logan Branigan in the semifinals.
McCarley's run ended, though, when he was pinned in the second period of the final, earning a second-place finish.
Branigan's route to the semifinal was also a strong showing, beginning with a 15-0 tech fall in just 1 minute, 43 seconds, the fastest tech fall at the tournament. He advanced again with a second-period pin before dropping the semifinal decision to McCarley.
In the 3/4 match, Branigan fell behind 5-0 in the second, giving up a reversal in the period that turned into a loss by fall that left him in fourth place in the 141 bracket.
Kai Saito, after an opening round bye, registered a third-period pin in the second round but dropped his semifinal match in the 184 bracket then lost a 12-2 major decision in the 3/4 bout to also finish the day in fourth place.
Pratt Williams had earned an 18-0 tech fall to start his day in the same bracket but was bounced to the consolation side of the bracket by a 4-2 decision in the next round.
He scored two majors to advance into the 5/6 match where he was pinned in the first round, finishing in sixth place overall.
The two other Mountaineers who were in their respective 5/6 matches were able to win their bouts for fifth-place finishes. Tannen Kennedy scored a 6-5 decision at 157, and Ryan Dirksen registered a second-period pin in the 165 bracket.
NEXT UP
Western will participate in the NCAA Division II Super Region VI Tournament on March 2 in Pueblo, Colorado.
