LARAMIE – Bryce Meredith vividly remembers the first time he heard the University of Wyoming wrestling team would take on Oklahoma State in a dual in Cheyenne.
No. 23-ranked UW hosts No. 3 Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. today at Storey Gym in a Big 12 conference dual.
The former Cheyenne Central standout and current two-time UW All-American said a lot of emotions poured through him that day, including excitement, nervousness, stress and elation.
But in the end, one emotion overtook the UW senior – pride.
“Cheyenne supports me so much win or lose,” Meredith said. “It’s kind of my farewell to the city. It’s pretty special to get a chance to wrestle in Cheyenne. It’s the perfect story if we can end up winning.”
And it’s not just the fact that Meredith and UW are wrestling Oklahoma State in Cheyenne, it’s also who Meredith will face.
Tonight will be the only time Meredith will wrestle OSU’s Dean Heil – the two-time NCAA defending national champion and current No. 1 at 141 pounds – during the regular season.
Meredith, who is ranked No. 4, beat No. 2 Kevin Jack of North Carolina State and No. 5 Jaydin Eierman of Missouri on Sunday at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nevada, to win the 141-pound title.
In fact, Meredith has wins over almost every top 141 pounder since transferring back to UW as a sophomore. All except one.
Heil.
Meredith is 0-4 all-time against Heil, but all of the matches have been close – really close.
Meredith lost twice to Heil last season, 7-5 during the regular season and 10-7 in the Big 12 championship match.
Two years ago Meredith and Heil met in the 141 NCAA final, with Heil winning 3-2. Meredith also fell 5-4 during the regular season.
“There’s more to this match than just wrestling for Cheyenne,” Meredith said. “(Heil) took a national title away from me, so there’s a lot going into that match. You love this; you love this pressure so make this be the time to use it.
“I won’t get this again until nationals honestly. I really hope I can use it to my advantage.”
A little pressure might be a good thing for Meredith.
Meredith has always seemed to wrestle at his best in the biggest matches. He’s 8-3 in his career at the NCAA Championships with an overall record of 73-14 in his two-plus seasons with UW.
“Bryce has never shied away from the spotlight and the fans, and if they show up he always performs well under pressure,” UW coach Mark Branch said. “Bryce has always enjoyed being in the spotlight. Maybe it’s something that can give him that extra little boost that he needs against Dean.
“Once he breaks through and beats him, he’ll realize even more so that he can do it the next time as well.”
As a team, UW is coming off a second-place finish at the Reno tournament with junior 165-pounder Branson Ashworth and redshirt freshman 133-pounder Montorie Bridges joining Meredith as tournament champions.
Seniors Archie Colgan (157) and Chaz Polson (184) placed third in the tournament as UW scored 140 points, second only to North Carolina State’s 192.
Tonight’s dual features two teams who’ve been on the mat a lot in the past couple of days. While UW sent its entire starting lineup to Reno, OSU sent a partial team and also handled Northern Colorado 37-4 on Monday night.
Eight of OSU’s 10-man starting lineup are ranked in the top 10, including four in the top 5: No. 3 Nick Piccininni (125), No. 3 Kaid Brock (133) and No. 4 Preston Weigel (197), in addition to Heil.
With UW finishing up final exams today, Branch was worried there wouldn’t be many students around to attend tonight’s dual had it remained in Laramie. With UW wrestling being one of the top outreach athletic programs within the school, it made sense to move it to Cheyenne.
“When we looked at the outreach opportunity, we felt it could do very well,” Branch said. “We turned a possible bad situation into a great environment, hopefully. We didn’t want to wrestle the No. 3 team in the country in an empty gym.
“Our fans travel so much for football and basketball and wrestling, and it’s always hard in the winter. For us to have the opportunity to go to them and expose ourselves to a different fan base is great.”
Throw in having one of the top national matches of the regular season in the hometown of the one of the nation’s top wrestlers, and it feels like a home run.
“I’ve heard a lot of people who say they’re coming,” Meredith said. “A lot of people don’t even get to wrestle for their home state, let alone their city.”
“It’s great to give back to a city and state that’s done so much for me.”
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