The Wyoming Cowboy wrestling team will begin their 2011 WWC action and title defense this weekend as they travel to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley. 

Wyoming enters the weekend coming off a 2-1 dual performance in California that included a narrow 18-19 loss to Cal Poly last Friday, followed by two dominating performances Saturday—a 41-6 win over Cal State Fullerton and a 33-9 win over San Francisco State. The Cowboys are 6-4 in duals this season.

Utah Valley has already defeated conference opponent Northern Colorado on Jan. 7 by a score of 25-13. They are coming off two close dual wins against the Citadel and Appalachain State last weekend in Arlington, Texas. 

Also in Arlington, the University of Nebraska defeated the Wolverines 22-12. Comparing similar opponents is not always an accurate indicator of success, but Wyoming fell to Nebraska 20-12 back in December.

“I would say there’s probably five to six matches that would be considered toss ups, looking back at our dual from last year we won the toss ups and that made the difference in the team score,” said head coach Mark Branch of this weekend’s matchup.

Wyoming brings five wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes to Utah: No. 18 Michael Martinez at 125 pounds, No.18 Tyler Cox at 133 pounds, No. 19 Cole Dallaserra at 149 pounds, Shane Onufer, No. 6 at 165 pounds, and Joe LeBlanc, No. 5 at 184 pounds according to InterMat polls.

Two ranked Cowboys will match up with ranked Utah Valley wrestlers.

Martinez will face Utah Valley’s No. 14 Ben Kjar, and Cox will take on Utah Valley’s Flint Ray, ranked No. 13 in the nation.

Cox, a redshirt freshman and a  native of Gillette, and Martinez have shuffled between the 125 and 133 class this year in duals. Cox went undefeated last weekend at 133, a performance that included a 6-5 decision over No. 10 ranked Filip Novochkov of Cal Poly.

“I don’t mind [moving up], if it’s helping our team,” Cox said. “I’m not coming in and saying ‘well 25s is my spot that’s where I want to be’. Thirty threes need someone to wrestle there.  I’m there to wrestle, it’s kind of that team unity thing. I’m here for our team and I want our team to succeed.”

Martinez returned from an injury in December and has wrestled at 125 since then.

Last season at home, the Cowboys defeated the Wolverines soundly, 37-3. This year the Wolverines are ranked 42nd as a team, and Branch isn’t letting his wrestlers underestimate Utah Valley.

“They’re a much improved team, and they’ve had a good year so far. So we’ve got to make sure, obviously going into their place, we’ve got to be prepared to go battle and win those toss-ups and win those close matches,” said Branch. “It could be a 5-5 split, but if we win the close ones we can separate the score, and that’s going to be important for us. We don’t want to leave anything to chance on the road so we need to make sure and take care of business and not let anything get away from us.”

Cox said he thinks his team is improving as they get further into duals, and that it is a result of team unity.

 “We’re wrestling for each other now instead of just for ourselves,” Cox said. “I think that’s helping us out quite a bit. Losing a match and kind of having the feeling of, ‘oh I just lost a match no big deal’, it’s harder to lose the match and know that that match could have cost your team the dual. I think it makes each of us push each other harder in here [practice] so we don’t lose those matches, so we’re winning.”

The Cowboys will dual Utah Valley at 7 p.m. Saturday in Orem. 

The action can be followed online at http:// www.uvu.edu/broadcast/uvu_remote_embed.