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Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver CLEVELAND (March 17, 2018) -- University of Wyoming senior and three-time All- American Bryce Meredith finished runner-up at the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at the Quicken Loans Arena. Meredith, the top seed at 141 pounds, dropped a 7-4 decision to Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis in the national finals. “Bryce wrestled very well,” UW head coach Mark Branch said. “For him to come back and secure a takedown against a guy that is very hard to takedown was incredibly impressive. He did some good things. Yianni (Diakomihalis) is so athletic and flexible that he can do a lot of crazy things. It was an exciting match for the fans but heartbreaking to say the least.” Meredith entered the finals looking to avenge his only loss of the regular season in this year’s Cliff Keen Invite. The two traded shots, but Diakomihalis struck first with a takedown early in the second period. Meredith quickly escaped and the two took the 2-1 score in to the third. Meredith choose down to start, escaped then scored a takedown for a 4-2 lead with 73 seconds left. Cornell’s freshman then added an escape of his own. After a wild scramble, Diakomihalis secured a cradle for two and added two nearfall points. He would hold on for the 7-4 decision victory. It was the second trip to the finals for the Cheyenne native, as he finished second as a sophomore in 2016. Meredith also became just the fourth grappler in program history to accumulate three of more All-American honors in their careers. He now joins Ballinger (1958-60), Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc (2009-12) in the exclusive club. The final resume for Meredith at Wyoming is no doubt one for the record books. He leaves with 94 wins at Wyoming, and 109 overall in his career. He and fellow senior Archie Colgan (157 pounds) became the first Cowboys to earn Big 12 titles in Tulsa, Okla., a few weeks ago and he was joined by redshirt freshman Montorie Bridges as an All-American this season. It became the first time since 2013 and fourth of last eight seasons Wyoming had two All-Americans. “He has nothing to be ashamed of as he’s obviously left la legacy on our program,”

Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver - Meredith Finishe… · Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver CLEVELAND (March 17, 2018) ... Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc

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Page 1: Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver - Meredith Finishe… · Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver CLEVELAND (March 17, 2018) ... Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc

From: Lincoln Joseph Mansch [email protected]: Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver

Date: March 17, 2018 at 9:10 PMTo: Lincoln Joseph Mansch [email protected]

Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver

CLEVELAND (March 17, 2018) -- University of Wyoming senior and three-time All-American Bryce Meredith finished runner-up at the 2018 NCAA WrestlingChampionships on Saturday night at the Quicken Loans Arena. Meredith, the top seedat 141 pounds, dropped a 7-4 decision to Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis in the nationalfinals. “Bryce wrestled very well,” UW head coach Mark Branch said. “For him to come backand secure a takedown against a guy that is very hard to takedown was incrediblyimpressive. He did some good things. Yianni (Diakomihalis) is so athletic and flexiblethat he can do a lot of crazy things. It was an exciting match for the fans butheartbreaking to say the least.”

Meredith entered the finals looking to avenge his only loss of the regular season in thisyear’s Cliff Keen Invite. The two traded shots, but Diakomihalis struck first with atakedown early in the second period. Meredith quickly escaped and the two took the 2-1score in to the third. Meredith choose down to start, escaped then scored a takedownfor a 4-2 lead with 73 seconds left. Cornell’s freshman then added an escape of hisown. After a wild scramble, Diakomihalis secured a cradle for two and added twonearfall points. He would hold on for the 7-4 decision victory. It was the second trip to the finals for the Cheyenne native, as he finished second as asophomore in 2016. Meredith also became just the fourth grappler in program history toaccumulate three of more All-American honors in their careers. He now joins Ballinger(1958-60), Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc (2009-12) in the exclusive club. The final resume for Meredith at Wyoming is no doubt one for the record books. Heleaves with 94 wins at Wyoming, and 109 overall in his career. He and fellow seniorArchie Colgan (157 pounds) became the first Cowboys to earn Big 12 titles in Tulsa,Okla., a few weeks ago and he was joined by redshirt freshman Montorie Bridges as anAll-American this season. It became the first time since 2013 and fourth of last eightseasons Wyoming had two All-Americans. “He has nothing to be ashamed of as he’s obviously left la legacy on our program,”

Page 2: Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver - Meredith Finishe… · Meredith Finishes Cowboy Career with Silver CLEVELAND (March 17, 2018) ... Reese Andy (1994-96) and Joe LeBlanc

“He has nothing to be ashamed of as he’s obviously left la legacy on our program,”Branch added. “Win or lose he goes out there and competes, throws it all on the line.I’m proud of the work he has done for himself, his family and our program. He electrifiedcollege wrestling and is one of the superstars. It’s pretty cool to see one of his peers tellhim he has changed the game. He has had that kind of impact on not only our program,but the sport.” Wyoming closes the 2017-18 tied with North Carolina for 18th place in Cleveland, afourth-place finish at Big 12s, two Big 12 champions, and two All-Americans. It was the20th top-25 finish and third in a row for the Brown and Gold. 141 pounds: No. 1 Bryce Meredith - 4-1Champ. Round 1: Meredith dec. Colton Schilling (Cal Poly), 5-1Champ. Round 2: Meredith dec. Vincent Turk (Iowa), 5-2Quarterfinals: Meredith fall Sa’Derian Perry (EMU), 1:36Semifinals: Meredith dec. No. 4 Joey McKenna (OSU), 1-0Finals: No. 3 Yianni Diakomihalis dec. Meredith, 7-4 NCAA Championship Results:125: No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. No. 4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers), 5-1133: No. 1 Seth Gross (SDSU) dec. No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan), 13-8141: No. 3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. No. 1 Bryce Meredith, 7-4149: No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) dec. No. 15 Ronnie Perry (Lehigh), 6-2157: No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) dec. No. 1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State), 6-2165: No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) dec. Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), 6-1174: No. 1 Zahid Valencia (ASU) dec. Mark Hall (Penn State), 8-2184: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) fall No. 2 Myles Martin (OSU), 2:29197: No. 4 Michael Macchiavello (NC State) dec. No. 3 Jordan Haught (VaTech), 3-1285: No. 1 Kyle Snyder (OSU) dec. No. 2 Adam Coon (Minn), 3-1 Final Team Standings:1: Penn State -141.5 points2: Ohio State - 133.53: Iowa - 974: Michigan - 804: NC State - 806: Missouri - 61.57: Cornell - 488: Virginia Tech - 47.58: Nebraska - 4710: Arizona State - 43T18: Wyoming - 27T18: North Carolina -27 Total Tournament Attendance: 113,743 Lincoln ManschAssistant Director, Media and Public RelationsUniversity of Wyoming Athletics1000 E. University Avenue | Laramie, Wyoming 82071Office: (307) 766-2257 | Cell: (406) 396-7381

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Office: (307) 766-2257 | Cell: (406) 396-7381