Las Vegas, NM: The NMHU Cowboy Wrestling team will begin their 2009-10 season this weekend as they travel to Laramie, Wyo. to compete in the University of Wyoming Cowboy Open. Last year the Cowboys finished in 8th place at the RMAC Tournament and in the top 20 at the NCAA Division II National Tournament. This year, the Cowboys were pegged at a ninth place finish in the RMAC ahead of CSU-Pueblo and Grand Canyon University. There are 11 members of the RMAC for wrestling.
In the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association Preseason poll the Cowboys received votes for the top 20 teams in the nation. Two Cowboys were ranked in the top of their respective weight classes. The lone returning All-American Luke McPeek at 197 lbs is ranked 3rd in the Nation after his 6th place finish at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Tournament. Also ranked in the top of the nation for the Cowboys is Jesse Boggs. Boggs went out early in the National tournament finishing 1-2, is sitting at 8th in the Preseason Wrestling Poll.
RMAC competitors University Nebraska- Kearney and Adams State College are pegged to finish 4th and 5th, respectively, at the National Tournament. Adams State College and Western State College were chosen to finish 1st and 2nd in the RMAC with UNK coming in at 3rd place.
The Cowboys have many returners and new faces to their program for the 2009-2010 season. The Pokes look to make their way through the tough RMAC with seven of the RMAC teams ranked ahead of them in the National poll.