Las Vegas: The NMHU Wrestling team competed in the University of Wyoming’s “Cowboy Open” on Nov. 15 in Laramie, Wyo. Three Cowboys came back with some hardware from the forty team tournament. Returning NCAA tournament qualifier Jesse Boggs took second place in the 285 pound elite division, All-American Jesse Feinsod garnered fourth place in the 174 pound elite division and red-shirt freshman heavyweight Louis Thornton finished in second place in the amateur division.

Boggs started out the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Jacob Scharbrough from the University of Wyoming. His next match pitted him against University of Great Falls heavyweight Brad Fraser. Boggs would defeat Fraser by a 7-3 decision. That win put Boggs in the championship semifinals where he faced Brandon Hudburgh and would eventually defeat Hudburgh 8-4. That win put Boggs in the championship match where faced Landon Harris of NW Wyoming CC and would eventually lose a tough battle for the championship by a 1-0 decision. Boggs would end the tournament with a second place finished and a 3-1 record.
Feinsod earned his medal the hard way as he had to fight his way back in the consolation bracket to take fourth place in the 174 pound weight class. Feinsod started out with a win by pinning Jameon Rush of Hastings College. He would then get pinned by Shane Onufer from the University of Wyoming in the championship quarterfinals. That loss would put Feinsod in the consolation bracket. His first match in the consolation bracket was against Andre Harris who he handled easily winning by technical fall 19-2. He would post two more wins by decision as he knocked off Hintz Dallas from the University of Wyoming (11-3) and #7 Nate Lee from Boise State University (5-3). Feinsod then found himself in the third place match where he lost by pin to Alex Reider from the University of Wyoming. Feinsod would end the tournament with a fourth place finish and a 4-2 record.

Thornton wrestled in the Amateur 285 pound division and finished second overall. Thornton posted his first win over Dylan Clark with a 3-0 decision. He would then follow it up with a 2-0 decision win over Rusty Farnsworth from Western Wyoming CC 2-0. In the semi-finals Thornton was matched up against Matt Foxworthy and handled him with a 4-2 decision to take him to the amateur 285 pound championship match. In the finals Thornton faced Christian Flavin of the University of Nebraska-Kearney whom he lost to in a 3-0 decision.
As a team the Cowboys finished with 240 points overall. The Cowboys will be in action again on Nov. 23 when they travel to Greeley, Colo. to take part in the University of Northern Colorado Open.

Other NMHU wrestlers that competed in the “Cowboy Open” were:

Amateur Division:                                                  Elite Division:
Wt. Class     Name                    Record                  Wt. Class          Name              Record
125                   Mark Molina                  5-2                     157                  Trey Saxon            0-2
133                   Donovan Troup            3-2                     174                  Jesse Feinsod         4-2    4th Place
141                   Kasey Urquhart           0-2                      285                  Jesse Boggs            3-1    2nd Place
149                   Zach Armijo                  2-2
157                   Frank Shanley             1-2
157                   Robert Rodriguez       2-2
165                   Jarrod Purvis               1-2
184                   Mark Eder                     2-2
184                   Andrew Roden            1-2
184                   Mark Martinez               0-2
197                   Luke McPeek               2-2
285                   Louis Thornton            3-1 2nd Place