Bryce Meredith


Bryce Robert Meredith is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He is a three-time NCAA Division I All-American and a Big 12 Conference champion.

Folkstyle career

High School

Meredith attended Cheyenne Central High School in the state of Wyoming. He went on to become a four-time state champion with a record of 123 wins and 8 defeats. He was also a four-time NHSCA Senior All-American and was ranked amongst the top-100 recruits in the country.

University

NC State

Meredith then committed to North Carolina State University as a class of 2014 recruit. He competed for just one season as a Wolfpack at 133 pounds and compiled 15 wins and 6 losses during regular season, but was not on the starting lineup for the NCAA championships.

University of Wyoming

After just one year attending NCSU, he transferred to his local state, Wyoming. His coaches from both universities explain that Meredith was feeling homesick and it was affecting him and his performance.
As a sophomore, he quickly made a difference from last year, going up in the rankings from #31 to #5, finishing the season with 29 wins and 5 losses and winning a bronze medal at the Big 12 Conference. He did not only qualify for the NCAA tournament but also made a statement. As the fourteenth seed, he went on to defeat the second, third and sixth seeds to make it to the finals, where he faced the first seed and eventual two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil and lost by points. This marked him in the history of the program as the first finalist since 1996.
As a junior, he opened up the season with a Northern Colorado Open title and compiled a dual-meet record of 11-3. In the post-season, he made the finals of the Big 12's where he faced Dean Heil, whom he had lost to at last year's NCAA finals. He was once again defeated on points, earning runner-up honors and an automatic qualification ticket for the NCAA's. At the tournament, he was the number teen seed and as such, he defeated three opponents including the second seed before falling to the sixth seeded wrestler in the semifinals. Due to his last match's result, he was thrown to the semis consolation bracket, where he defeated Jaydin Eierman to make it to the bronze medal match, where he was pinned by the second seed, whom he had beaten before, placing fourth.
Meredith had his most successful season as a senior. He opened up with a victory over ninth-ranked Chase Red from Nebraska and then went on to compete at the Cliff Keen Invitational, where he lost to two-time cadet World Champ and fifth seed Yianni Diakomihalis in the semifinals and placed third. He then dominated the rest of the regular season, claiming an RTOC title and posting a 16-0 record at duals, with notable wins over top-ranked Seth Gross, second-ranked Jaydin Eierman and two-time defending NCAA champion Dean Heil. In the post-season, he once again defeated Heil in the Big 12 finals to claim his first title of the tournament. He entered the NCAA championships as the top-seed and defeated three unseeded opponents until the semifinals, where he defeated Joey McKenna to reach the finale. He lost his final match against Yianni Diakomihalis, the only man to beat Meredith as a senior.
Overall, Meredith is a two-time NCAA finalist, three-time All-American and a Big 12 champion with a record of 108 wins and 21 losses.

Freestyle career

Junior

Despite not competing in freestyle regularly, he placed fifth and third at the USAW Fargo Nationals and was also a Wyoming state champion.

Senior

2018

Meredith made his senior debut in Russia at the Alans International, where he lost his only match.

2019

A month later, he competed at the Dave Schultz Memorial International and claimed a bronze medal, after losing his semifinal match and defeating two other wrestlers in the consolation bracket.
He then made an appearance at the US Open, where he went 2-2 and did not place. After his performance at the US Open, he attended the Last Chance Qualifier for the World Team Trials In an attempt to make the team, but was stopped by Dean Heil.
Seven months later, he competed at the Bill Farrell, and despite showing notable improvements by teching Heil, he did not place.
He went on to compete at the US Nationals, where he performed outstandingly in comparison to his last appearances. He opened up by teching three-time MSHSAA and two-time USAW National champion Josh Saunders and once again two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil before being stopped by the eventual winner of the Nationals Jordan Oliver. He then continued to tech his competition in the consolation brackets, once again defeating Saunders and also three-time All-American Ethan Lizak before being defeated himself by two-time cadet World Champ and NCAA champ and Yianni Diakomihalis. He was defeated again by Olympian Frank Molinaro in a close 6-7 decision to place sixth.

2020

Meredith travelled to Cuba to attend the Granma y Cerro Pelado International in February. He started up with a win but went on to lose his next two matches before winning the bronze-medal match.

Personal life

Meredith is expected to make the transition into mixed martial arts after the 2020 Olympics. He has verbally stated that this decision was "written in stone" and he has "known it his entire life". Additionally, his dog was named Rampage after Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Freestyle record

! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Havana, Cuba
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Fort Worth, Texas
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
New York City, New York
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Las Vegas, Nevada
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Colorado Springs, Colorado
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Vladikavkaz, Russia

NCAA record

! colspan="8"| NCAA Championships Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 NCAA Championships at 141 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 NCAA Championships 4th at 141 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2016 NCAA Championships at 141 lbs

Stats

! Season
! Year
! School
! Rank
! Weigh Class
! Record
! Win
! Bonus