Entering 2016, the Wyoming Cowboys had won a combined 11 games in the previous three seasons. This year, the Cowboys were able to turn it around, winning eight games and playing for a Mountain West title. Despite the loss in that game and last night in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, two Texans on the defensive side of the ball were big contributors to their success this season.
Defensive tackle Chase Appleby was a force in the middle for the Cowboys. The nose tackle from Frisco Centennial finished with 29 tackles on the year, but he had a big hand in two big wins for Wyoming. He returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown in a win at Colorado State and his strip sack Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien for a safety late in the game sealed one of the biggest wins in recent years for the program.
Unfortunately for Appleby, he injured his MCL against San Diego State on Nov. 19 on Senior Day and missed the rest of the season. But, as he told the Casper Star-Tribune after the injury, “you can’t ask for anything better after what we’ve been through.”
Linebacker Lucas Wacha also was an important piece for the Cowboys defense. If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because his older brother Michael is currently a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. But, The middle linebacker from Texarkana and Pleasant Grove High School capped off a year where he finished with over 100 tackles this season.
Last night against BYU, Wacha finished with four tackles, one for a loss and also recovered a fumble in the first quarter on a wet night in San Diego. The Cowboys’ defense played well late rallying from a 24-7 rally, but ultimately came up just short.
Even though their college careers are now over, both Appleby and Wacha will be remembered as part of a senior class that left the Wyoming Cowboys program in a better place now then when they first got to campus.
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