Mark Branch

Biography

Mark Branch enters his 19th year with the program. He has taken Wyoming wrestling to new heights in nearly two decades at the school. Branch's resume includes a record 159-99, making him the winningest head coach in program history. He has coached two NCAA finalists, 21 All-Americans, 91 NCAA qualifiers and 29 conference champions. On the team side of things, Branch was named 2018 Big 12 Coach of the Year and guided the Pokes to six team conference championships. Branch came to Wyoming from Oklahoma State where he was the associate head coach for six years, as well as a four-time NCAA finalist as a student-athlete. He was part of five NCAA team championships as a coach and student-athlete at OSU. As a college wrestler, Branch was a member of the Cowboys' 1994 NCAA Championship team, and served on the coaching staff for OSU's 2002, 03, 04 and 05 NCAA titles. While competing for OSU, Branch was a four-time NCAA All-American (1994-97), four-time NCAA national finalist (1994-97), two-time NCAA national champion at 167 pounds (1994 and 97) and a two-time national freestyle All-American (1998 and 99). In 1997, he was named the Big 12 Athlete of the Year, OSU Student-Athlete of the Year and the top graduating senior for OSU wrestling. As a member of the Oklahoma State coaching staff, Branch was named the NWCA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004. He helped coach OSU to seven Big 12 titles, four NCAA Championships and three Dual Team Championships. He was named the Associate Head Coac