Laramie – Wade Betschart knew it was going to happen. Devin Moore and Mike Medina weren’t really expecting it. And Sean Claffey never thought about it.
That is what was going through the minds of those four veteran Wyoming football players when the team met Sunday night to cast their votes for team captains for this season.
Each player on the team was asked to vote for two guys. But since so many leaders have emerged on this particular team over the past year, once the votes were counted, they were equally distributed among the four players.
So coach Joe Glenn and his staff decided to go with quad-captains. And they will get their first shot at displaying their new roles Saturday when Wyoming opens the season hosting Virginia.
“I kind of expected it because I know my teammates look up to me and look to me for guidance,” said Betschart, a tight end from Torrington who came to Wyoming as a walk-on. “It’s a real honor that my teammates think that highly of me.
“Four-and-a-half years ago I came here as a freshman walk-on and now I’m a senior team captain. It’s a real good feeling to know that I have accomplished that much in my career here.”
Moore, an elusive running back from Indianapolis, felt the odds were against him because he is only a junior and the squad has plenty of senior leaders.
“I was a bit surprised,” Moore said. “I think it is great that the guys on the team look to me as being one of the top leaders.”
Medina, a senior cornerback who played at Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, thought the team would elect only two captains – one on offense and one on defense – as they did last year with Chase Johnson and John Wendling.
“I really had no idea that I would even be considered in the voting,” Medina said. “It’s truly a dream come true, though. There are just so many people in the history of Wyoming football that have been named captain of the team, and I’m glad to be part of the tradition. I’m glad my teammates look up to me as a leader. … That means a whole lot to me, and I’m not going to let them down.”
Claffey, a speedy outside linebacker who played at Fruita-Monument, didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about being voted as a captain.
“Being a senior, being an older guy on the team and having experience on the field, I just kind of fell into a leadership role over the summer,” Claffey said. “It’s just a tremendous honor to know that the team has that kind of respect for me.”
