Natrona County grad Jordan Bertagnole continues to grow as a Cowboy

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - University of Wyoming’s spring football practice got underway in Laramie last week. Jordan Bertagnole, a Casper native and Natrona County High School graduate, was one of many Cowboys itching to get back on the field.

“You just go to bed knowing it’s a workday the next day,” said Bertagnole about the excitement of getting out on the field for the first time in 2022.

The former Mustang has grown up quite a bit since arriving in the Gem City in 2019. He missed spring camp in 2021, but his impact was felt on the field in the fall.

In his third season in the brown and gold, Bertagnole registered 39 total tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. He also scooped up a fumble and caused one in road games at Air Force and Utah State.

With the departure of many veterans on the defensive line like Garrett Crall, Bertagnole will be one of the more experienced Cowboy defensive linemen going forward. The sophomore defensive tackle, who arrived at UW as a defensive end, said Crall had a big impact on him.

“He was kind of like that role model for me, and so whenever I look up to him, I was always like, ‘Okay well I wanna do what he’s doing. I wanna be that guy like that you can count on.’”

Crall participated in the UW 2022 NFL Pro Day last week, which Bertagnole said was a “good feeling” being able to watch his old teammate put on a show for NFL scouts.

It will also give Bertagnole a chance to become more of a leader.

“We kinda need to take [the younger guys] under our wing and kinda get them rolling making sure that we can trust them on defense when we’re out there.”

Bertagnole and the rest of the defensive line will have time to build trust over the month of April during spring practice. The spring practice schedule concludes with the annual Brown and Gold game, which is open to the public at War Memorial Stadium on April 30.

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