Friday’s matchup against #2 Nebraska-Kearney was all a fan could ask for. Colorado Mesa University went to work and took the Lopers to task, defeating the No. 2 team in the nation 24-13 while creating an electric atmosphere in Brownson Arena.
Perhaps the match that elicited the loudest cheers of the night was freshman Seth Latham’s last-second 3-1 victory decision over #5 Zach Stodden at 174 pounds.
Lathan, wrestling in his first collegiate match, kept an aggressive Stodden from gaining an advantage early. Stodden was able to secure a point just before the third period, but it was all Lathan after that. The freshman registered a takedown to knot the score at 1-1, and by keeping Stodden at arms length Lathan made a swim move to take Stodden to the ground again with three seconds left and earn the victory. The crowd erupted with the Maverick bench flying out of their seats in celebration of the comeback win.
“Knowing how big of a dual this was and how high up [Nebraska-Kearney] is seeded I just knew I had to come together with the team and get this win,” Lathan said. “Push through it and get that takedown.”
“Big win for Seth Latham,” Head coach Chuck Pipher said. “That’s your first career match in college and he knocks off the number five kid. That’s a fifth-year senior, that’s a two time All-American. That was huge for Seth Latham.”
The match was competitive throughout with both wrestlers fighting to gain small advantages and expose any weakness they could find.
“It was a gut grinder. It’s a grind,” Pipher said. “[Latham] stayed in his face and stayed consistent. He kept hitting that shot and once he got that single those are things that we work on. You gotta keep that foot moving and he got that single and boom, he kept it going.”
Although early in his collegiate career, Latham’s confidence is as high as you would expect from a competitor looking to make an early mark on his competition.
“Wrestling is all a mental sport,” Latham said. “Before I go on the matt I’m telling myself I’m going to win and talk myself through what I’m going to do, go out there and do what I need to do to get the win.”
Not to be outdone, at 157 pounds, #11 Payton Tawater defeated #1 Matt Malcom, who come into the match with a 3-0 record. Tawater came out of the gates in a fury, gaining a 10-1 advantage after the first period. Tawater’s patience and quick approach allowed him to get underneath Malcom several times.
Malcom, who finished fourth at nationals last season, showed off his talent with a key reversal to escape further damage. However, Tawater was in a groove and secured a sizeable 15-4 lead late in the third. Malcom made a late run with a 4-point near fall in thefinal period but it was too late as Tawater secured a 15-11 decision.
“Tawater beat [Malcom] last year and that kid is for real, he’s an All-American,” Pipher said. “He did a great job and kept that momentum going.”
No. 12 Jason Buhr won by 12-5 decision over Terrell Garraway at 165 pounds to give CMU a 15-9 lead. With the score at 4-4, Buhr notched a key takedown to move up 6-4 and followed that with another takedown to open the score to 8-4. Buhr stayed in position and kept Garraway on the ground to ride out the 12-5 victory.
The Mavericks forfeited at 125 pounds, but Tim Romero started off the big night with a 9-7 sudden victory decision over JD Rader after falling behind 4-1 in the 133-pound match. Romero secured three straight takedowns and a deciding takedown with 33 seconds left in overtime.
Nolan Krone and Anthony Lodermeier both won their matches at 184 and 197. Krone won by 8-1 decision and had complete control over JJ Clark with Clark on his back for most of the match. Lodermeier was nifty and worked a reversal to take an 8-4 lead after Jace Lacaille made a swim move to make it 6-4. Lodermeier won by 8-4 decision.
At 141 pounds came the only pin of the night when Eduardo Penha had the Loper’s Wesley Dawkins in a bind with 33 seconds remaining in the third. The win was Penha’s second straight victory by pin.
“What we’re doing in the (practice) room is showing,” Lathan said. “Working hard and making sure we’re doing everything to get the wins like this we need to get.”
“The guys wrestled well, I‘m really proud of them,” Pipher said. “We gotta keep going now. It’s harder to beat guys while on top that it is to get there. But it was a good win for these guys and they worked hard and they deserve it.”
