It is official. The Colorado Mesa University inaugural Women’s Wrestling team is about to enter their inaugural season. Under head coach Travis Mercado, the team is looking to perform strong and make a true example for women and girls all around Colorado. So, who exactly makes up this revolutionary team of women at CMU?
The wrestling team currently has 12 athletes on the active roster. In the future of the program, Mercado hopes to reach 30 members of the team but in the baby steps of this new athletic team, 12 is a fantastic starting point.
“I plan on recruiting 12 to 15 more,” Mercado said. “Having that amount of bodies, it brings a good environment to practice. When you have 10 people, it can be hard to get the energy going. With 30 people it is much easier to keep the energy flowing.”
Recruiting the women took CMU recruiters all around the United States, pulling wrestlers from five different states. From the home state of Colorado: Ashley Keenan, Karen Acosta-Reyes, Marissa Gallegos, Kaylee Lacey, Carson Pipher, Taylor Sickels and Emily Clawson. From Wyoming came Madison Gines. Out of Texas is Sierra Brown Ton and Alma Mendoza resides in Washington while both Shelbi Tomita and Amber Strong come from Hawaii.
Pulling talent from all over the country, Mercado had a clear idea of the team that he wanted to build to make up the forewomen of the burgeoning team.
“I am a very competitive person and coming here, I wanted to be competitive right away,” Mercado said. “I made sure to find the right girls, the ones that saw the vision in the long term. I was looking for girls of character, of academic excellence, motivation to succeed and girls that were not afraid to be challenged because if they aren’t willing to challenge themselves, there is no growth.”
This inaugural team is full of amazing talent. Wrestlers like Sierra Brown Ton, Marissa Gallegos and Madison Gines will be the faces to watch as all are coming in with accolades beyond compare.
Brown Ton is a four-time All American as well as a five-time Freestyle Texas State Champion. Gallegos won a Colorado state championship at Jefferson High School and was a national runner-up. Gines, who may be the most impressive out of all, is a seven-time All American, won two national titles, and four state championships in folkstyle wrestling.
Some of the wrestlers on the team do not have much wrestling experience but have collegiate athletic experience in other sports. Senior Carson Pipher played for the CMU women’s basketball team and the women’s rugby team before making the switch to wrestling.
“The girls are excited,” Mercado said. “They are excited that they just get to be part of history here. They are more nervous about the first home duel and everyone coming than actually wrestling someone. It is a general attitude of ‘this is awesome and now young girls can have role models.’”
The opening meet for the Mavericks will take place on Oct. 27 at Brownson Arena against Wayland Baptist University at 2 p.m.
