The No. 12 ranked Men’s wrestling team won both of their final regular season duals to clinch their third straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championship. The Mavericks beat long-time rival Western Colorado University (WCU) and then traveled to Chadron, Nebraska where they took down Chadron State College (CSC).
The Feb. 9 duel against WCU may have been the most anticipated matchup in recent memory. Having lost a non-RMAC dual against the Mountaineers earlier this season on Dec. 1 with a dismal 27-9 performance, the Mavericks avenged themselves in dramatic fashion during the Bank of Colorado Battle in Brownson against their biggest wrestling foe.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) trailed almost the whole evening before winning three straight bouts to steal the win from WCU’s fingertips.
Junior Patrick Allis gave the Mountaineers an early 3-0 lead after upsetting sixth ranked redshirt sophomore Dawson Collins 9-5 in a minor decision win at the 125 pound bout. Despite the loss, Collins did show improvement versus Allis who beat him 15-6 back in their Dec. matchup.
Ninth ranked Collin Metzgar, however, evened the team score at 3-3 after defeating Alex Alvarez 4-1. Metzgar’s win must have been all the sweeter considering Alvarez upset the redshirt senior 4-2 last time out.
The Mountaineers would then claim the next four of five bouts at 141, 149, 165, and 174 pounds to go up big with just three matches remaining. CMU’s only win during this stretch was thanks to another good showing from redshirt sophomore 157-pounder Ryan Wheeler. Wheeler defended his sixth-place national ranking when he beat Ryan Wilson 4-1.
Down 17-6, the Mavericks needed not just three straight wins, but also some bonus points to go along with them if they wanted a chance to scrape out the victory. CMU did just that as they would win via minor decision and two pins during the remaining matches.
Redshirt sophomore Jason Bynarowicz put momentum back in CMU’s favor by taking down redshirt junior Hayden Johnson 5-3. The 184-pounder improved his season record to 14-7 with the win.
Redshirt sophomore Kash Anderson then pinned WCU’s Pratt Williams in the third period to cut the Mountaineer lead to just 2 before the final heavy-weight showdown. Redshirt freshman ensured the comeback by pinning sophomore Zach Shraeder who he previously lost to 3-2. The clutch win was enjoyed by a packed Maverick home-crowd as CMU won 21-17.
Two days later, CMU made the long road-trip to CSC to guarantee an outright RMAC title win (with a loss, the team would have to share the championship with Adams State University).
Collins got things back on-track by beating Quade Smith with a convincing 8-2 score. Metzgar then almost upset second ranked Quentrevion Smith after leading late before giving up a late takedown.
Metzgar’s narrow 4-3 loss was followed by a CSC pin at 141 pounds to give the Eagles a 9-3 lead. That would be their only lead of the night, however, as the Mavericks won five of the last seven matches.
Redshirt sophomore Daniel Magana started the swing with a 6-3 win at 141 pounds, followed by a pair of CMU pins by Wheeler and redshirt freshman and ninth-ranked Gus Dalton. The Mavericks dropped the 174 match but quickly rebounded with a Bynarowicz pin at 184 pounds.
Anderson picked up CMU’s final win of the night with a 13-0 technical-fall (when a wrestler goes up by 10 or more points). Samuelson dropped a close 2-1 match to close out the night. The Mavericks ultimately won 28-16.
CMU now has their eyes set for the Super Region 6 Tournament in Chadron, Nebraska on Feb. 25. The top-four wrestlers from each weight class during regionals will qualify for the National Tournament. The Mavericks qualified five wrestlers last season and could rack in a similar amount this time around with four top-10 ranked wrestlers on the team.
