The men’s wrestling team secured their second straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) title by defeating Western Colorado University (WCU) 26-16 on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks wrestlers and a collection of rowdy fans eagerly traveled to Gunnison, Colo. knowing that a win would secure the an out right RMAC Championship title, the program’s third in its history. Going into tonight’s dual, Colorado Mesa University (CMU) won a share of the title.
Fourth ranked redshirt freshman Dawson Collins and eighth ranked redshirt junior Collin Metzgar continued their outstanding seasons, each earning a decisive win. The Mavericks jumped to an early 6-0 lead.
In what may have been the most exciting match of the night, redshirt freshman Andrew Silva upset WCU’s 15 ranked Dean Noble at the 141 bout in an energetic comeback win for the Mavericks, 10-7.
WCU put themselves on the scoreboard after Jason Hanenburg defeated redshirt freshman Nick Gallegos via pin in the first period.
It did not take long for CMU to retaliate when redshirt freshman Ryan Wheeler pinned the Mountaineers’ Ryan Wilson and boosted the Mavericks lead 15-6.
At this point, the energized Maverick faithful made their presence known, chanting “Let’s Go Mavericks!” and “This is OUR House!” for the remainder of the night.
Western won a major decision at 165 pounds, reducing the Mavericks lead to just 5 points, 15-10.
CMU won the next 3 matches relying on contributions from arguably the strongest part of the Maverick lineup. In fact, the Mavericks fans have dubbed 16 ranked redshirt junior Seth Lathan, tenth ranked redshirt junior Nolan Krone and fourth ranked redshirt senior Donnie Negus as CMU’s “Death Row”.
The energy coming from the stands was undeniable and the wrestlers seemed to feed off it. Krone earned a decision win while Latham and Negus secured major decision wins which improved CMU’s lead to 26-10.
CMU finished the night with a dominant 26-16 win, clinching back-to-back RMAC Championships.
The Mavericks look to recover and gear up before wrestling at the NCAA Regional Tournament on Feb. 26 in Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colo. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m.
