Maverick wrestling looks to rebound from an inconsistent start to the 2022 season. The men’s team entered the year as the tenth-ranked squad in the nation, but has since dropped to 20 after dual losses to Menlo College and 14-ranked Western Colorado University (WCU).
The Maverick season began in Golden, Colorado at the Mines Rookie Open on Nov. 12. The tournament allows younger wrestlers to get valuable mat-time experience. Colorado Mesa University (CMU) showed off their young talent and placed four wrestlers in their top-six respective weights.
Redshirt freshman Tanner Baumgartner earned a team-best third place finish at 174 pounds after a 3-2 match record and redshirt freshman 133-pounder Oran Huff finished fourth.
CMU wrestled their opening duals of the season in San Francisco, California, when they took on 11- ranked NAIA member Menlo College (MC) in an exhibition matchup and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival San Francisco State University (SFSU).
No. 10 ranked redshirt sophomore Dawson Collins and fourth-ranked Collin Metzgar earned their first wins of the season at their respective weights of 125 and 133 pounds, to give the Mavericks a 6-0 early lead. MC went on to win the next three weights, however, and led 13-6 going into the 165 bout.
Redshirt junior Dylan Ranieri broke the MC Oaks scoring run. The 165-pounder pinned his opponent in the first period and sophomore Alex Holguin earned another pin to flip the score back in the Mavericks favor, 18-13. However, CMU would lose the last three matches via decision victory on route to a 22-18 inter-organizational loss.
“The lineup has been a little different, we have a fairly young team. We went out to San Francisco for our first dual, and you could see it was our first dual. We were a little bit rough in some spots offensively, and we weren’t where we wanted to be, but we started to rev things up during the second dual.” Head coach Mike Mendoza said in a press conference.
CMU would bounce back in their RMAC opener against SFSU. Metzgar, Ranieri and Holguin each secured their second win of the day, while redshirt sophomore Andrew Silva bounced back at 141 pounds. Two CMU forfeits and three SFSU decision victories yielded a 28-12 Maverick win.
The team then traveled to Kearney, Nebraska a week later on Nov. 19 and competed in the Younes Hospitality Open. CMU placed five wrestlers at their first complete team tournament.
Metzgar went 3-2, including a win over then first-ranked Reece Barnhardt of University of Mary. The Colorado Springs native placed the highest on the team at third.
Redshirt sophomore 197-pounder Kash Anderson reached the six match limit before his placing match, which put him at fifth after a 4-2 day. Similarly, Collins and redshirt sophomore 184-pounder Jason Bynarowicz placed sixth after hitting the limit. Silva also finished sixth after dropping his placing match during a 3-3 tournament showing.
The Mavericks then traveled to Gunnison, Colorado in the highly anticipated Battle of the Western Slope. Last year, CMU went 2-0 against the Mountaineers. They won 33-6 at home, which was the biggest victory margin in matchup history. CMU then clinched the RMAC title against WCU 26-16 at Gunnison on Feb. 16.
This time, however, the Mountaineers got their revenge in another heated exchange between the two rivals.
The night started with a match between two top-ranked wrestlers. Former two-time 4A Colorado state champion and fourth-ranked 125-pounder Patrick Allis defeated no. 10 Collins in a 15-6 major decision victory.
WCU then upset Metzgar at 133 pounds. Alex Alvarez jumped up the rankings no. 10 after narrowly beating now fifth-ranked Metzgar 4-2 and giving WCU a 7-0 lead.
The Mountaineers would also win the next two matches before redshirt sophomore Daniel Magana won 3-2 at 157 pounds. It looked as if momentum might have shifted when redshirt freshman Gus Dalton got an upset of his own over then fourth-ranked Hunter Mullin. Dalton led 12-2 going into the third period and managed to just barely hold on 15-13 in his first ever collegiate match.
CMU would only win one more bout on the night, however. Anderson won the 197 match 6-3 and the Mavericks lost 27-9.
The Mavericks next wrestle at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, Indiana on Dec. 17 and 18. The tournament will be one of the harder of the season, and so it will be a good test for the young team. Metzgar won the tournament last year at 133 pounds.
