Tyler Hartom
Sports Reporter

You know wrestling season has begun when the sun goes down around 5. The Mesa State wrestling team began its dual season in Gunnison on Thursday. Although the score was 28-12, it was a strong showing against the No. 6 team in the nation.
The night started with Mesa’s Tyler Nelson at 133 pounds against Western’s Kody Kole. Nelson defended numerous takedown attempts from Kole’s relentless offense. Nelson scored a takedown in the first. As the match progressed, Nelson led by one point. In the third period, Kole reversed Nelson for two to go up 4-3. Nelson, with 20 seconds left in the match, rolled on his shoulders and reversed him in a dramatic win.
“I would have been in big trouble if I had lost,” Nelson said. “I baited him in and I left my hands heavy on his head. I definitely have to keep working and get in better shape.”
In the 149-pound bout, Mesa’s Trevor Donarski won a 3-2 decision over Western’s Justin Keys. The entire match was a deadlock, with Donarski and Keys both fighting for position and attempting takedowns. The turning point of Donarski’s match was in the second period when he ducked Keys’s elbow and scored a takedown.
The most exciting bout for the Mavs was the 165-pound match that involved redshirt sophomore Chester Dylan Granard, who won emphatically by pinning Western’s Zach Frazier in the third period. Granard started the matching by taking Frazier down twice in the first period. Granard then managed to take Frazier down in the second period and wore down Frazier. In order for the Mavs to make the dual close with the No. 6 team in the nation, Granard had to earn a fall. In the beginning of the third period Granard crossed the face of Frazier, reached for his legs, locked his hands and managed to pin Frazier in the crossface cradle.
The Mavs put up a fight against the top-ranked wrestlers from Western, which includes coach Chuck Pipher’s son, Charlie, the defending national champion at the 197-pound weight class out of Western.
“We felt we could come into tonight winning this dual, it is tough when you give up close matches and six points at the beginning of the dual,” Pipher said. ”They are ranked number six in the country for a reason, but this dual gives us a lot of room to improve for the rest of the year.”
Pipher feels his team is a lot different than last year and that team morale has been built up because of the previous team building activities they have done before the start of the season.
“We have the potential to get better we just need to get tougher in a few position and win those close matches,” Pipher said.
u
thartom@mesastate.edu