Sports Reporter
What a difference a day can make.
After a tough 22-13 loss to the Chadron Eagles on Thursday, the CMU wrestling team recovered on Friday, dismantling the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys, 27-10.
On Thursday, the Mavericks hosted a strong Chadron State Eagles squad.
After forfeiting the 125 lb. match, the Eagles had an early six-point lead.
Tyler Nelson was the first to put the Mavs on the board by winning the 133 lb. match 4-3.
In the 141-pound match, CMU freshman Braden Humpherys lost to Leandro Arias.
The 149 lb. match looked like a boxing match at the start, as Trevor Donarski denied C.J Clark from scoring a single point, winning the match 5-0.
The Mavericks took the lead for the first and only time all Thursday night when Jon Gappmaier easily handled Chadron’s Bruce Zurek 11-3 in the 157 lb. match. The Mavs would lose their next two matches in the 165 and the 174 lb. classes giving Chadron a five-point lead.
Providing Mesa with the only win in the last five matches was Nick Petersen. Petersen beat Jordan Debus in the 184 lb. class 8-2, cutting Chadron’s lead to two points.
The 197 lb. class was a tough one for the Mavericks, and it was even tough for one Mav in particular. CMU Redshirt Freshman Jordan Passehl went up against Chris Leak. Leak came into Brownson arena straight after defeating the nation’s No. 2 ranked wrestler, Adams State’s Luke McPeek. A pretty routine match got ugly in the 3rd period for Passehl. First an injury timeout was taken for Passehl after Leak recorded a two point near fall. Then later on in the 3rd period referee Scott Christian awarded Mesa a penalty point when Leak body slammed Passehl to the mat illegally.
The final match of the night was the saw Mesa’s underweight Paco Retana fall to Mike Hill 6-2, giving the dual win to Chadron State, 22-13.
On Friday night, an entirely different Maverick team stepped onto the mat.
After forfeiting the 125 lb. match, the Mavericks had their way with the New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys. Tyler Nelson’s win in the 133 lb. class, followed by Braden Humpherys 10-point win over 141 lb. Danny Perales gave Mesa the lead.
Trevor Donarski and Jon Gappmaier followed up their wins from the night before by snatching a pair of tight wins Friday night over the Cowboy’s entries in the 149, and 157 lb. classes respectively.
Chester Granard redeemed himself after his overtime loss on Thursday by demolishing Highlands’ Chris Apodaca 19-4 in the 165 lb. match.
“It was a pretty frustrating loss for me last night,” Granard said. “The coaches got after me pretty hard, and I just wanted to go beat somebody up tonight.”
Sophomore Zak Slotten and Junior Nick Petersen kept Mesa’s foot on the gas by each winning their matches, extending Mesa’s lead to 24-6.
Excluding the 125lb. match forfeit, two matches stood between Coach Pipher and the Mavs throwing a perfect game against New Mexico Highlands. The 197 lb. Fifth year senior Korey Kennedy made his return to the mat inside Brownson Arena for the first time this season and the last time as a Maverick.
“Korey is our backup, and we put him in tonight. He’s been a great kid for this team,” Coach Chuck Pipher said. Kennedy lost to Justin Rockhill 14-4.
The last match of the night looked more like a football practice as Paco Retena and Louis Thornton had a shoving match around the mat. The 219 lb. Retena defeated 284 lb. Louis Thornton 4-2. Mesa won the dual 27-10.
“We stayed in our matches a lot better tonight,” Coach Pipher said. “We won the close ones. You know we just really battled tonight.”
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