Sports Reporter
tlaporta@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Dominique Lewis is a people person.
“I came to CMU for the coaches,” Lewis said.
The mountain of a defensive end has been terrorizing RMAC offensive tackles and quarterbacks for five years this fall.
Lewis was born in the town of Pordenone, Italy where both his parents were stationed while they served in the US Air Force. After moving to the United States at the age of two, Dom spent his life in his hometown of Salt Lake City until he left for college.
“I started playing football in third grade,” Lewis said. “I was a defensive end.”
Lewis came out of Judge Memorial High School, being recruited by mostly RMAC schools. Other suitors included a Weber State in Ogden Utah, as well as the University of Utah.
“Utah was a preferred walk-on spot, not a scholarship,” Lewis said. “I wanted to get out of state.”
After finishing up his high school career as a team captain and all-state selection, Lewis headed east to the Rocky Mountains and Grand Junction.
“I came here for (Coach) Ramunno,” Lewis said. “He was like a father figure to me. Not having a dad around, he was like one of the first coaches that I thought would do anything for me. He would give me the shirt off his back.”
But after his freshman season at CMU, Lewis had to make one of his toughest decisions yet – to leave his coach and his teammates.
“My mom got sick the winter of my freshman year, and she said ‘I need you to come back home,’” Lewis said. “So I came back home and went to the University of Utah for the fall of ‘08.”
During that fall, Lewis took the University of Utah up on their preferred walk-on spot that they had offered Lewis out of high school, and Lewis became a Ute.
“That was kind of a cool experience,” Lewis said of his time at Utah. “It was a little too much for me. Too much of a grind. It was like 24/7, and I got switched to offensive guard. It just wasn’t fun anymore, it made me not like the game anymore.”
Not wanting to get up to 300 pounds and play O-line, coupled with his mom regaining her health, Lewis returned to Grand Junction and continued his life as a Maverick.
After sitting out spring ball this past spring due to transfer rules, Lewis is looking better than ever. He is down 25 lbs from his playing weight last season to 255 lbs of muscle rushing on the edge.
When Lewis isn’t on the field racking up RMAC All-Conference and Player of the Week honors, he is putting his experience as a Mass Communication major to work. This past summer, Dom worked for the US Olympic team at their headquarters in Colorado Springs, putting together promotional videos and relaying information from the events in London.
Lewis’s time at CMU is best summed up by the man that drew him away from all the other schools seeking his talents.
“I saw great future in his body, his make up and he was a good student too,” former CMU head football coach Joe Ramunno said. “It was a win-win recruit for us. We were lucky to even get him. I miss coaching him.”
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