Colorado Mesa had a split squad this weekend with the starting group In Kearney, Neb. for the Midwest Duals at Nebraska-Kearney and the back-ups in Orem, Utah at the Utah Valley Open.
 
Colorado Mesa 23, Central Missouri 20
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks won six of the 10 bouts on their way to a 23-20 win over Central Missouri of the MIAA. Three of those wins came for bonus points including a forfeit victory for newcomer Frank Martinez at 125 pounds.
 
Sophomore Payton Tawater earned a 14-2 major decision victory over Danny Conley at 157 pounds. Tawater, who was under the weather last weekend at the Tracy Borah Duals, won his second match of the season after returning from injury.
 
Clayton Voytilla secured the win at 285 pounds with a 15-5 major decision victory over Chase Miller.
 
#19 Maryville 23, Colorado Mesa 21
The dual came down to bonus points as the two teams split the 10 bouts. The Saints came away with three bonus point wins to the Mavericks two in a 23-21 win for Maryville.
 
Payton Tawater earned a pin at 157 pounds over Matt Pratt at the 2:11 mark of the first period.
 
Two bouts later, Bruno Nicoletti picked up a pin of Mladen Vasilev just 18 seconds into the second round.
 
Dylan Keeney (133), Will Moss (141) and Adam Visconti (184) all earned wins for Colorado Mesa as well.
 
#12 Nebraska-Kearney 31, Colorado Mesa 8
The Mavericks ran into a buzzsaw in the final dual of the day, dropping seven bouts in a 31-8 loss to the No. 12 Lopers.
 
Payton Tawater made it a 3-0 day with an 8-5 win over Matt Malcolm at 157 pounds. The Arvada native is now 4-0 on the season.
 
In what would be considered the most important match of the day, Bruno Nicoletti squared off with Zach Stodden at 174 pounds. Both wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships a year ago and NCAA Regional seeding was on the line in the bout. Nicoletti came away with a 5-2 win over Stodden and finished the day 3-0.
 
Adam Visconti also finished the day 3-0 after a see-saw battle at 184 pounds. Visconti picked up a 17-11 win over Isaac Deaton.
 
UVU Open
Freshman Jason Romero (157), Nolan Krone (184) and Dillon Ryan (184) each reached the semifinals of their 16-man brackets to lead the Mavericks at the UVU Open.
 
Romero dropped a 7-3 decision to Jed Loveless of Wyoming in the semifinals. The Pomona product rebounded by defeating teammate Hayden Harris by pin in the consolation semifinals before settling for fourth place after losing to Isaac Wilcox 12-4.
 
Krone and Ryan reached the semifinals on opposite ends of the bracket at 184 pounds. Krone fell to Will Sumner of Utah Valley by technical fall 16-0 while Ryan lost by fall to Carless Looney of Wyoming. Each won their consolation semifinal match before Krone defeated Ryan in the third-place match 9-1.