BATTLE IN BROWNSON
Colorado Mesa Wrestling is hosting the fourth annual Battle in Brownson presented by Bank of Colorado on Friday evening at 6pm. The first 500 fans through the door will receive a commemorative Battle in Brownson with "Beat Pueblo" on the back. The Mavericks are 3-0 all-time in the Battle in Brownson having defeated No. 5 Western State 23-17 in 2015, CSU-Pueblo 40-6 in 2016, and a thrilling 21-19 win over Western State a year ago.
THE LINEUP
Below is the projected lineup for the Mavericks in both duals this weekend:
| Wt. |
Wrestler |
Yr., Hometown |
Overall |
Dual |
Falls |
| 125 |
Frank Martinez |
So., Parker, Colo. |
1-2 |
1-2 |
0 |
| 133 |
Dylan Keeney |
Fr., Payson, Ariz. |
11-12 |
4-6 |
5 |
| 141 |
Will Moss |
Fr., Kingston, Pa. |
10-4 |
3-1 |
4 |
| 149 |
John Daniel |
So., Centennial, Colo. |
11-11 |
4-5 |
1 |
| 157 |
#4 Payton Tawater |
So., Arvada, Colo. |
4-0 |
4-0 |
2 |
| 165 |
Trent Armintrout |
Fr., Norwood, Colo. |
9-14 |
2-6 |
3 |
| 174 |
Bruno Nicoletti |
Sr., Aurora, Colo. |
12-5 |
8-1 |
4 |
| 184 |
Adam Visconti |
Jr., Granby, Colo. |
11-5 |
7-1 |
2 |
| 197 |
Jareb Aziz |
So., La Jara, Colo. |
0-3 |
0-3 |
0 |
| HWT |
Clayton Voytilla |
So., Grand Junction, Colo. |
8-14 |
2-6 |
2 |
NEW FACE IN THE LINEUP
Sophomore
Frank Martinez will make his Brownson Arena debut on Friday night at 125 pounds. Martinez transferred in from Otero Junior College where he was a NJCAA National Qualifier as a freshman. Martinez wrestled for current Maverick assistant coach
Chris Hacker at Otero last season. He went 1-2 in the opening weekend with the team in Nebraska.
STREAKING
Colorado Mesa has a couple wrestlers that are riding hefty win streaks heading into the home stretch of the season. Sophomore
Payton Tawater is 4-0 in his return with a quality win under his belt now. The Arvada native defeated Matt Malcolm from Nebraska-Kearney 8-5 last weekend during the Midwest Duals.
Bruno Nicoletti is on a seven-match win streak and is currently 12-5 on the year (12-4 at 174 pounds). During the streak, the Aurora native has four bonus point wins.
SCOUTING THE PACK
CSU-Pueblo comes into the contest ranked No. 5 in the most recent National Rankings that were published on Jan. 18. The ThunderWolves placed eighth at the NWCA National Duals in Fort Wayne, Ind. Following that they dropped two duals last weekend at the Midwest Duals, falling to Fort Hays State and San Francisco State. They feature two highly ranked wrestlers in JaCobi Jones at 165 pounds and JaVaughn Perkins at 184 pounds. Jones is looking to become a four-time All-American this season and ranked No. 2 while Perkins owns a win over previous No. 1 ranked Nick Feigener of Cal Baptist and moved up to the top spot this week.
SCOUTING THE OREDIGGERS
Colorado School of Mines is a team on the rise right now in the RMAC. They have a win over previously ranked Fort Hays State on the year and are 7-0 in duals this season. But, they have possibly their two biggest duals of the season coming up with Western State and Colorado Mesa.
WHATS NEXT?
The Mavericks will head out to California for a dual with Cal Baptist on Thursday January 25. This season is the final for Cal Baptist in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II in general. The Lancers will make the jump to Division I during the 2018-19 season.
