KEARNEY, Neb. – The Colorado Mesa wrestling team traveled to Nebraska for their first full-team open of the season. The Mavericks compete in the Holiday Inn UNK Loper Open at Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
 
Redshirt freshman Nolan Krone placed second in the elite division at 184 pounds. Krone fell to Central Oklahoma's Heath Gray 14-7 in the championship bout. The Henderson, Colo. native earned two pins along the way and a pair of decisions. He defeated Air Force's Jimmy Weaver 5-0 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the final. He improved his record to 9-3 on the season.
 
No. 11 ranked Payton Tawater placed fourth at 157 pounds after falling to Fort Hays State's Efe Osaghae 3-1 in sudden victory round number two. Tawater reached the semifinals before falling to Peyton Robb of Nebraska. The junior rebounded with a win over Caleb Licking by fall a little over a minute into the bout of the consolation semifinals.
 
True freshman Seth Latham finished in fourth place in the elite division at 174 pounds after falling to Martin Verhaeghe of Fort Hays State in the third-place match. The Grand Junction native reached the semifinals but fell to No. 5 Zach Stodden of UNK 8-5 to even their season record against one and other.
 
Hunter Mooring and Eduardo Penha finished in sixth place in a couple of different ways. Mooring reached the semifinals before falling in consecutive matches while Penha reached the semifinals but bowed out of the tournament with an injury.
 
Colorado Mesa will travel to Gunnison on November 28 for a dual with Western Colorado at 7pm in Paul Wright Gym.