GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will host their second dual of the season on Thursday evening in Brownson Arena. The Mavericks will take on their Western Slope rivals in the Western Colorado Mountaineers at 6pm in a non-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Mavericks placed nine at the UNK Younes Hospitality Open back on November 23 at the Buffalo County Expo Center. Donnie Negus led the charge placing second at 197 pounds in the Elite Division of the tournament. The junior defeated Mines' Nolan Funk 7-3 in the semifinals but fell to Chadron State's Wade French in the championship bout 9-3.
 
Nolan Krone placed third at 184 pounds in the elite division. Krone fell to Nebraska's Colton Wolfe in overtime 3-1 in the semifinal bout. The Henderson, Colo. native rebounded with a pin of Mines' TJ Shelton and a 7-0 win over Aryus Jones of Fort Hays State to place third.
 
Collin Metzgar (125), Hayden Harris (165) and Seth Latham (174) all placed sixth at their respective weight classes in the Elite Division.
 
MOVIN ON UP
The NWCA National Rankings were released last week and a pair of Mavericks are featured in this week's first regular season version. Redshirt junior Payton Tawater moved up to No. 7 at 157 pounds after his lone victory of the year came over the No. 5 ranked wrestler at 149 pounds in Chadron State's Chase Clasen.
 
Entering into the rankings this week is redshirt junior Donnie Negus checking in at No. 11 at 197-pounds. Negus is 5-3 on the year but has a victory over No. 7 Wade French of Chadron State that occurred in the dual back on November 16. French and Negus are now tied on the year in the season matchup with French defeating Negus at the UNK Open.
 
FATHER VS. SON V
Colorado Mesa head coach Chuck Pipher will be taking on his son, Charlie, the head coach of Western Colorado for the fifth time on Thursday evening. Charlie is 4-0 in the previous meetings with the most recent win coming last February 13 in the Bank of Colorado Battle in Brownson.
 
HISTORY WITH WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado holds an all-time mark of 31-25-1 edge on Colorado Mesa and is 11-4 since the Mavericks brought back the program for the 2006-07 season. The Mountaineers have won the past four matchups including a 27-12 win last season in Brownson Arena.
 
Colorado Mesa's last win came on February 2, 2017 a 21-19 win after an overtime decision in the 285-pound bout by the Mavericks.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Mountaineers have just one ranked in the most recent rankings in No. 12 ranked Ruger Wyneken at 184-pounds. The Clovis, Calif. product, not in the projected lineup this week, won the 184-pound Elite Division title at the UNK Younes Hospitality Open and has claimed two RMAC wrestler of the week honors.
 
Western Colorado has a pair of freshman in the projected lineup who are making noise early in their careers. Patrick Allis at 125 pounds is 9-4 in the early going while Giovanni Cassioppi is 9-3 at 149 pounds. Both placed in the top-6 in Kearney.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will compete at the Reno Tournament of Champions on December 15 at the Reno Events Center. Multiple Division I teams are scheduled to compete including Arizona State, Oregon State, Wyoming, and Cal Baptist.
 
Projected Lineup
125 – Collin Metzgar, Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo. (2-3 overall)
133 – Erik Contreras, RFr., Berthoud, Colo. (2-4 overall)
141 – Daniel Magana, Fr., Santa Ana, Calif. (6-9 overall)
149 – Daniel Van Hoose, RSo., Fruita, Colo. (1-0 overall)
157 - #7 Payton Tawater, RJr., Arvada, Colo. (1-0 overall)
165 – Hayden Harris, RSo., Norwood, Colo. (5-4 overall)
174 - Seth Latham, So., Grand Junction, Colo. (4-3 overall)
184 – Nolan Krone, RSo., Henderson, Colo. (5-1 overall)
197 - #11 Donnie Negus, RJr., Elizabeth, Colo. (5-3 overall)
285 – Hunter Mooring, RSo., Pueblo, Colo. (0-3 overall)