GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa wrestling team hosts the fifth annual Battle in Brownson at 6pm against their arch rival the Western Colorado Mountaineers. It will be the third meeting of the two teams in the Battle in Brownson and the second matchup of the season for the Mavericks and Mountaineers.
LAST TIME OUT
The two rivals squared off in a non-conference dual in Gunnison back on November 28, a 33-15 win for Western Colorado. The Mavericks won just three bouts in the dual with one of those coming from the now injured
Payton Tawater at 157 pounds.
Colorado Mesa lost three other bouts by two points or less with those coming at 133 pounds, 149 pounds, and 184 pounds.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Colorado Mesa's two seniors have led the team all season long through the youth movement the team has seen this season.
Eduardo Penha is currently ranked No. 10 at 141 pounds with his lone two losses coming to the top two ranked wrestlers at the weight in Brandon Ball of Fort Hays State and Joey Alessandro of Pitt-Johnstown.
Jason Buhr has been a staple in the lineup for the past four years and will be wrestling in his final home match on Wednesday. Buhr, who is the third Maverick with over 100 wins since the program was reinstated in 2006, will compete against Hunter Mullins of Western Colorado on Wednesday. The previous meeting in November, Buhr defeated Mullins 6-4 in overtime.
TOUGH MATCHUPS
The freshman duo of
Seth Latham and
Nolan Krone at 174 and 184 pounds respectively have paid dividends this year. On Wednesday, they both face a pair of tough ranked opponents in one of the biggest duals of the year.
Latham will square off with No. 1 ranked Brandon Supernaw at 174 pounds while Krone faces No. 5 ranked Konnor Schmidt who has dropped down from 197 pounds for the postseason run.
FATHER VS. SON
The matchup will be the fourth time the father and son duo meet up with Charlie and Western Colorado winning the previous three meetings over Chuck at Colorado Mesa including the one earlier this season in Gunnison.
Colorado Mesa is 25-30-1 against the Mountaineers all-time.
WHAT'S NEXT
Colorado Mesa will be off until the NCAA Regional on February 23 in Kearney, Nebraska. New this year will be that the top three from each weight will move on to the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted by Ashland University. This year's regional will also feature just 10 schools as there are now six regions that make up the country in wrestling.
PROBABLE LINEUP
125:
Tim Romero, Jr., Thornton, Colo., 9-14 overall
133:
Bracken Lovell, Fr., Delta, Utah, 13-14 overall
141: #10
Eduardo Penha, Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., 17-2 overall
149:
Daniel Van Hoose, RFr., Grand Junction, Colo., 11-12 overall
157:
Kyle Kintz, Jr., Gladstone, Ore., 12-12 ovrerall
165:
Jason Buhr, Sr., La Jara, Colo., 16-5 overall
174:
Seth Latham, Fr., Grand Junction, Colo., 15-11 overall
184:
Nolan Krone, RFr., Henderson, Colo., 24-8 overall
197:
TJ Lodermeier, Jr., Hinton, Okla., 13-11 overall
285:
Hunter Mooring, RFr., Pueblo, Colo., 12-16 overall
