CLEVELAND, Ohio – Colorado Mesa's Eduardo Penha finished in third place at 141 pounds and was the highest placing wrestler in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at the NCAA National Championships.
 
Penha earned a 9-6 decision victory over Wheeling Jesuit's Jared Donahue to move on in the consolation bracket. The senior earned a pair of takedowns in the first period to take a 4-1 lead into the second round. He picked up another takedown in the second period and held on for the win in the third period.
 
In his consolation semifinal matchup, Penha got some sweet revenge from his early round loss as he defeated Danny Swan of Lindenwood, 11-5 to move onto the third-place bout. Swan handed Penha just his third loss of the season in the opening round of the tournament. The two were tied at 4-4 late in the bout when Penha was able to put Swan on his back for the six-point move and the win.
 
In the third-place match, Penha once again got some revenge from a loss suffered earlier in the season when he defeated Fort Hays State's Brandon Ball 4-2 in overtime. Behind 1-0 and with Ball guaranteed the riding time point, Penha went for it and nearly jumped over Ball winding up in a scramble but Penha poked out and wound up with the takedown and headed to overtime.
 
The senior secured a takedown just moments into the overtime segment to secure the win over the top-seeded wrestler in the weight.
 
Colorado Mesa has had at least one All-American for eight straight seasons, the longest running streak in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's current membership.
 
The Mavericks finished the tournament with 13.5 points tied with Western Colorado as the third highest scoring team in the RMAC.