GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 25 Colorado Mesa men's wrestling will head out on the road for the final dual of the season when travel to Gunnison on Wednesday for a dual with Western Colorado. It will be the second dual between the two schools this season but this one will count in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual standings.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Colorado Mesa defeated a pair of RMAC foes, one in convincing fashion and the other in a tightly contested battle that came down to the final bout. They defeated New Mexico Highlands 35-6, winning eight of the ten bouts that included three pins. The following night they escaped Alamosa with a 27-17 win over #13 Adams State, winning six of the ten bouts.
 
REGIONAL POSITIONING
Redshirt sophomore Daniel Van Hoose made a strong case to position himself among the top three seeds at 141 pounds after a strong week last week. Van Hoose dropped a tough 6-4 decision to nationally ranked Jonathan Trujillo on Wednesday but rebounded with a 6-5 victory of Noah Hermosillo of Adams State, who entered the bout ranked No. 4 at the weight.
 
The Fruita native has another chance to make a statement on Wednesday as he is slated to face Jason Hanenberg of Western Colorado, a returning National Qualifier and the 141-pound region runner-up from last season.
 
20-MATCH WINNER
Redshirt sophomore Nolan Krone became the Mavericks first 20-match winner this season after his two wins last week. With his two wins last week, he improved to 20-5 on the season and 6-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference duals. Of his five losses on the year, just two of those came to Division II opponents.
 
Junior Fred Green is on deck with a 19-3 record and is 6-0 in dual matches, 4-0 in the RMAC.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
The Mavericks and Mountaineers split the ten bouts at five a side but Colorado Mesa was able to secure the win. The Mavericks picked up two pins, a tech fall and a major decision  in the win.
 
The win was the first for Maverick head coach Chuck Pipher over his son Charlie, the head coach at Western Colorado, in five tries.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Western Colorado enters the matchup in a tie with Colorado Mesa for second place in the RMAC standings with a 5-1 conference mark, 12-6 overall in duals this season. The Mountaineers have two wrestlers that are currently nationally ranked in 125-poinder Patrick Allis at No. 10 and 174-pounder Jimmy LaConte at No. 12. Allis enters the dual with a 24-7 mark while LaConte will step on the mat with a 17-10 record.
 
Cody Fatzinger, the projected starter at 133 pounds, was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week after going 2-0 that included a win over No. 11 D'Andre Brumfield of CSU-Pueblo.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will head off to Kearney, Neb. next week for the NCAA Super Region VI Tournament on Saturday. All the RMAC schools including Simon Fraser and Nebraska-Kearney will compete in the NCAA National Qualifier with the top three placers in each of the ten weights moving forward to the National Championships in March.
 
Projected Weekend Lineup
125 – Cian Apple, Jr., Arvada, Colo. (15-10 overall)
133 – Dylan Keeney, RSo., Payson, Ariz. (15-13 overall)
141 – Daniel Van Hoose, So., Grand Junction, Colo. (10-3 overall)
149 – Dyllan Fuchs, Fr., Spring Creek, Nev. (9-4 overall)
157 – #8 Payton Tawater, RJr., Arvada, Colo. (7-3 overall)
165 – #10 Fred Green, Jr., Port Orchard, Wash. (19-3 overall)
174 – Seth Latham, So., Grand Junction, Colo. (15-9 overall)
184 – Nolan Krone, So., Henderson, Nev. (20-5 overall)
197 – #11 Donnie Negus, Jr., Elizabeth, Colo. (12-6 overall)
285 – Hunter Mooring, So., Pueblo, Colo. (5-10 overall)