Colorado Mesa will host their rivals from the mountains on Thursday as they are set to host the No. 19 Western Colorado Mountaineers at 6pm in Brownson Arena. It will be the second dual of the year for the Mavericks as they defeated club program Dixie State while Western enters with a 1-1 record having defeated San Francisco State and lost to Division I Air Force.
 
LEADING THE WAY
Sixth-year senior Donnie Negus continues to lead the Mavericks and he proved that in his only competition of the year thus far. Negus went 5-0 to claim the 197-pound Elite Division title at the Younnes Hospitality UNK Open a few weeks ago.
 
Negus recorded three straight bonus point victories to open the tournament before a 10-8 decision victory over Nebraska-Kearney's Hunter Prince in semifinals vaulted him to the championship bout where he defeated CSU Pueblo's Ben Gould 12-6.
 
The Elizabeth, Colo. native enters the week 5-0 and ranked No. 4 in the latest NWCA National Rankings.
 
NEW TO THE RANKINGS
Redshirt junior Collin Metzgar has paid his dues and is being recognized for his efforts in his third-year with the program. Metzgar was recently ranked No. 11 at 133 pounds after his 7-2 start to the season. He was the champion at the Colorado Mesa Open and placed fifth at the Younnes Hospitality Open in Kearney.
 
His losses came to the No. 5 ranked NAIA wrestler Mario Ybarra of Concordia (Neb.) and Divison I foe Job Greenwood of Wyoming.
 
STRONG SHOWING
Freshman Alex Holguin is scheduled to make his first dual start of his career on Thursday. The Arenas Valley, N.M. native is off to a blistering start as he is 8-2 with a win at the Colorado Mesa Open and a fourth-place finish at the Younnes Hospitality Open in the Elite Division.
 
Holguin will likely be up against a veteran in Mountaineer Hunter Mullin. The two actually met up in Kearney at the open with Mullin claiming a narrow 3-2 victory in the semifinals.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Western Colorado owns a 14-5 all-time edge on Colorado Mesa and is coming off a loss in their second dual of the season, a 44-3 setback to Air Force. 174-pounder Jimmy LaConte earned the lone win of the dual with an 8-6 win.
 
Western will have a potent lineup that features a pair of ranked wrestlers in 133-pounder Patrick Allis (No. 3) and 141-pounder Dean Noble (No. 7). Both wrestlers fell in the dual between the two schools last December.
 
Cody Fatzinger at 125 pounds and Jason Hanenberg at 149 pounds already have wins over their projected opponents entering the week.
 
PIPHER VS. PIPHER
The father and son rivalry between Chuck and Charlie Pipher continues this week as the two rival schools meet up for the first time this season. Western's Charlie owns a 6-1 record against his father, Mesa's Chuck, in the series with Colorado Mesa's lone win coming in December of 2019.
 
Colorado Mesa has been equal or better than Western at the NCAA National Meet in that time span.
 
COACHING STAFF
Head coach Chuck Pipher returns to the bench for his 15^th season with Colorado Mesa. Last season, Pipher led the Mavericks to the RMAC Championship as the top placing team at the NCAA Super Region VI Tournament. He had two wrestlers qualify for the NCAA National Championships and was able to come home with two all-Americans in Donnie Negus at 197-pounds and national champion at 165 pounds in Fred Green.
 
Pipher has amassed a 114-110 record in duals since the program was brought back in 2006. He has also had an all-American in 10 straight seasons which is the longest running streak in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
Also returning to the bench is assistant coach Mike Mendoza who is entering his third season in the program after successful coaching stints at Adams State, Cal State Bakersfield, Boise State and Northeastern Junior College. He brings over 20 years of coaching experience to the staff.

New to the coaching staff this season is another Pipher. Bo Pipher is in his first season on the staff after spending the past five years competing and earning his degree at Penn State. Pipher wrestled for the Nittany Lions under Cael Sanderson and amassed a 27-31 record in his time. 
 
THE RETURN OF THE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
The Mavericks are once again slated to host the NCAA Super Region VI Tournament and it is looking more and more like it will be a full field. Last season, Simon Fraser and New Mexico Highlands did not compete at the regional tournament due to COVID restrictions in New Mexico and Canada.
 
The tournament is scheduled to be on Saturday February 26 in Brownson Arena.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Colorado Mesa will head east for one of the biggest tournaments of the year. The Mavericks will compete in the Midwest Classic hosted by UIndy where the top teams across the country compete head-to-head in an open format. National rankings and seeding will be on the line in this competition.
 
Projected Lineup
125 – Dawson Collins, Grand Junction, Colo., 7-1 overall
133 – No. 11 Collin Metzgar, Colorado Springs, Colo., 7-2 overall
141 – Erik Contreras, Berthoud, Colo., 2-2 overall
149 – Nick Gallegos, Denver, Colo., 9-2 overall
157 – Ryan Wheeler, University Place, Wash., 6-2 overall
165 – Alex Holguin, Arenas Valley, N.M., 8-2 overall
174 – Seth Latham, Grand Junction, Colo., 2-2 overall
184 – Nolan Krone, Henderson, Colo., 4-2 overall
197 – No. 4 Donnie Negus, Elizabeth, Colo., 5-0 overall
285 – Gabe Carranza, Victor Valley, Calif., 6-2 overall