KEARNEY, Neb. – The Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team competed in the very large Younes Hospitality Nebraska-Kearney Open on Saturday (Nov. 19) afternoon. The Mavericks had five wrestlers place in the top six of the Elite Division that featured over 50 different schools competing.
133-pounder
Collin Metzgar was the highest placing Maverick in the tournament as he finished in third place. The senior won his first two matches by narrow decisions with one coming over Gabriel Howard (3-1) of Briar Cliff and another over Joseph Airola (6-4 SV-1) of Nebraska-Kearney.
Metzgar lost in the semifinals to Kyle Burwick, that was wrestling unattached from Nebraska, by pin at 2:47. The Colorado Springs native rebounded with a 4-3 win over Nick Krug of Air Force then scored a 6-5 decision victory over No. 1 ranked Reece Barnhardt of Mary to claim third.
Kash Anderson placed fifth at 197 pounds after a solid day of work on the mat. He reached his match limit and wasn't allowed to wrestle the placement match. He finished the day 4-2 with wins over Jackson Kinsella (3-2) of Nebraska-Kearney, unattached wrestler Ryan Patterson (11-1), Max Remberg (6-2) of Augustana and Perry Rodenbeck (8-3) of Mines.
His losses came to a pair of ranked wrestlers at the weight in #4 Matt Kaylor (3-2 2-OT) of Mary and No. 5 Hayden Prince (16-0) of Nebraska-Kearney.
Dawson Collins placed sixth at 125 pounds after falling in his first match of the day to eventual finalist Tommy Frezza of Central Missouri, 4-2. He bounced back and won four straight matches before falling in the consolation semifinals and reaching his match limit.
Andrew Silva placed sixth at 141 pounds after going 3-3 on the day. Silva secured wins over CSU Pueblo's Grant Burningham 14-6, Ben Murphy of Grand View 12-3 and Gabe Adams of Kentucky Wesleyan 4-3. The redshirt sophomore lost in the fifth place match to Ethan Krey of Briar Cliff 9-3.
At 184 pounds,
Jason Bynarowicz placed sixth after going 5-1 and was allowed to continue due to the match limit. He had two wins come by way of technical fall and one by fall on the day. His lone loss was a narrow 10-5 setback to Wyatt Lidberg of Mary.
Colorado Mesa will be back in action on December 1 when they travel to Gunnison for a non-conference matchup with Western Colorado.
