The No. 10 Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will head into the mountains this week for a single dual following the Thanksgiving break. They will take on their rivals from Gunnison, the No. 18 Western Colorado Mountaineers, in a non-conference dual on Thursday at 6:00pm in Paul Wright Gym.
 
STEADY AS HE GOES
Redshirt senior Collin Metzgar continues to go about his business without many accolades, but his teammates and Maverick fans know how important and how great he has been with the Maroon and White.
 
Metzgar, ranked No. 5 in the NWCA Preseason National Rankings at 133 pounds, is 6-1 this season and placed third in the Elite Division at last week's Younes Hospitality UNK Open. His lone loss on the season and in the tournament came to Kyle Burwick, an unattached wrestler from the University of Nebraska, while he earned wins over Briar Cliff's Gabriel Howard, Nebraska-Kearney's Joseph Airola, Air Force's Nick Krug and preseason NWCA No. 1 ranked Reece Barnhardt of Mary.
 
DEBUTS
A pair of Colorado Mesa freshman have found their way into the Maverick lineup in this early season and two more could make their debut this weekend. Redshirt freshman Kolten Strait and true freshman teammate Tyler Doyle made their debuts on the mat in the dual with San Francisco State. While both fell in their matches, both could see time on the mat in Thursday's dual.
 
Freshman Alex Castaneda is a possibility for the Mavericks at 149 pounds this week. The Eaton native is 8-2 on the season and placed third in the Younes Hospitality UNK Open in the amateur division prior to the Thanksgiving break.
 
At 165 pounds, redshirt freshman Gus Dalton could make his dual lineup debut. He has been saddled this season with an injury but could appear on Thursday.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
From the early outset, Western Colorado appears to have a team that will challenge for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title along with Adams State, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa.
 
They opened the season with a win over Northeastern Junior College and a narrow defeat to Division I Air Force. They had two Elite Division Champions at the Younes Hospitality UNK Open in Jason Hanenberg at 149 pounds and Hunter Mullin at 165 pounds.
 
Hanenberg, ranked No. 9 in the preseason NWCA National Rankings at 149 pounds, has nearly 80 wins in his career at Western Colorado and is seeking his first NCAA All-American award this season. Mullin, ranked No. 4 at 165 pounds in the NWCA Rankings, earned All-American honors last season as he placed seventh at 165 pounds.
 
Patrick Allis is also ranked No. 9 at 125 pounds in the National Rankings.
 
COACHING STAFF
Longtime coach Chuck Pipher officially announced his retirement from coaching wrestling just as the season started. Assistant coach Mike Mendoza and Bo Pipher are currently handling the day-to-day duties.
 
Mendoza has been with the program since 2019 after making stops at Northeastern Junior College, Boise State, Cal State Bakersfield, and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Adams State. He spent time as the head coach at Northeastern JC where he elevated the program from an 0-6 dual record when he took over to an 11-3 mark in his final season. He was also the head coach at Boise State the year prior to the school dropping the program.
 
Bo Pipher, nephew of Chuck Pipher, was a three-time Colorado State Champion and wrestled for Cael Sanderson at Penn State for four seasons before graduating. He is in his second season with the program after assisting with the team a year ago helping Dawson Collins and Collin Metzgar to the NCAA National Championship Tournament.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Mavericks will take a week off before heading off to the Midwest Classic at the University of Indianapolis. The Midwest Classic is one of the premier NCAA Division II tournaments in the country with most of the top ranked teams and wrestlers in the country scheduled to attend.