The No. 10 Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will head out west to open the dual portion of their schedule. The Mavericks will have a dual with Menlo College at 9:00am prior to their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener against San Francisco State at 10:30am. The early start times are due to basketball games in the venue later that afternoon.
 
THE RANKED
Colorado Mesa had three wrestlers garner high praise in the preseason NWCA national individual rankings that were released a couple weeks ago. Dawson Collins, Collin Metzgar and Ryan Wheeler all received rankings after competing in the NCAA National Championship Tournament a season ago.
 
Collins enters the season ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds after placing fifth last season at the NCAA Tournament while his lightweight partner Collin Metzgar enters the rankings at No. 5 at 133 pounds. Wheeler comes in as the highest ranked Maverick at No. 2 at 157 pounds after placing third a season ago. The redshirt sophomore won the Gorriarian Award at the NCAA Tournament for having the most falls in the least amount of time at the Championships.
 
With the three highly ranked wrestlers, the Mavericks earned the No. 10 slot in the preseason national rankings. They come in as the No. 2 team from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the No. 3 team in the region behind Nebraska-Kearney and Adams State.
 
THE NEWCOMERS
The Mavericks will have a handful of newcomers to the lineup this weekend when they travel to the Bay Area. They are taking 13 wrestlers with them this weekend with nine having experience as a part of the Mavericks dual lineup with another four that could see their first dual action.
 
Redshirt freshman Denim Torgerseon (141), Kolton Strait (165), and Ruben Samuelson (285) all set to make their debut in one of the two duals on Saturday morning.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Colorado Mesa is 5-4 all-time against San Francisco State since they brought the program back for the 2006-07 season. They have won the past two bouts and are winners of five of the last six matchups. The Mavericks won last season's bout 28-17 in Grand Junction primarily behind three forfeits at 184, 197, and 285 pounds.
 
The Gators top wrestler is Josh Fuentes Norikiyo at 149 pounds. The senior made the NCAA National Championships a year ago and placed fourth at the Midwest Classic last season. Norikiyo is scheduled for a rematch with Erik Contreras at 149 pounds this season as the SFSU standout won last season's meeting 5-4.
 
Menlo College has their sights set high to kick the season off as they are ranked No. 11 in the preseason NAIA Coaches Poll. They opened the season last weekend by hosting the Menlo College Open where they had six wrestlers place in the top four of their respective weight classes.
 
The Oaks have three highly ranked wrestlers in the NAIA Coaches Poll. Elijah Palacio comes in ranked fourth at 149 pounds after a strong showing at last season's NAIA National Championships. 157 pounder AB Del Toro and 165 pounder and Rysan Leong each come into the season ranked No. 7 at their respective weights.
 
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 head back out on the road for an open tournament. They are scheduled to compete at the Younes Hospitality UNK Loper Open on Saturday November 19 in Kearney, Neb. at the Buffalo County Exposition Center. Most of the team is scheduled to compete in the tournament that will feature both an elite and amateur division with close to 32 wrestlers per each weight.