The No. 16 Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will host their final dual of the regular season on Thursday when they host the Chadron State Eagles (5-3, 4-1 RMAC) at 6pm in Brownson Arena.
 
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Grand Junction native Dawson Collins was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week after his performance against New Mexico Highlands and No. 14 Adams State last week. Collins defeated Cowboy Nathan Galbiso with an 18-3 technical fall on Thursday and followed it up with a 5-2 win over No. 9 ranked Isaiah DeLaCerda of Adams State on Friday.
 
Collins, ranked No. 5 at 125-pounds, is now 17-2 on the season and remains perfect in dual matchups.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Colorado Mesa will honor five seniors competing in their final home dual of their career this week. Cian Apple, Estevan Maldonado, Donnie Negus, Nolan Krone and Isley Busch-Matu'u are all on pace to graduate this May and have been with the Maverick program for three or more years.
 
ON THE VERGE
The Mavericks are on the verge of capturing the RMAC Championship for the second consecutive season. With a win against Chadron State, they would gain at least a share of the conference championship that is awarded to the team with the best record in dual matches on the year.
 
The Mavericks have just two duals remaining with Chadron State and Western Colorado still left on the schedule. Both the Eagles and Mountaineers have one loss in the conference.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Chadron State comes into the week with a 5-3 record in duals and 4-1 in conference matchups after their recent loss to Colorado School of Mines. Their other two losses on the year came to in-state rivals Nebraska and Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Chadron State has a pair of solid wrestlers in the lineup with freshman Darwin Hull and sophomore No. 10 Mason Watt. Hull comes into the week with an 11-7 record and wins over some of the established wrestlers in the RMAC while Watt is 7-2 record at 285 pounds with wins over CSU Pueblo's Gavin Nye and Nebraska-Kearney's Lee Herrington on the season.
 
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 123-112 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 be on the road for their final dual of the season as they travel up the mountain to take on the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Wednesday February 16.
 
Projected Lineup
125 – #5 Dawson Collins, RFRr., Grand Junction, Colo., 17-2 overall
133 – #7 Collin Metzgar, RJr., Colorado Springs, Colo., 20-5 overall
141 – Erik Contreras, RSo. Berthoud, Colo., 9-9 overall
149 – Nick Gallegos, RFr., Denver, Colo., 14-8 overall
157 – Ryan Wheeler, RFr., University Place, Wash., 13-6 overall
165 – Alex Holguin, Fr., Arenas Valley, N.M., 14-9 overall
174 – Seth Latham, RJr., Grand Junction, Colo., 13-6 overall
184 – Nolan Krone, RJr., Henderson, Colo., 12-5 overall
197 – #10 Donnie Negus, RSr., Elizabeth, Colo., 18-3 overall
285 – Kash Anderson, RFr., Boise, Idaho, 13-8 overall