ST. LOUIS, Mo. – For the tenth consecutive season, the Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will be coming home with at least one All-American as the first day of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Tournament came to a close on Friday (Mar. 11) evening at Chaifetz Arena.
 
Redshirt freshman Dawson Collins won his opening match of the day as he defeated McKendree's Christian Mejia 3-1 in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals. Mejia, the No. 4 seed at 125 pounds, was one of Collins' lone losses of the season back at the Midwest Classic in December.
 
The Grand Junction native moved on to face another opponent he was familiar with in UNC Pembroke's Nick Daggett, the weight's No. 5 seed. Collins defeated Daggett at the Midwest Classic in the quarterfinals, but the Brave got his revenge as he defeated Collins 3-1 in overtime. The match wasn't without controversy as it appeared the Utah Valley transfer secured a takedown in the waning seconds of regulation, but the challenge brick was tossed and the takedown was overturned.
 
That dropped Collins into the consolation blood round where he met up with another seeded wrestler in No. 3 seeded Paxton Creese of St. Cloud State. With a takedown late in the second period and a ride out in the third period, Collins secured a 5-3 win over Creese and a spot on the podium with a guaranteed All-American finish.
 
The Mavericks got their second All-American effort from redshirt freshman Ryan Wheeler as he is still alive at 157 pounds. The University Place, Wash. native recorded quite possibly the quickest pin of the tournament thus far as he pinned his opening opponent, Tyler Wagener of Augustana in just 27 seconds with a firemans carry, pinning his arms and shoulder to the mat quickly.
 
The No. 6 seed in the weight then moved onto to face a familiar opponent in Adams State's Josiah Rider. The two danced around for the entirety of the first period with neither gaining any advantage whatsoever in any position. Rider earned his escape point in the second period but nothing else happened until the third period. Wheeler chose neutral to begin the period and nearly tossed Rider to his back midway through the period but no advantage was gained and Rider quickly fired for a takedown which proved to be the difference in the 3-1 score.
 
Wheeler came back with a vengeance as he pinned Mount Olive's Jake Nicolosi at the 6:45 mark of the bout to advance and gain the guaranteed podium finish. The redshirt freshman was up 10-1 when the pin occurred as he held the Trojan on his back towards the end of the second period prior to the pin.
 
Senior Donnie Negus capped his career tonight as he fell in his consolation blood round. Negus was caught in an awkward position and pinned by his opponent, Logan Kemp from West Liberty at the 4:00 minute mark. Negus fell in his opening match of the day 6-4 to No. 4 seed Brian Kennerly of Kutztown before earning a medical forfeit win over Austin Watkins of Queens in the consolation first round. He finished the season with a 24-6 record.
 
In one of the toughest weights at the tournament, 133-pounder Collin Metzgar dropped his two bouts on the day and is out of the tournament. The redshirt junior dropped his opening bout to Millersville's Devin Flannery 6-5 before he fell in the evening session 6-1 to No. 1 seed Tanner Cole of Central Oklahoma. He finished the season with a 25-8 record.
 
Only five of the eight seeds remaining at 133-pounds are still around as the No. 1, No. 6 and No. 8 seeds have all been eliminated.
 
Grand Junction native Seth Latham dropped both of his matches at 174 pounds in his second trip to the NCAA Tournament. Latham fell 8-0 to No. 5 seed Ty McGeary of West Liberty in his opening bout before falling to Pitt Johnstown's Brock Biddle 8-0 in his consolation round bout. He finishes his campaign with a 19-9 mark.
 
Colorado Mesa is currently in a tie for 13^th place in the team standings with 15.5 points and still has two wrestlers competing. Fellow Super Region VI foe Nebraska-Kearney leads the way with 67.5 points while Adams State is in sixth place with 28 points.
 
Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 9am on Saturday with semifinals and consolation round three matches.