The Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team is heading into their second month of competition and coming off the Thanksgiving Break. The Mavericks will have a couple of duals this week with a non-conference dual setup with rival Western Colorado on Thursday at 6pm followed by a conference matchup with San Francisco State on Friday at 6pm, both in Brownson Arena.  
 
BACK IN THE LINEUP
Colorado Mesa will welcome Nick Gallegos back to the lineup after spending last season redshirting. Gallegos is up two weight classes from where we last saw him, moving from 149 pounds to the 165-pound weight class. He went 1-2 at the Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney as he earned a technical fall win over Grant Crowhart of Mines.
 
Gallegos brings a wealth of experience to the lineup as he has competed in two NCAA Super Region VI Tournaments and possesses a 30-20 career record.
 
GUMBY
Redshirt junior Jason Bynarowicz is one of the veterans of the lineup as he returns to the 184-pound weight class where he took fourth last season at the NCAA Super Region VI Tournament in Chadron, Neb. The Broomfield, Colo. native is 4-1 on the season after a runner-up finish at the Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney, Neb. last weekend.
 
Bynarowicz is known for getting into awkward positions and working his way out of them.
 
BIGS IN THE BACK
The Mavericks have a pair of solid wrestlers in the back end of the lineup this season in redshirt junior Gabe Carranza at 197 pounds and sophomore Tyler Doyle at 285 pounds. Combined this season the duo is 16-4 with four top four finishes at the two opens.
 
Carranza wrestled his first two seasons at 285 pounds, often giving up close to 60 pounds per match, and still has a career record of 26-13. Doyle was a spot starter a season ago at 285 pounds and now has a career record of 21-12. The Highlands Ranch native competed at the Midwest Classic last season and took third at the Younes Hospitality Open dropping a 3-2 tiebreaker decision to 10^th ranked Crew Howard of Nebraska Kearney.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado enters the 2023-24 season as one of the favorites in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and is loaded with veteran firepower in each section of the lineup. They fell in a pair of early season duals with Air Force and perennial power Nebraska-Kearney where they lost on criteria.
 
Patrick Allis, ranked No. 7, leads the lightweights at 133 pounds and is 4-1 on the season while senior Ryan Wilson is on the verge of being ranked at 157 pounds sits with a 6-1 record. The highest ranked Mountaineer is third-ranked Cole Hernandez at 174 pounds and enters the week with a 6-1 record.
 
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The Gators have had several wrestlers begin the season with solid records competing against Chadron State, Nebraska-Kearney and the Menlo Open. Several of those wrestlers line the middle weights in their lineup.
 
Cal Poly transfer Lawrence Saenz is 1-0 and starts that run at 149 pounds. He is followed by Basil Othman who is currently 6-2 on the season at 157 pounds and is backed up by senior Gage Mettler who has a perfect 4-0 record at 174 pounds.
 
COACHING STAFF
Head coach Mike Mendoza enters his fifth season with the program and second year as the head of the program. Mendoza was named the RMAC Coach of the Year and the Super Region VI Coach of the Year in his first year as the head coach of the program as he led the Mavericks to their third straight RMAC Championship by going a perfect 7-0 in conference duals and a 9-4 overall dual record.
 
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 is back as the top assistant for his second season and third overall with the program. Pipher, a three-time Colorado State Champion, wrestled for Cael Sanderson at Penn State for four seasons before graduating.
 
Donnie Negus, Joe Ritzen, Tim Romero, and Collin Metzgar are also helping the program in the wrestling room.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will head out on the road for the 44^th annual Midwest Classic at the University of Indianapolis. Dubbed 'The Mini National Tournament' over 40 teams and over 400 wrestlers are scheduled to compete in the tournament with several of the top teams in the country scheduled to compete.
 
COLORADO MESA PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Dayson Torgerson, Fr., Aurora, Utah (6-3 overall)
133: Oran Huff, RSo., Lyons, Colo. (5-4 overall)
141: Denim Torgerson, RSo., Aurora, Colo. (3-4 overall)
149: Juan Garcia, So., Johnstown, Colo. (5-3 overall)
157: Owen Cline, RFr., Orting, Wash. (6-4 overall)
165: Nick Gallegos, RJr., Denver, Colo. (1-2 overall)
174: Gus Dalton, RSo., Emery, Utah (2-2 overall)
184: Jason Bynarowicz, RJr., Broomfield, Colo. (4-1 overall)
197: Gabe Carranza, RJr., Victorville, Calif. (7-2 overall)
285: Tyler Doyle, So., Littleton, Colo. (9-2 overall)