COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's wrestling team was picked first in what was a tight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Mavericks received two first place votes and topped the 8-team poll with 44 points. Four other squads also received first place votes in the polling of the conference's head coaches who ranked their opposition 1-7 without voting for their own squad.
Four other schools also received votes with Western Colorado claiming the No. 2 spot in the poll with 38 points. Adams State was tabbed third with 36 points while the Colorado School of Mines was picked fourth with 35. Chadron State, the defending RMAC Champions, were picked fifth with 30 points.
Western and Mines joined the Mavs as teams receiving two first place votes. Adams State and Chadron State picked up one first place vote apiece.
CSU Pueblo (18), New Mexico Highlands (16) and Simon Fraser (7) rounded out the poll.
The RMAC standings and title are determined by dual meets on a round-robin schedule.
CMU won the crown in 2022 and 2023 and finished last year's season with 5-3 mark in RMAC duals, good for a third place tie in the RMAC standings. The Mavs then finished third at the NCAA Division II Super Region 6 Championships while qualifying six men for the national championships.
The Mavs and Head Coach
Mike Mendoza return all six of those national qualifiers to the 2024-25 roster. That group includes
Dayson Torgerson (125 pounds),
Oran Huff (133),
Gus Dalton (174),
Jason Bynarowicz (184),
Gabe Carranza (197) and
Tyler Doyle (285).
Mendoza will also have the services of 2023 all-American
Ryan Wheeler, who redshirted last year.
The Mavs will host their annual Maroon vs. White intrasquad dual next Friday (Oct. 25) in Brownson Arena at 5 p.m. with the CMU men on one mat and the Maverick women facing off on the other.
A group of Maverick youngsters will then open the officially open the season on Nov. 3 at the Mines Rookie Open in Golden while the starting lineup will head to San Francisco for a pair of non-conference duals six days later on Nov. 9.
CMU will then host New Mexico Highlands in their RMAC and home-opening dual on Nov. 15.
