The Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team will open the season this weekend with the annual Fall Brawl event on Friday (Nov. 1) followed by the Maverick Open on Saturday (Nov. 2). The Mavericks enter the season ranked No. 7 in the NWCA National poll and will take on both Snow College and Fort Hays State in their opening duals of the season.

THE NEW WEIGHTS 
One of the changes to this year's season are the new weight classes. There are still 10 weight classes but have allowed for growth to help encapsulate more women competing in the sport. The new weight classes are as follows: 103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207. 

HOME SWEET HOME 
Colorado Mesa has enjoyed some pretty solid success in front of the home crowd since the program was born in 2018. They currently hold an all-time mark of 11-1 in Brownson Arena with the only loss coming in the inaugural dual to No. 1 NAIA Wayland Baptist.  

The Mavericks went 3-0 at home last season that included wins over NJCAA No. 4 ranked Snow College and No. 23 ranked Chadron State.  

LINEUP CONSTRUCTION 
For the opening duals of the season, the Colorado Mesa lineup may look a little different than it will in a week or two. For this first week, they will be without All-Americans Jennesis Martinez, Isabella Morales and Hailey Chapman as they are still recovering from injuries and/or due to weight allowances.

The Mavericks will have seven of the 10 weights occupied by freshman for the first week of the season. Despite the seven freshmen, there are at least three returners that fans should be familiar with that are scheduled to wrestle on Friday evening. 

Hania Halverson will bump up a weight and will compete at 131 pounds this season. Halverson, a junior from Kalispell, Mont., finished last season 23-9 and narrowly missed the NCWWC National Championships. The junior won the 123-pound weight class at the inaugural RMAC Championship Tournament. 

Returning All-Americans Erica Smith and Jayleen Sekona are also scheduled to compete on Friday. Smith, the former Erica Schroeder, claimed All-American honors at 143 pounds last season after going 14-10 while Sekona is on the hunt for her fourth All-American honor this season after placing seventh at the national meet last season at 191 pounds.

DAY ONE STARTER 
Freshman Gretchen Donally was a quick insert into the starting lineup in her first collegiate season. Donally, from Ballantine, Mont., will compete at 160 pounds to open the season after a highly decorated high school and youth career. She was a three-time Montana State Champion and this past summer she took third at the 2024 U23 Junior World Team Trials at 72kg (158.4 pounds). That placement landed her on the USA Junior National Team and allowed her to train with the country's best at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. 

As mentioned earlier, Donally is one of seven freshman and six true freshman who are slated to wrestle in Friday's Fall Brawl.  

RMAC PRESEASON POLL 
Colorado Mesa checked into the RMAC preseason poll at No. 2, just one-point behind 2023-24 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Champion Simon Fraser. The Mavericks garnered 14 points and two first place votes while the Red Leafs picked up 15 points and three first-place votes.

Adams State, Chadron State and Texas Woman's tied for the third position with seven points. 

The Mavericks and Red Leafs will hold their conference dual once again at the Las Vegas Desert Duals on December 21.  

The RMAC Tournament has been set for Saturday February 1 at a site yet to be determined. Colorado Mesa collected six individual championship and had nine medalists (top-3) in the inaugural event last season held at Regis University.  

THE STAFF 
Head coach Travis Mercado is in seventh season in charge of the program and is the only coach the program has ever had. He is 43-20 in dual matches and returns a solid lineup with six returning All-Americans in Jennesis Martinez, Isabella Morales, Erica Smith, Jayleen Sekona, Hailey Chapman, and Isabeau Shalack. He has had 35 All-Americans since starting the program ahead of the 2018-19 season and has had an All-American every season. 

Marissa Gallegos enters her second season on the coaching staff and will assist in the day-to-day operation with duties including but not limited to work-out plans, recruiting, and advanced scouting. Gallegos capped her career with an undefeated season and the program's first National Champion. 

Also returning to the staff is volunteer assistant Jolynn Harris who is in her second season. Harris is a former Maverick wrestler and diver from 2019-22 who earned NWCA Scholar All-American honors during her career. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
Colorado Mesa will make the journey to Denton, Texas for a pair of duals. The Mavericks will get the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual season started with a matchup against Texas Woman's and a non-conference dual with William Jewell.  

COLORADO MESA PROJECTED LINEUP 
103: Madison Heinzer, Fr., San Jose, Calif. 
110: Sophia Cornish, Fr., Trabuco Canyon, Calif.  
117: Marjorie 'JoJo' McDaniel, Fr., Orting, Wash. 
124: Alejandra Valdiviezo, Fr., Ramona, Calif. 
131: Hania Halverson, Jr., Kalispell, Mont. 
138: Taylor Colangelo, Fr., Peoria, Ariz. 
145: Celina Cooke, Jr., Sparks, Nev. 
160: Gretchen Donally, Fr., Ballantine, Mont. 
180: Maggie Smith, RFr., Rock Springs, Wyo. 
207: #4 Jayleen Sekona, Sr., Anchorage, Alaska