KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 12 ranked Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team competed in one of the more difficult tournaments on their schedule in the Younes Hospitality Open, hosted by perennial power Nebraska-Kearney, on Saturday (Nov. 23) afternoon. The Mavericks had five of their regular starters finish among the top-6 at their respective weight while two of their redshirt wrestlers placed in the top-6 in the amateur division.
 
Redshirt junior Ryan Wheeler and senior Jason Bynarowicz each finished third at their weight to tie for top honors on the team.
 
Wheeler went 5-1 on the day with all four wins going for bonus points. His first two wins of the day came by pin in a total time of a minute and 18 seconds then earned a tech fall win over Garrett Willuweit of Nebraska-Kearney 17-2 to advance to the semifinals.
 
The University Place, Wash. product was pinned in his semifinal bout but rebounded with a major decision victory and earned a match limit forfeit to claim third place.
 
Bynarowicz finished his day 4-1 as well with two wins coming by fall, another by technical fall and one by a narrow one-point decision. The Broomfield native reached the semifinals before falling to Jacobi Deal of UNK 6-3 in sudden victory one, also known as overtime.
 
He rebounded well earning a pin of Dante Roggio of Mary at 4:14 to reach the third-place match. There, he put on a clinic with a 15-0 tech fall win over Owen Heiser of Air Force to place at the tournament for the second straight season at 184 pounds.
 
Junior Tyler Doyle finished in fifth place at 285 pounds after finishing the day with a 4-2 record. Doyle lost a tough 4-3 decision to returning all-American Crew Howard of Nebraska-Kearney and a 4-1 loss to Laith Ibrahim of Mines in the consolation semis.

Redshirt sophomore Alex Castaneda also placed fifth at the 149-pound weight class with a 4-2 record on the day. Castaneda had a pair of important regional victories on the day with a win over Chadron State's Torry Early by a score of 10-4 and a win over Fort Hays State's Drew Bell 8-4.
 
Redshirt junior Oran Huff placed sixth at 133 pounds after going 3-3 on the day.
 
The Mavericks will be back in action on Wednesday December 4 when they travel to Gunnison to take on their rivals in a non-conference dual beginning at 6pm.