The No. 6 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team will compete for the last time in 2024 when they travel to Sin City for the annual Wartburg College Desert Duals at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas.
RMAC CHAMPIONSHIP HAS A HOME
After careful consideration and weighing several bids, the tournament will be in the Olympic City and home to the Olympic Training center in 2025. The RMAC Championship Tournament will be contested at the Air Force Academy's East Gym this year on February 1.
The Mavericks will have the opportunity to send 15 wrestlers to the tournament and will look to defend their unofficial title as they finished with a tournament-high six champions and nine medalists. Texas Woman's, Adams State, Chadron State and Simon Fraser will also be in the field.
THE 50-WIN MILESTONE
Junior Hania Halverson is on the verge of reaching the 50-win milestone as she enters the weekend with a 45-27 career record. With starts and wins in five of the six duals this weekend, she would accomplish the feat and join four of her teammates that earned 50-wins in their careers.
145-pounders Celina Cooke and Erica Smith picked up their 50th wins of their careers at the Missouri Valley Open in November. The junior Cooke is now 52-26 in her career while the senior Smith is now 54-42.
Jennesis Martinez and Jayleen Sekona have each eclipsed that mark and have an outside chance of reaching the 100-win mark of the careers with big win totals in the remaining matches of this year. Martinez currently sits at 79-21 while Sekona is now 72-26.
QUICK SCOUT OF THE DESERT DUALS
The Mavericks will compete in six duals across the event with three of those duals that will be very important for regional seeding along with RMAC implications. Colorado Mesa is set to face nationally ranked opponents in No. 11 Wartburg and No. 20 Schreiner while mixing in regional opponents Linfield and Pacific. They will also face NCAA Division II newcomer and hopeful Vanguard.
The most important dual of the day will be the matchup with No. 8 Simon Fraser. The winner of that dual will have ta he inside track for the RMAC regular season dual title and high seeds when the NCWWC Regional Tournament comes around.
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.
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 47-20 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
The Mavericks will head to the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the UNI Dome for their first competition after the New Year. They will compete against some of the best teams in the country in a dual tournament format. If they make it to day two, they would earn a plaque for being a top-8 dual team in the country.
