The No. 9 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team will compete in the second annual Rocky Mountain Athletic Championships with this year's event held in Colorado Springs at Colorado College. This will be the first season that there will be a tournament team champion will be crowned.

RMAC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK 
Colorado Mesa redshirt senior Jennesis Martinez was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week last week for her win over Adams State in her match and the dual. 

Martinez improved to 4-0 on the season after securing a pin over Adams State's Katelyn Faczak in the 103-pound bout of Saturday's RMAC dual, which CMU won 38-8. 

A 4-time all-American out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Martinez is ranked No. 8 in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.  Her win on Saturday was the 80th of her career and allowed her to close out her home dual career in style, finishing her time in Brownson Arena with a 7-0 dual record.

RMAC CHAMPIONSHIP IS HERE 
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 Reed Gymnasium on the campus of Colorado College this year on February 1. The site was originally supposed to be at the Air Force Academy's East Gym but switched due to the heightened security at the Academy. 

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. 

RETURNING CHAMPS 
The Mavericks had six champions at last season's inaugural RMAC Championship Tournament which was contested at Regis University in Denver. Three of those six champions are back to defend their title. 

Jennesis Martinez won the 101-pound title last year over Chadron State's Mana Chanthasone by technical fall 10-0. The two are on a collision course for a potential rematch as both are back in the 103-pound field as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. 

110-pounder Isabella Morales is returning after claiming the 109-pound title last season over Simon Fraser's Ivy Threatful by technical fall 14-2. Both are back with Morales the No. 4 seed at 110 pounds and Threatful the No. 3 seed at 117-pounds. 

Hania Halverson pinned Chadron State's Ana Rojas Zamora at 3:50 to claim the 123-pound title last season. Halverson is back to defend her title at 131 pounds and enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed at the weight. 

THE SEEDS 
The Mavericks have 14 of their 15 entrants seeded in the top-4 of their respective weight classes. All brackets in this year's tournament are eight-man brackets.

Colorado Mesa boasts the top-seeded wrestler at five weights with Martinez (103), Sophia Cornish (110), Brooke McCurley (124), Halverson (131) and Alison Evans (180). Three of the five are freshman and competing in their first RMAC Championship.

Jojo McDaniel (117), Lorianna Piestewa (124), Celina Cooke (145), and Gretchen Donally (160) are all seeded second at their respective weight class. Cooke is the veteran of the group having placed fourth at 155 pounds in last season's championship while the other three are freshman competing in their first championship. 

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. 

THE 91st SPORT 
The NCAA Convention brought about good news for the NCAA sponsored women's wrestling programs across the country last week as a near unanimous vote made women's wrestling the 91st sponsored championship by the NCAA beginning in 2026.

Read the story from head coach Travis Mercado, Hailey Chapman and Sophia Cornish.

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 RMAC Tournament has been set for Saturday February 1 at Colorado College. 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 54-21 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 head out on the road next weekend for their final regular season competition. They will head to Alamosa, Colo. for a bout with the Adams State Grizzlies. Following that, they will prepare for the NCWWC Region 8 Tournament which will be held in Denton, Texas at Texas Woman's University. 

COLORADO MESA ENTRIES
103: #8 Jennesis Martinez, RSr., Albuquerque, N.M. (4-0 overall) 
103: Madison Heinzer, Fr., San Jose, Calif. (20-4 overall) 
110: Isabella Morales, Jr., Toppenish, Wash. (9-3 overall) 
110: #7 Sophia Cornish, Fr., Mission Viejo, Calif. (18-3 overall) 
117: Jojo McDaniel, Fr., Orting, Wash. (22-9 overall) 
124: Lorianna Piestewa, Fr., Gallup, N.M. (5-1 overall) 
124: Brooke McCurley, Fr., Round Rock, Texas (16-9 overall) 
131: Hania Halverson, Jr., Kalispell, Mont. (18-7 overall) 
138: Valerie Glenn, So., Gilroy, Calif. (2-5 overall) 
145: Celina Cooke, Jr., Sparks, Nev. (16-5 overall) 
145: Erica Smith, Sr., Nuevo, Calif. (16-6 overall) 
160: #10 Gretchen Donally, Fr., Ballantine, Mont. (20-5 overall) 
160: Kim Carlin, Jr., Loveland, Colo. (9-7 overall) 
180: #10 Alison Evans, Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo. (14-6 overall) 
207: #9 Isabeau Shalack, RJr., Evergreen Park, Ill. (9-5 overall)