GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The No. 18 Colorado Mesa University Men's Wrestling Team takes on one of their biggest early season tournaments this upcoming weekend as they travel Northeast to Nebraska to take part in the Younes Hospitality Open, hosted by Nationally Ranked No.1 University of Nebraska-Kearney.
Taking place at Buffalo Co. Exposition Center, the single-day tournament will begin at 8 A.M. MST this Saturday with over 30 wrestlers competing for the Mavericks.
Live results can be found at https://www.flowrestling.org/nextgen/events/14668221/information
Last Time Out
The Mavericks opened up RMAC action with a 24-13 road win at New Mexico Highlands this last Sunday in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The Mavericks won the first three matches to begin the dual and finished with seven victories in the ten total bouts.
Four Maverick redshirt or true freshman were victorious in their RMAC dual debuts while three of the Mavs' four nationally-ranked wrestlers made their season debuts.
Owen Cline, ranked fifth at 157 pounds, and Gabriel Carranza, ranked tenth at 197 pounds, were amongst that group and claimed victories.
In addition to the dual 10 individual Mavericks also competed in the Cornerman Luke Open, hosted Snow College over the weekend, with three of the attached wrestlers placing.
Scouting the Younes Hospitality Open
The Younes Hospitality Open, hosted by perennial Division II power Nebraska-Kearney, is a unique but favorable opportunity for nearly every program across the region. This year it offers three different divisions with one being for experienced and/or advanced wrestlers, one for intermediate level wrestlers based on the coaches discretion and one division for amateur wrestlers or wrestlers in their first or second season of collegiate wrestling.
The Mavericks will have 19 wrestlers competing in the Elite Division with 10 both in the intermediate division and amateur division.
The tournament field features over 50 teams from across all levels of college wrestling from junior college all the way up to NCAA Division I with Air Force and Nebraska sending wrestlers to the tournament to gain more experience. Nearly every RMAC school will be in attendance with their whole teams and several others from around NCAA Super Region VI.
Preseason Predictions
The Mavericks were picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title, according to the conference's preseason coaches poll, announced earlier this month.
The Mavs claimed three first and three second place votes to top the poll with 33 points ahead of Adams State (28), the Colorado School of Mines (26) and the rest of the 7-team conference.
The RMAC also announced the Preseason All-RMAC team in conjunction with the poll. The Mavericks landed three wrestlers on that 10-man team, made up of the top returning vote-getter from last year's all-conference voting process at each weight class.
The Mavericks' picks were Alex Castaneda, Gabriel Carranza and Tyler Doyle at 149, 197 and 285 pounds, respectively. Carrranza and Doyle were First Team All-RMAC selections last year.
National Rankings
The Mavericks are currently the 18th ranked team in the nation as released today by the NWCA in their first official rankings of the season. They were also the 18th ranked team in the preseason poll.
The Mavericks have 26 points in the Tournament Power Index rankings with three individually ranked wrestlers.
Junior Dayson Torgerson leads the Maverick trio in the No. 4 spot at 125 pounds and is coming off a 23-8 season in which he earned all-America honors with a seventh place finish at the national tournament. The Aurora, Utah native also won the Super Region VI Championship.
Redshirt junior Owen Cline, a returning all-American, is ranked fifth at 157 pounds. He went 16-5 last year and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships before finishing fourth. Cline also won four straight matches to capture third place at the super regional to book his ticket. Cline is 1-0 in this young season with his lone win being by major decision at the New Mexico Highlands dual.
Gabriel Carranza rounds out the ranked wrestlers and is also a 2-time returning national qualifier while being ranked ninth at 197 pounds going into this season. He finished third at the super regional last year and went 15-9 overall last season. He moves up a spot from 10th in his weight class in the preseason rankings after starting this year 1-0 with a win at the New Mexico Highlands dual as well.
Tournament History
The Mavs earned seven placers in last year's trip to Nebraska while returning a handful of those wrestlers to try and repeat on that success again.
Of last year's group both Alex Castaneda and Oran Huff finished in fifth place of their respective weight divisions while Tyler Doyle also faired a fifth-place finish at 285 pounds.
A total of 40 wrestlers competed for the Mavs in that trip with this year being the fifth time in a row the Mavs will compete in the tournament.
In the last five years of going to the tournament the Mavs have earned at least four or more placers with their last champion coming in 2021.
RMAC Network News
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season. This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
Colorado Mesa turns 100
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.
Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com.
Up Next
Following this weekend the Mavs will host Western Colorado University for their lone home dual of the Fall semester on Dec. 4 at 6 P.M. Tickets can be purchased online at cmumavericks.com/tickets
