GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's wrestling team will make their longest trip of the year for some of the toughest competition they will see all season when they head to Indianapolis for this weekend's 46
th annual Midwest Classic.
Action in the University of Indianapolis' Nicoson Hall is slated to get underway at 9:30 a.m. EST (7:30 a.m. Mountain) on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.
The tournament, regarded as the most prestigious NCAA Division II Tournament of the regular season, will include 47 teams from around the country, including 18 which are ranked in the latest (Nov. 20) National Wrestling Coaches Association Rankings.
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Bouts can be seen with a subscription to FloWrestling at the link above.
Live results can also be found at the link above.
A recap of each day's action will be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com each evening.
Last Times Out
The Mavs were in action on Thursday and Sunday last week, hosting rival Western Colorado for a non-conference dual in Brownson Arena on Thursday night. Five Mavs then went to Hays, Kansas to wrestle in Sunday's Bob Smith Open.
The Mavs dropped Thursday's dual in heart-breaking fashion, 21-17. The lead changed hands five times throughout the evening with WCU getting a pin in the final bout at 285 pounds to pull out the victory.
Adonias Cantu (125 pounds),
AJ Salguero (141),
Christian Pebley (174) and
Gabriel Carranza (197) were all victorious for the Mavs.
For a full recap,
please visit this link.
In Kansas,
Sammy Mobly led the Maverick contingent, going 5-0 to win the 157-pound bracket. William Alvarado placed third at 165 pounds while
Logan Noble finished fourth at 184.
AJ Hague and
Tommy Thomas also won a combined five matches.
For a full recap of the tournament,
click here.
The Probable Lineup
Here is a look at the Mavs' probable lineup for this weekend's tournament as announced by Head Coach
Mike Mendoza earlier this week. Each wrestlers' 2025-26 season record is listed in parenthesis.
125:
Adonias Cantu (10-3)
133:
Oran Huff (1-3)
141:
AJ Hague (7-3)
149:
Alex Castaneda (1-4)
157:
Sammy Mobly (10-4)
165:
Will Alvarado (9-7)
174:
Levi DiCugno (9-2)
184:
Noah O'Dougherty (7-4)
197: #9
Gabriel Carranza (3-1)
285:
Ruben Samuelson (2-2)
Loaded Field
Eighteen teams ranked inside the top 25 of the National Wrestling Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Coaches Rankings are expected to compete this weekend, in what is regarded as a strong preview of the national championships.
The list of ranked teams includes four of the top five and six of the top ten in No. 2 Lander, No. 3 Tiffin, No 4 Wisconsin Parkside, No. 5 Gannon, No. 7 Central Oklahoma and Nov. 10 Glenville State.
Three nationally-ranked and five of the seven RMAC teams will be in attendance as well. That list includes No. 16 Adams State, the 18
th-ranked Mavs, No. 25 Chadron State as well as unranked CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado.
Each team is only permitted to enter one wrestler in each weight class.
Returning Placers & Midwest Classic History
The Mavericks had four wrestlers place at last year's Midwest Classic, finishing in a tie for tenth out of 43 teams in the 2024 team standings with 74 ½ team points. One of those four placers in Gabirel Carranza, who took seventh at 197 pounds, is expected to compete this weekend. Carranza had also placed sixth in 2023.
Dayson Torgerson (5
th, 125 pounds),
Ryan Wheeler (6
th, 157) and
Tyler Doyle (7
th, 285) also placed at last year's tournament but have not yet represented the Mavs this season and are not included in this week's expected lineup. Wheeler also placed in 2021 and 2022 and was named as the Midwest Classic's Most Dominant Wrestler in 2022 after recording six pins amongst his seven wins in 2022, when he finished third.
Oran Huff and
Alex Castaneda are also Midwest Classic veterans having competed last year.
The Mavs took 14
th as a team in 2023 and placed fourth as a team in 2022, when Wheeler led a group of five placers.
RMAC Honor
Sammy Mobly was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday after winning the 157-pound bracket at the Bob Smith Open on Sunday. The tournament title was the first of the redshirt sophomore's collegiate career.
Mobly, who co-leads the Mavs with ten wins this season (10-4) went 5-0 on the day, recording pins in each of his first three matches on Sunday.
Dual Debut
True freshman
AJ Salguero got the start at 141 pounds in last Thursday's dual against Western Colorado and won his dual debut by a 10-7 margin over Western Colorado's Isaac Chavarria. Salguero is now 5-4 and is one of several Maverick youngsters benefitting from a new NCAA eligibility rule that allows true freshman to compete for their team in up to 30 percent of the season without burning their redshirt.
Pin Percentage
Maverick redshirt freshman
AJ Hague, expected to be the Mavs' representative at 141 pounds, this weekend and 197-pound redshirt sophomore
Brady Samuelson have both on seven matches this season. Both also have claimed six of their wins by pin.
Hague won each of his first five matches by pin and then picked up a pin and a 16-0 technical fall victory in Sunday's tournament after sitting out of the Mavs' previous three events due to injury.
What a Comeback
Redshirt freshman
Christian Pebley had quite a comeback in the 174-pound bout of last Thursday's dual. Pebley trailed 9-1 in the second period but came up with a reversal and 4-point near fall later in that period before scoring a takedown and two more 4-point near falls in the third to claim a 18-9 major decision victory over Western Colorado's Erik Anderson.
Pebley scored the final 17 points of the bout, sparking some life into the Mavs, who took a 13-12 lead in the dual after the Mountaineers had come from 9-3 down with three straight victories at 149, 157 and 165 pounds to take a 12-9 lead.
National Rankings
The Mavericks are still ranked 18
th as a team in
the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)'s NCAA Division II Coaches rankings, released on Nov. 20.
The Mavericks have 26 points in the Tournament Power Index rankings with three individually ranked wrestlers.
Junior
Dayson Torgerson leads the Maverick contingent 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. He has posted an 8-1 record while competing unattached in two open tournaments so far this season.
Redshirt junior
Owen Cline, also 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. He is 1-0 in his one match so far this season.
Gabriel Carranza is also a 2-time returning national qualifier and is ranked ninth at 197 pounds after starting out tenth. He finished third at the super regional last year and went 15-9 overall last season and is 3-1 thus far in the fall of 2025.
Carranza is the lone nationally-ranked Maverick expected to wrestle this weekend as Torgerson is considering a redshirt season while Cline has been hampered by injury, which his limited his mat time this fall.
New rankings are due out next week and will be heavily influenced by the results of this weekend's tournament.
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
The Mavs will wrap up the 2025 portion of the season at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 21 in Reno, Nevada.
