GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa wrestling team sent a select group of wrestlers to the Rocky Mountain Open on Sunday (Feb. 16) afternoon on the campus of Colorado School of Mines. The Mavericks had a total of seven placers in the tournament with three of those wrestlers using eligibility this season.
 
Redshirt freshman Tanner Stone had the highest placing of any Maverick wrestler when he took third place at 125 pounds. Stone opened with a 16-0 technical fall win over Brahm Kreb of Western Colorado and followed that with an 18-2 technical fall win over Julian Marquez of Northeastern junior College.
 
Stone fell in the semifinals to an unattached wrestler Jack Braman 10-7 but bounced back with a 13-1 major decision victory over Noah Gurule of Western Colorado in the third-place match.
 
Tanner Baumgartner placed fifth at 174 pounds as he finished 4-1 on the day. Baumgartner dropped his first match of the day before winning his next four bouts. Two wins came by way of technical fall and a third by major decision. He earned a pin of teammate Noah O'Dougherty in the consolation semifinals at 1:23.
 
165-pounder Will Alvarado placed sixth after going 2-2 on the day. After falling in his first match, Alvarado picked up two straight wins by pin with one coming against his opponent from Western Colorado and the other against an opponent from Adams State. He fell to Kaleb Valdez-Lemos of Mines 5-4 in the fifth-place match.
 
All the Mavericks will now turn their focus to the NCAA Super Region VI Tournament on March 1 in Gunnison, Colo.