The Colorado Mesa men's wrestling team will head back to their home away from home on Saturday for this season's NCAA Super Region VI tournament that will be held in Mountaineer Fieldhouse on the campus of Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colo. The top-3 wrestlers at each weight will move onto the NCAA National Championships held in Indianapolis this year as a part of the NCAA Winter Festival.
REGIONAL AT HIGH ELEVATION
This year's NCAA Super Region VI tournament will occur at Mountaineer Fieldhouse where the elevation is listed at over 7700ft above sea level. Five of the 12 teams in the field live and train at an elevation under 3,000ft.
With six of the eight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schools well above 4,000ft, the altitude could play a factor in who qualifies at each weight at this year's tournament.
VETERANS
One could argue that Colorado Mesa is the most battle tested and veteran team at this year's regional. Nine of the Mavericks 10 wrestlers that are entered into the tournament have competed in NCAA Super Region tournament in the past with all nine of those wrestlers placing in the top six at some point during their career.
Conversely, NCAA newcomer to wrestling and Super Region VI Cal Poly Humboldt will have nearly an entire lineup made up of newcomers to the Regional Tournament with several wrestlers competing in the NJCAA ranks and transfers from other schools where they were backups.
MAKING A RETURN TRIP?
The Mavericks have six wrestlers that will be looking to make a return trip to the NCAA National Championship Tournament. All six of them are also seeking their first NCAA All-American honor.
Dayson Torgerson (125), Oran Huff (133), Gus Dalton (174), Jason Bynarowicz (184), Gabriel Carranza (197) and Tyler Doyle (285) all qualified for NCAAs last season when the tournament was held in Pueblo, Colo.
All have a long road as this year's tournament could be one of the toughest in several years.
THE ROOKIE
Sophomore Owen Cline is the lone rookie in the lineup for the Mavericks this weekend. Despite being a rookie, Cline could be seeded as high as No. 2 at 157 pounds after having to bow out near the Regional Tournament last season because of an injury.
The Orting, Wash. native is 9-3 on the season with his only loss at 157-pounds coming to likely No. 1 seed Aaden Valdez of Adams State. Cline nearly came back in the match to pull the upset 12-10 back in January.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Super Region VI is comprised of the 12 westernmost NCAA schools in the country with newcomer Cal Poly Humboldt being the newest member of the region. Menlo and Vanguard will likely be added in the next year or two.
Five of the 12 teams are ranked in the top-25 nationally in the NWCA National Poll released earlier this week.
Perennial power Nebraska-Kearney is the favorite to repeat as Regional Champion with RMAC Champion Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado in the hunt.
COACHING STAFF
Head coach Mike Mendoza enters his sixth season with the program and third year as the head coach of the Mavericks. Mendoza was named the RMAC Coach of the Year and the Super Region VI Coach of the Year in his first year as the head coach of the program while in his second season he coached the Mavericks to a third-place finish at the NCAA Super Region VI meet and sent six wrestlers to the NCAA National Championship meet.
Mendoza has been with the program since 2019 after making stops at Northeastern Junior College, Boise State, Cal State Bakersfield, and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Adams State. He spent time as the head coach at Northeastern JC where he elevated the program from an 0-6 dual record when he took over to an 11-3 mark in his final season. He was also the head coach at Boise State the year prior to the school dropping the program.
Kyle Greenwald is now the head assistant at Colorado Mesa after spending last season as one of the lead assistants at former Division II school Mercyhurst. He wrestled for Division I Clarion from 2014-18 and spent time coaching for NAIA power St. Thomas University in Florida.
Bo Pipher is still an assistant for the program but is now in a lesser role with the program focusing more on the practice plans and training. This will be his fourth season with the program. Pipher, a three-time Colorado State Champion, wrestled for Cael Sanderson at Penn State for four seasons before graduating.
Donnie Negus, Tim Romero, Joe Ritzen, Collin Metzgar, Jacob Seely, Jared Johnshoy, and Konnor Schmidt are all assisting with the program as well.
WHAT'S NEXT
Those who finish in the top-3 of their respective weight class will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships that will begin March 14 in Indianapolis, Ind. as a part of the NCAA Winter Festival.
COLORADO MESA PROJECTED LINEUP
125: #8 Dayson Torgerson, So., Aurora, Utah (16-6 overall)
133: Oran Huff, RJr., Lyons, Colo. (13-10 overall)
141: Denim Torgerson, RJr., Aurora, Utah (9-8 overall)
149: Alex Castaneda, RSo., Eaton, Colo. (16-9 overall)
157: #13 Owen Cline, So., Orting, Wash. (9-3 overall)
165: Alex Holguin, RJr., Arenas Valley, N.M. (4-5 overall)
174: Gus Dalton, RJr., Emery, Utah (8-10 overall)
184: Jason Bynarowicz, RSr., Broomfield, Colo. (14-5 overall)
197: #8 Gabe Carranza, RSr., Victorville, Calif. (12-6 overall)
285: #12 Tyler Doyle, Jr., Littleton, Colo. (19-4 overall)
