GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The nation's seventh-ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick women's wrestling team will continue life on the road, making a long bus trip to York, Nebraska for Saturday's York Open before heading to Hays, Kansas for a Sunday tri-dual against Super Region 6 foes Sioux Falls and ninth-ranked Fort Hays State.
 
Saturday's tournament at York University's Holthus Field House will begin at 9 a.m. CDT (8 a.m. Mountain).  Twenty eight Maverick wrestlers are entered with 23 of them expected to wrestle in the Open Division with five others entered in the Rookie Division.
 
Sunday's action in Fort Hays State's Gross Memorial Coliseum will begin at Noon CDT (11 a.m. Mountain) with the Mavs, 7-8 in duals, taking on Sioux Falls (5-7) in the opening leg of the triangular.  The Mavs will then take on the host Tigers (5-3) in the second leg at approximately 1 p.m. CDT before Fort Hays State and Sioux Falls will wrap up the event.
 
Follow the Mavs
 
Fans can track action through live results of the York Duals on FloWrestling at this link.
 
Sunday's tri-dual can also be followed on FloWrestling here.
 
The tri-dual will also be streamed through the MIAA Network at https://themiaanetwork.com/fhsutigers/.  A subscription is required to view that.

Full recaps of both days will be posted on www.cmumavericks.com.
 
Last Time Out (Part 1)
 
The Maverick starters were at the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa last weekend.  They went 3-2 and finished seventh and have now placed in the top eight in all five appearances at the National Duals in their program history.
 
On Friday, the Mavs, who were also seeded seventh, opened the tournament with a 37-8 win over West Liberty before being downed by second-ranked McKendree, 37-6.  They then bounced back for a 35-12 win over 20^th-ranked William Jewell to clinch a top eight placing.
 
On Saturday, the Mavs fell to sixth-ranked Presbyterian for the second time this season before claiming the seventh place dual, 33-13 over Sacred Heart.
 
Lorianna Piestewa went 5-0 throughout the tournament recording two wins over nationally-ranked foes.  Gretchen Donally and Jayleen Sekona also went 4-1 while Thalia Vogelsang recorded a 3-0 record throughout the weekend.

Full recaps and match-by-match results of both days' actions can be found here: FRIDAY | SATURDAY.
 
Last Time Out (Part 2)
 
Meanwhile, a separate dozen Maverick back-ups were in action at Saturday's Eagle Women's Open, hosted by Chadron State in Chadron, Nebraska.  Kylee Golz led the contingent by going 4-0 to win the 124-pound bracket.
 
She was one of six Maverick placers.
 
Valerie Glenn recorded four straight consolation bracket wins at 160 pounds and placed third while Alissa Perez took fourth at 103 pounds.  Kiera Hersel (110), Rachel Jones (117) and Alyssa Jackson (117) all took fifth.
 
Record & Century Watch
 
CMU redshirt senior 207-pounder Jayleen Sekona went 4-1 at the NWCA National Duals and in the process matched former Maverick great Marissa Gallegos for the program's all-time wins record at 94.
 
All four of her weekend wins came via pin.
 
Sekona, a 3-time all-American out of Anchorage, Alaska, will set a new record with her next win, which could come on Sunday as she is not expected to wrestle in Saturday's York Open. 
 
She is also just six career wins shy of 100, which could come as soon as the RMAC Championships.
 
Sekona now has a 94-33 career record.

Gallegos went 94-8 in her Maverick career, highlighted by a 2023 national championship and undefeated 28-0 season.  Gallegos is the only Maverick women's wrestler to have won a national title.
 
20-Win Club
 
Three different Mavericks reached the 20-win mark for the season at the NWCA National Duals.

Jayleen Sekona leads the bunch with her 22-7 record, including her four National Duals wins.  She has now won 20 or more matches three times in her career.
 
Meanwhile Adriana Gomez and Gretchen Donally both have 20 wins in 202-26.  Donally is now 20-9 at 145 pounds after going 4-1 over the weekend.  She led the Mavs with 27 wins last year.
 
Gomez is now is now 20-10 after going 2-3 over the weekend.  She went 26-11 last year.
 
Award-Winning Week
 
Following her 5-0 performance at the NWCA National Duals, Lorianna Piestewa was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Women's Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday.  The sophomore and returning all-American out of Gallup, New Mexico, is currently ranked seventh in the country at 124 pounds and posted wins over top-ranked Shelby Moore of McKendree and fourth-ranked Alyssa Mahah of Presbyterian.  She also had three technical fall victories over the weekend, the last of which came at 131 pounds.
 
Piestewa is the third Maverick to claim the RMAC's weekly honor this season, joining Jayleen Sekona (Nov. 4) and Mia Zuniga (Dec. 22).
 
National Rankings
 
A new edition of the NWCA NCAA Women's Coaches' Poll was released on Dec. 19  The Mavs were ranked seventh as a team, two spots lower than they had been in the Dec. 4 edition of the rankings.
 
The Mavericks still have five individually ranked wrestlers, who combined to earn 23 tournament power index ranking points.
 
Mia Zuniga, who is unavailable for this weekend's action due to injury, leads the group and is now ranked third at 103 pounds after moving up five spots from eighth in the Dec. 4 edition of the rankings. 
 
Jayleen Sekona is now ranked fifth at 207 but dropped one spot from her previous No. 4 ranking.
 
Lorianna Piestewa is now ranked seventh at 124 while Sophia Cornish and Gretchen Donally are both ranked tenth at 117 and 145 pounds, respectively.
 
Eight of the top nine teams in the rankings are in the bracket for this weekend's National Duals, including top-ranked Iowa.
 
The full rankings can be seen here: https://nwcaonline.com/news/2025/12/19/national-wrestling-coaches-association-iowa-holds-firm-at-no-1-as-king-breaks-into-the-top-five.aspx
 
Probable Lineups
 
Head Coach Travis Mercado will take a majority of the team on the trip and has entered 28 women in to Saturday's York Open, including 23 in the open division and five in the amateur division.
 
Here is a look at the Mavs' lineup for Saturday's, tournament and Sunday's tri-dual, broken down by weight class.
 
York Open Entries
 103: Kinlee Brandley, Alissa Perez*
110: Adriana Gomez, Kiera Hersel*
117: #10 Sophia Cornish, Isabella Cruz, Morgan Johnson, Rachel Jones, Jojo McDaniel, Bella Morales
124: Kylee Golz, Brooke McCurley, #7 Lorianna Piestewa, Miah Weldon*
131: Hania Halverson, Alyssa Jackson, Thalia Vogelsang
138: Delarie Juarez, Bella Terrian*
145: #10 Gretchen Donally, Abygayle England*
160: Taylor Colangelo, Celina Preston, Valerie Glenn
180: Kimberly Carlin, Maggie Smith
207: Alena Bartley, Noelle Buck
 
*-Entered in the Amateur Division
 
Tri-Dual vs. Sioux Falls/Fort Hays State
 103: #3 Mia Zuniga
110: Adriana Gomez
117: #10 Sophia Cornish or Jojo McDaniel
124: #7 Lorianna Piestewa
131: Thalia Vogelsang or Hania Halverson
138: Keyla Ajoleza or Delarie Juarez
145: #10 Gretchen Donally
160: Celina Preston or Taylor Colangelo
180: Maggie Smith or Kimberly Carlin
207: #5 Jayleen Sekona
 
About the Opponents
 
Sioux Falls
 
The Cougars have a 5-7 dual record this season but went 0-4 at last week's NWCA National Duals and did not meet up with the Mavs.
 
They had won five straight duals from Nov. 21-Dec. 11 but have dropped their last five.
The Cougars started their program in 2023-24 with Griffin Osing serving as an assistant coach.  He is now the program's head coach and hired CMU great Jenessis Martinez as his assistant for this season, the program's third.
 
In 2024-25, the Cougars went 6-1 in duals and sent a pair of wrestlers to the NCWWC National Championships is Zoe Adam and Lanna Walter.  Adam is still on the roster at 207 pounds and is currently fourth NWCA's Super Region 6 rankings.  Johanna Steinlicht is also ranked fourth at 138 pounds.
 
The Cougars do not have any nationally-ranked wrestlers.
 
#9 Fort Hays State
 
The Tigers are 5-3 in duals this season and sit ninth in the NWCA's NCAA Rankings.  They were also at last week's NWCA National Duals and were seeded eighth.  They went 1-3 in that tournament, falling to Sacred Heart and William Jewell on Friday before claiming a 38-7 win over West Liberty on Saturday.  Then then fell to Emmanuel, 25-21 in their finale.
 
This is year No. 2 of the Tiger program although Head Coach Alijah Jeffery did guide some unattached wrestlers in 2023-24 while recruiting a full team for last year's campaign, which saw the Tigers become immediately competitive.  They went 8-2 in duals and placed second in their regional while qualifying nine wrestlers for the NCWWC National Championships.
 
The Tigers then took 20^th at the national tournament and had three wrestlers in Piper Cadden, Nichole Moore and Isabella Renfro fall just one win shy of all-America honors.
 
Moore, a graduate student and 138-pounder, and Renfro, a sophomore 180-pounder, are still on the Tiger roster.
 
Renfro sits atop the NWCA's rankings while Leiannah Landreth is ranked eighth at 117 pounds.  Renfro won all four of her bouts at the national duals and is a perfect 22-0 this season.  Landreth is 14-5 this season and went 2-2 last weekend.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavs have never contested a dual against Sioux Falls.
 
The Mavs are 1-0 all-time against Fort Hays State, having won a 27-15 decision on Nov. 1, 2024 during the Mavs' Fall Brawl.  That match-up was on FHSU's first day in program history.
 
Home Mat Dominance
 
In official action, the Mavericks are now 16-1 all-time in home duals in this their eighth season with a program and have won 16 consecutive times inside Brownson Arena.  The Mavs' only home dual loss came on Oct. 27, 2018, the very first day of the program's history to then NAIA No. 1 Wayland Baptist.
 
The Mavs have just one remaining home dual this season, which will come on Feb. 7 against Chadron State.
 
An historic year
 
The NCAA will sponsor a championship in the sport of women's wrestling for the first time in 2025-26.  The collegiate championship, featuring teams from all three divisions of the NCAA, will be held on Mar. 7-8, 2026 in Coralville, Iowa.
 
A total of 18 wrestlers in each of the ten weight classes will qualify through one of six NCAA regional tournaments on the weekend of Feb. 21-22.  The Mavericks will wrestle out the Region VI tournament, which will be hosted by Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
Only three wrestlers from each weight class at each regional will advance to the national tournament.
 
Another notable change is that teams will only be allowed to send one wrestler in each weight class to the regional.
 
The Region VI field includes 18 teams from around the Western half of the United States plus the lone Canadian team in the NCAA— Simon Fraser.
 
All five RMAC teams are part of the region along with Fort Hays State (Kan.), Lindenwood (Mo.), Linfield (Ore.), Lyon (Ark.) McKendree (Ill.), McMurray (Texas), Minot State (N.D.), Pacific (Ore.), Schreiner (Texas), Sioux Falls (S.D.), Vanguard (Calif.), Westminster (Mo.) and William Jewell (Mo.).
 
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 return to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, traveling to Alamosa, Colorado to face Adams State in an RMAC dual next Sunday (Jan. 25) at 2 p.m.