GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – In a battle of teams tied for No. 22 in the NWCA National Poll, Colorado Mesa and Colorado School of Mines duked it out on the mat this evening (Jan. 23) with the winner likely still in the hunt for a piece the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship.
 
In the end, the Orediggers won six of the 10 bouts including the final five of the evening en route to the 24-16 victory in Brownson Arena.
 
The Orediggers got on the board at 125 pounds as Jake Goodin pinned Adonias Cantu with just eight seconds left in the bout. Goodin led 11-7 when he was able to put Cantu to his back for the three-point swing on the dual scoreboard with a 6-0 lead after one bout.
 
Colorado Mesa would go on to win the next four bouts including one by major decision and one by pin.
 
Aj Hague picked up a major decision win at 133 pounds followed by a pin by Apollo Cruz at 141 pounds to give the Mavericks a sudden 10-6 lead in the dual.
 
Redshirt junior Alex Castaneda had the win of the evening as he defeated No. 3 ranked and 2024 NCAA National finalist Cody Thompson 6-4 at 149 pounds. Thompson led Castaneda 4-3 with under 15 seconds to wrestle when Castaneda was able to secure a takedown with seconds remaining for the win over the ranked wrestler.
 
Owen Cline nearly duplicated Castaneda's result at 157 pounds. The Orting, Wash. native picked up a takedown with under 10 seconds left on the edge of the mat to haul in the 12-11 win over Brandon Cody.
 
The Orediggers went on to win the final five bouts of the night with one major decision and one technical fall. The final two bouts Mines picked up 3-1 decision victories.
 
The Mavericks will be back on the mat next Saturday as they will travel to Rangely for an exhibition dual against Colorado Northwestern CC. Most of the Maverick starters will have the weekend off with the reserves likely to see the primary action.
 
Bout-by-Bout Results
125: Jake Goodin (CSM) pins Adonias Cantu, 6:52
133: AJ Hague (CMU) maj. dec. Izaiah Padilla, 15-2
141: Apollo Cruz (CMU) pins Bryan Espiritu, 4:39
149: Alex Castaneda (CMU) dec. #3 Cody Thompson, 6-4
157: #7 Owen Cline (CMU) dec. Brandon Cody, 12-11
165: Marcus Caro (CSM) dec. Will Alvarado, 7-1
174: Jakob Smith (CSM) maj. dec. Christian Pebley, 11-1
184: Wyatt Reisz (CSM) tech fall Noah O'Dougherty, 21-5
197: Mason Diel (CSM) dec. #8 Gabriel Carranza, 3-1
285: Laith Ibrahim (CSM) dec. Ruben Samuelson, 3-1