GUNNISON, Colo.— Wil Moneypenny went 3-0 and claimed the 165-pound title as four Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's wrestlers placed at Friday's Western Colorado Open here in the Mountaineer Fieldhouse.
 
Meanwhile, Tommy Thomas and Logan Noble both placed third at 157 and 184 pounds, respectively, while AJ Salguero took sixth at 149 pounds, a weight class in which five Mavs competed.
 
In total, 12 Maverick back-ups combined for 27 wins throughout the day.
 
Three other CMU wrestlers also went a combined 13-1, won two brackets and placed third in another while competing unattached.
 
Moneypenny claimed his second collegiate tournament title, blanking Dillon Griffin of the host Mountaineers, 15-0 in the quarterfinals after receiving a first round bye.  He then pinned Air Force's Sebastian Martinez before recording a 6-0 shutout over Air Force Prep's Gable Gross in the final. 
 
The redshirt sophomore from Berthoud, Colorado placed third at the event last year and was fourth in 2023-24, a year when he won the Mines Rookie Open while competing unattached.
 
Noble went 5-1 with four pins to record his third-place finish thanks to a 21-13 major decision win over Western Colorado's Gabriel Cox.  He had rattled off three other backdraw pins in a combined four minutes and 24 seconds after winning his opening round match in just 2:19.
 
Thomas went 3-1 with two pins and beat Western's Quinn Brown, just 1:19 in to the third-place match after starting the day with a 63-second pin over Albert Lawrenz of Minot State in the Round of 16 in the championship half of the 157-pound bracket.
 
Salguero went 4-2.  He dropped his opening round match-up but roared through the consolation bracket with two technical fall wins, a pin and a 10-2 major decision win to reach the consolation semifinals, where he lost.  He was then match limited and could not contest the fifth-place match in the 149-pound bracket.
 
Keyton Young also went 3-2 in that bracket.
 
Notably, Mikey Medina and Sammy Mobly both went 2-2 in the 125 and 157-pound brackets, respectively.
 
The Maverick starters will be in action here on Saturday wrestling three times during the Tracy Borah Duals against Cal Poly Humboldt, Vanguard and Minot State, starting at 9 a.m.