GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After recording a very successful opening weekend at home, a partial contingent of the Colorado Mesa University women's wrestling team will head West to Richfield, Utah to compete in Saturday's Luke Cornerman Open.
The tournament, hosted by Snow College, is slated to begin at 9 a.m. in the Sevier Valley Center after the Badgers host a dual meet event on Friday that CMU will not participate in.
The Mavs have entered 18 wrestlers, most of whom are on the younger half of the roster, for the event.
Tournament Details
As of Thursday morning, more than 100 women's wrestlers from eight collegiate teams are entered for the weekend.
A slightly larger number of men's wrestlers, including four Mavs,
will also compete in the equivalent men's event.
Live coverage of the event
can be found on FloWrestling at this link.
Last Times Out
The Mavericks opened the season on Saturday night, winning the first five and seven of the ten bouts in a 32-14 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual win over visiting Texas Woman's University. The Mavs recorded four pins throughout the evening and jumped out to 19-0 lead en route to the victory.
Full Recap: https://cmumavericks.com/news/2026/11/7/womens-wrestling-mavs-get-off-to-quick-start-in-32-14-season-opening-win.aspx
The Mavs continued their excellence on Sunday as the Mavs combined to win seven of the ten weight classes in the Maverick Open. The Mavs had 19 women place amongst the top six of their weight class. There was an all-CMU final in three different weight classes.
Full Recap: https://cmumavericks.com/news/2026/11/8/womens-wrestling-mavericks-crown-seven-champions-at-maverick-open.aspx
Tournament Entries
Here's a summary of the Mavs' entries for Saturday's tournament. The Mavs have entered 18 wrestlers and will cover nine of the ten weight classes. All eighteen also wrestled in last Sunday's Maverick Open as 12 placed.
Serah Yogi and
Delarie Juarez won at that tournament and were amongst the Mavs' list of seven winners.
103 (4):
Kinlee Brandley,
Maddi Heinzer,
Alissa Perez,
Serah Yogi
114 (1):
Kiera Hersel
124 (2):
Amelia Bacon,
Kylee Golz
131 (3):
Arianna Garcia,
Bella Terrian,
Lauren China Zaragoza
138: None
145 (2):
Delarie Juarez,
Myka Martinez
160 (2): Abbygayle England,
Eloise Woolsey
180 (3):
Taylor Colangelo,
Gianna Falise,
Shylee Tuzon
207 (1):
Alena Bartley
A look at the competition
As of Thursday, the Mavericks are one of eight teams entered in Saturday's event but are the only NCAA squad. Host Snow, Barton (Kan.) Community College and Trinidad State are the three NJCAA programs. Ottawa (Ariz.) will represent the NAIA while club teams from Colorado State, UNLV and Utah Tech round out the field.
National Rankings
The Mavericks opened up the season ranked eighth as a team in the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Preseason rankings that were released on Oct. 23.
The Mavs have 27 points in those rankings, compiled via a Tournament Power Index from the individual rankings in each of the ten weight classes.
The Mavs have three ranked individuals in
Mia Zuniga,
Adriana Gomez and
Lorianna Piestewa, all of whom are ranked fourth in their respective weight classes of 103, 110 and 124 pounds. All three are returning all-Americans from last year's inaugural NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships.
Zuniga, who also earned NCWWC All-America honors while at King University in 2024-25, went 23-9 last season and finished eighth at the national champions.
Gomez set a program-record with 32 wins last season and also placed eighth at the national tournament to earn her all-America honor. She also won the RMAC Championship and went 4-0 in RMAC duals last year.
Piestewa finished fourth at the NCAA Championships last year and finished third at the NCWWC Championships in 2025. She was 27-8 overall last year.
Regional Rankings
The Mavericks also have seven regionally-ranked wrestlers in the NWCA's Preseason Rankings.
Gretchen Donally is ranked first at 145 pounds in Region 6 while Zuniga, Gomez and Piestewa are all ranked second.
Transfer
Jaclyn Dehney is third at 138 pounds while
Sophia Cornish (124) and
Thalia Vogelsang (131) are both ranked fourth.
RMAC Preseason
The Mavericks have also been picked second as a team in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was announced on Oct. 15. The Mavs picked up two first place votes and were tabbed second on three other ballots to finish the poll with 22 points, just one shy of Simon Fraser, which topped the poll while picking up three first place votes.
Additionally, the Mavs also had two representatives on the Preseason All-RMAC team, announced in conjunction with the poll. That team is made up of the highest returning finisher in each weight class from last year's RMAC Championships.
Adriana Gomez (110) and
Sophia Cornish (117) were the Mavs' two representatives.
Cornish went 25-11 and won the RMAC title last year.
Impressive Debuts
Two CMU freshman made impressive debuts as part of the Mavs' dual win over Texas Woman's on Saturday.
Amelia Bacon needed just 21 seconds to record an 11-0 technical fall win at 124 pounds and recorded a rare 5-point throw in the opening seconds of her victory over the Pioneers' Heidi Caprio.
Zaragoza then pinned RaeAnn Lowe at the 1:18 mark of her 131-pound bout.
Both then went 3-1 on Sunday finishing second in their respective weight classes at the Maverick Open. Their only losses came to veteran teammates
Jojo McDaniel and
Thalia Vogelsang in the finals.
50-Win Club
Two Maverick juniors eclipsed the 50-win mark of their careers during Sunday's tournament.
Sophia Cornish went 4-0 to win the 117-pound crown on Sunday and went 5-0 throughout the weekend to raise her career record to 52-18.
Jojo McDaniel also went 4-0 on Saturday to win the 124-pound bracket and now has a 51-26 career record.
Cornish and McDaniel are two of four current Mavericks with 50 or more career wins, a club that also includes
Adriana Gomez (63-28) and
Gretchen Donally (62-20).
Mia Zuniga also has 60 collegiate wins, 24 of which have come while wrestling for CMU after spending two seasons at King University.
Brooke McCurley is also on the verge of joining the group and now has a 49-25 career record after going 5-1 to take third behind McDaniel and
Amelia Bacon in the 124-pound bracket of Sunday's tournament.
Early Award
Thanks to her 5-0 opening weekend,
Sophia Cornish was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's first Women's Wrestler of the Week this season on Tuesday. A native of Trabuco Canyon, California, Cornish now has won two career RMAC Wrestler of the Week honors after claiming her first during her 2025-26 sophomore season on Jan. 20 of this calendar year.
Home Mat Dominance
With Saturday's dual win, the Mavericks are now 18-1 all-time in home duals in the 9-seaosn history of their program. They have won 18 consecutive times inside Brownson Arena, a streak they will look to continue in February. 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 went 4-0 at home last season.
They will have just two more home events this season, taking on Adams State and Western Colorado on Feb. 5 and 6, respectively.
Road Warriors
This weekend's tournament begins a months-long stretch of only road competitions that the Mavericks will compete in.
The Mavs will also compete in tournaments in Hays, Kansas and Naperville, Illinois this fall before closing out the 2026 portion of the schedule at the Desert Duals on Dec. 20 in Las Vegas.
They will then open up 2027 at the NWCA National Duals on Jan. 8-9 in Cedar Falls, Idaho.
Maverick reserves will also take a short trip to Gunnison for the Tracy Borah Open on that same weekend, preceding back-to-back trips to tournaments in Nebraska on Jan. 16 and Jan. 23 with a RMAC dual at Chadron State sandwiched in between on Jan. 21.
CMU will then compete at the RMAC Championships on Jan. 30 at the United States Air Force Academy before the aforementioned home duals against Western Colorado and Adams State.
The Mavs will then compete at the NCAA Super Region VI Championships, which will be hosted by Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas this year on Feb. 19-20. The NCAA Championships will then be contested Mar. 5-6 and will once again be held in Coralville, Iowa.
Up Next
The Mavericks will compete at the Bob Smith Open, hosted by Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas next Sunday (Nov. 22).
