GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After a strong fall season, the nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa University men's golf team will hope to continue the momentum in to the spring season, which begins Monday and Tuesday at the Visit Stockton Division II Invitational in Stockton, California.
The 36-hole tournament which will include single rounds on both days will be played at The Reserve at Spanos Park, which will later host the NCAA Division II South Central/West Super Regional in May.
The Ruidoso Junior Golf Association is hosting the event, which will include 24 teams from the Super Region who will get a chance to preview the regional championship course.
Live scoring for the event
can be found here.
The five Maverick players have tee times between 10:10 and 10:50 a.m. PST (11:10-11:50 Mountain) on Monday with Tuesday's times based on Round 1 results.
Fall Recap
The Mavericks had a stellar fall season, recording a pair of team tournament wins in their four tournaments. The Mavs recorded a 35-7-1 head-to-head record against Division II opposition throughout the fall while combining for a 286.73 scoring average.
The Mavs players combined for 19 rounds in the 60s and had 30 par or better rounds from nine different players.
Dylan Everett also won the Travis Memorial Invitational in Sheridan, Wyoming to open the season and was one of three Mavericks to earn Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Golfer of the Week honors. He earned his honor on Sept. 18 after his tournament win.
Timmy Cavarno then won the Week 2 honor on Sept. 26 before
Leo Lavalle capped the fall with a Oct. 16 honor after placing second in a field of 89 at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invite.
National Rankings
The Mavericks ended the fall ranked 14th in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll, coordinated by the Golf Coaches Association of America. That poll was released on Oct. 31.
The Mavs had been ranked 18
th in the previous poll but moved up thanks to their third place finish at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invite.
Additionally, the Mavericks sit 17
th in the computerized
SCOREBOARD Powered by clippd rankings, most recently updated on Wednesday (Feb. 18). Those rankings will play a major part of the selection process for the NCAA Division II Super Regionals.
The Mavs are tabbed fourth amongst South Central Region schools in those rankings.
Ten of the 19 teams from the region, made up of the Lone Star and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferences, will eventually be selected for the NCAA Tournament joining ten West Region teams at the Super Regional. The LSC and RMAC Tournament Champions will earn automatic spots while the other eight spots will be determined at-large.
The Mavs also have two players ranked inside the top 50 of the SCOREBOARD National Individual rankings in
Leo Lavalle (40
th) and
Dylan Everett (45
th).
Fall Statistics
The Mavericks posted a 286.73 team scoring average in the fall, on pace to be the second best single-season scoring mark in program history. The only better mark was last year's 2024-25 team that posted a 286.03 scoring average.
The current No. 2 full season average is 290.97, set in 2022-23.
Individually,
Leo Lavalle recorded a 70.91 scoring average while recording six par or better rounds out of 11. His mark is on pace to be the second best in program history behind only
Cole Beyer's 69.45 program record average from last season.
Colin Prater's 2013-14 season average of 71.81 is the current No. 2 ranked season.
Dylan Everett is also ahead of that pace, posting a 71.45 scoring average in the fall.
Lineup Look
Here is the look at the Maverick lineup that will play this week, according to Head Coach
Scott Sullivan. Each player's fall scoring average is in parenthesis.
- Leo Lavalle (70.91)
- Timmy Cavarno (72.00)
- Dylan Everett (71.45)
- Luke Wagstaff (73.91)
- Jacob Gonzalez (72.40)
Of note, Gonzalez, a freshman out of Austin, Texas, will make his first team start after leading the team in Sullivan's Spring qualifying process. He played on the Mavs "B" team at the San Juan Intercollegiate and was one the Maverick individuals at the Bob Writz Invitational.
The other four Mavericks were a part of the Mavs' starting five at all four of the four team tournaments.
A look at the competition
The Visit Stockton Division II Invitational will feature 24 teams from the NCAA Division II South Central and West Regions.
Four of the 24, including the 14
th-ranked Mavs, were ranked in the end of fall Bushnell/Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll. That list also includes No. 16 CSU Pueblo, No. 19 Western Washington, No. 23 Cal State East Bay. Three other teams in the Colorado School of Mines, Cal State Monterey Bay, Colorado Christian are receiving votes in the poll.
The Mavs are also one of 25 teams ranked inside the five of the current SCOREBOARD rankings. CSU Pueblo leads that list at No. 11 while Western Washington is 15
th and just two spots ahead of the Mavs. Cal Sate East Bay, ranked 20
th and Hawai'i-Hilo, ranked 25
th also headline a strong field that could look similar to the NCAA Super Regional Field in May.
Spring Slate
Monday and Tuesday's tournament is the first of five the Mavericks are slated to play during the spring regular season, leading into the championship portion of the season.
They will open March at the Las Vegas Desert Classic to be played at Boulder Creek Golf Course in the Las Vegas suburb of Boulder City, Nevada from Mar. 1-3. The RMAC Championships will also be there from Apr. 19-21.
The Mavs will also hope to return there in May for the May 18-22 NCAA Division II National Championships.
Following the Las Vegas tournament, They will then return to California for Cal State San Bernadino's Coyote Classic in Beaumont, California on Mar. 23-24.
A week later, CMU will be at the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invite in Pueblo, Colorado.
The Mavs then wrap up the regular season at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic in Goodyear, Arizona. That event will be played on Apr. 6-7.
The regional championships are May 7-9.
