GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's wrestling team will begin the postseason run as the nation's 21^st-ranked Mavericks will compete in Saturday's NCAA Super Region VI Championships in Golden, Colorado, which will serve as the qualifying event for next month's NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
The Mavericks are one of 13 teams who will compete in Saturday's tournament, being hosted by the Colorado School of Mines in the Orediggers' Lockridge Arena.  Action will begin at 10 a.m.
 
Tournament information can be found at the link above, which is where links to purchase tickets, live results and brackets can also be found.
 
The tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling with results being available through the TrackWrestling/Flo partnership.
 
The top three finishers in each weight class from Saturday's tournament will move on to the national tournament.
 
A recap of the Mavs' efforts will be posted on www.cmumavericks.com on  Saturday evening.
 
Last Times Out
 
The Mavericks wrapped up the regular season in Gunnison, Colorado on Feb. 12 and 14.  The Mavericks' starters dropped their final dual of the season to the Western Colorado University Mountaineers by a 26-18 margin on Friday, Feb. 12. 
 
AJ Hague, Owen Cline, Noah O'Dougherty and Gabriel Carranza were winners in that dual, which came down to the final bout.
 
The Maverick reserves and redshirts then shined on Feb. 14 at the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, designed to be an end-of-the season capstone for those type of wrestlers from around the region. 
 
Juan Garcia, Gunnar Neal and Logan Nobel all won their respective weight classes while fourteen different Mavericks placed.
 
Lineup Look
 
Here is a look at the Mavs' lineup for Saturday's tournament, which has largely been unchanged from their dual meet lineup down the stretch.  Each wrestler's 2025-26 overall record is included.
 
125: Adonias Cantu (17-9)
133: AJ Hague (14-6)
141: Apollo Cruz (10-11)
149: Alex Castaneda (12-9)
157: #7 Owen Cline (9-2)
165: Will Alvarado (12-14)
174: Christian Pebley (12-10)
184: Noah O'Dougherty (11-10)
197: #7 Gabriel Carranza (15-4)
285: Tyler Doyle (12-2)
 
Pulling the redshirt
 
Although the Mavs' lineup is largely unchanged, there is one significant change, which comes at 285 pounds as the Mavs will send senior Tyler Doyle to represent the Mavs in that weight class. 
 
Doyle, who had originally planned to redshirt this season and come back for a fifth year in 2026-27, has decided to pull that redshirt and compete this weekend following a season-ending injury that Ruben Samuelson suffered in the final dual..
 
Doyle has put together a strong 12-2 record while competing in three open tournaments this season.  He won two of those tournaments, including the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, while competing unattached after taking fifth as the Younes Hospitality Open back in November.
 
Although he will appear in a CMU singlet for the first time on Saturday, Doyle has won nine straight tournament bouts this season.
 
Sunday's tournament will be his final career action if he is unable to extend his career to the national tournament.
 
The Littleton, Colorado native certainly has the pedigree to advance and is a returning all-American, who placed seventh at last year's national championships.
 
Rankings Check
 
Tyler Doyle immediately jumped in to the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Rankings, most recently released last week on Feb. 19, and will enter the regional tournament ranked 14^th in the country at 285 pounds.  He is one of three nationally-ranked Mavericks joining 157-pounder Owen Cline and 197-pounder Gabriel Carranza.  Both Cline and Carranza are ranked seventh in their respective weight classes.  Cline had also been ranked seventh in the previous set of rankings while Carranza moved up a spot from his previous No. 8 ranking.
 
As a team, the Mavericks were also able to climb one spot to 21^st in the team rankings, which are calculated from a Tournament Power Index, based on the individual rankings.
 
Regional Experience & Youthfulness
 
The Maverick regional lineup has a mix of experience and a lot of youthfulness, with only limited examples in the middle.
 
Five of the Mavericks in the lineup are true or redshirt freshman and will be making their NCAA regional championship debuts on Saturday.  That group includes Adonias Cantu (125), AJ Hague (133), Apollo Cruz (141), Christian Pebley (174) and Noah O'Dougherty (184).
 
Redshirt sophomore Will Alvardo will also make his regional debut and has been the Mavs' consistent starter at 165 pounds this season.
 
Meanwhile, four Mavericks will compete in the regional with previous and largely successful experience.
 
Redshirt senior Gabriel Carranza will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the third straight season after placing third at the regional in the past two years.  He also took third at the 2021 tournament as a true freshman, which was effected by COVID and was not enough to qualify for that year's smaller national tournament.  He also missed the 2022 regional due to a late season injury and redshirted in 2023.
 
Redshirt sophomore Owen Cline also took third at last year's regional to qualify for the national tournament, where he took fourth place to earn all-America honors. 
 
Tyler Doyle has successfully emerged from the regional in the past two years, taking third with a 3-1 record last year after going 2-2 while taking second in 2024.  He also went on to earn All-America honors with a seventh place finish at the 2025 national tournament.
 
Redshirt junior Alex Castaneda has also competed at two previous Super Regionals.  He took sixth as a true freshman in 2023 before redshirting during the 2023-24 season .  He then finish fourth at last year's regional, one play shy of what he needed to move on to the national tournament.
 
Rankings Deep Dive
 
The Mavericks are one of six teams in Saturday's tournament ranked in the top 25 of the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Coaches Rankings.  Four others are in the "receiving votes" category and have at last one nationally-ranked wrestler.
 
Nebraska-Kearney will headline the regional field as the top ranked squad in Division II.  The Lopers have won two straight and six out of the last seven regional championship as team and have eight nationally ranked wrestlers while racking up 90 points in the team rankings.  They have two top-ranked individuals.
 
No. 15 Adams State, No. 17 Chadron State, No. 18 (tie) San Francisco State and No. 24 Western Colorado also join the 21^st-ranked Mavs.
 
Tournament host Colorado School of Mines, CSU Pueblo New Mexico Highlands and Vanguard are in the others receiving votes.
 
On an individual basis, 23 different wrestlers from the 13 competing teams are ranked amongst the nation's top 15 in their respective weight class heading into the regional.
 
A weight-by-weight breakdown of those wrestlers, who would be favored in most cases to go on to the national tournament are listed below.
 
Notably, the 157-pound bracket will have four nationally-ranked wrestlers, meaning at least one of them will see their season come to an end on Saturday.  CMU's seventh-ranked Owen Cline is one of those four.
 
Also of note, the 141-pound bracket will have both the No. 1 and 2 ranked men in the country, with a third national tournament qualification spot wide open.
 
125- #2 Isaiah Gamez (Adams State), #6 Devin Gomez (Western Colorado), #7 Quade Smith (Chadron State)
133- #6 Jacob Meyers (CSU Pueblo), #11 Zachary Klarcyk (Vanguard), #12 Zach Ourada (Nebraska-Kearney)
141- #1 Johnny Lopez (San Francisco State), #2 Joseph Airola (Nebraska-Kearney)
149- #6 Cody Thompson (Mines)
157- #3 Aaden Valdez (Adams State), #5 Cael Robb (Nebraska-Kearney), #7 Owen Cline (Colorado Mesa), #12 Vinny Cabral (Western Colorado)
165- #6 Trent Munoz (Nebraska-Kearney), #8 Ivan Smith (New Mexico Highlands)
174- #6 Otgonbayar Batsuuri (Nebraska-Kearney)
184- #3 Keegan Gehlhausen (Chadron State), #4 Kaden Hart (Nebraska-Kearney)
197- #4 Jackson Kinsella (Nebraska-Kearney), Gabriel Carranza (Colorado Mesa), #14 Mason Villwok (Chadron State)
285- #1 Crew Howard (Nebraska-Kearney), #14 Tyler Doyle (Colorado Mesa)
 
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 Mavericks who finish in the top three of their respective weight classes on Saturday will move on to the Mar. 13-14 NCAA Division II National Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 
Those that do not will see their seasons come to a close.