GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's wrestling team will host the first event in nearly three months and the last of their season as they wrap up the dual meet portion of the 2025-26 campaign with a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up against Chadron State College on Saturday evening.
 
The Mavericks and Eagles will tangle at 6 p.m. in the second half of a men's and women's doubleheader, which begins at 4 p.m. in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavs will recognize eight seniors prior to the dual and fans are encouraged to wear pajamas for the Pajama Night promotion.
 
Tickets are available here.
 
The dual will also be streamed on the RMAC Network (more information below) and live results can be found on TrackWrestling at the link above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks competed at the RMAC Championships last Saturday in the Cadet East Gymnasium on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.
 
They Mavs crowned three champions and had five finalists while taking second in the final team standings.
 
Thirteen of the fourteen Mavs in action finished amongst the top six in their respective weight classes.
 
A full recap can be found here.
 
Queens of the RMAC
 
Adriana Gomez (110 pounds), Sophia Cornish (117) and Jayleen Sekona (207) all won RMAC titles as last Saturday's tournament.  The Mavericks have now won a conference-leading 14 RMAC weight class championships in the 3-year history of the tournament out of a possible 30.
 
Maverick record and Century Watch
 
Jayleen Sekona picked up her 95^th and 96^th career victories en route to the RMAC title and in the process, became the winningest Maverick women's wrestler in program history.
 
A 3-time all-American out of Anchorage, Alaska, Sekona now has a 96-33 career record and two more wins than former record holder Marissa Gallegos recorded.

Gallegos went 94-8 in her Maverick career, highlighted by a 2023 national championship and undefeated 28-0 season.  Gallegos is the only Maverick women's wrestler to have won a national title.
 
Sekona is now just four wins away from reaching the 100 mark and has a very realistic chance of doing so at the NCAA Regional or National Championships.
 
All-Conference Honors
 
In addition to claiming the gold medals on Saturday, the Mavericks' three champions in Adriana Gomez, Sophia Cornish and Jayleen Sekona have earned First Team All-RMAC honors as the top finisher in each weight class.  Jojo McDaniel, who took second behind Cornish at 117 pounds, and Celina Preston, who was second at 160 pounds, are Second Team honorees.
 
The conference will officially release those all-conference teams in conjunction with the major awards of Coach of the Year, Wrestler of the Year and Freshman of the Year, which will be determined by a vote of the conference's head coaches following the national championships.
 
Probable Lineup
 
Here is a look at the Mavs' probable lineup for Saturday's dual.
 
Two extra matches are also planned before the dual, to involve CMU seniors.
 
103 – #3 Mia Zuniga (18-5)
110 – Adriana Gomez (26-11)
117 – Bella Morales (8-6)
124 – #4 Lorianna Piestewa (21-5)
131 – Hania Halverson (16-11) OR Brooke McCurley (19-10)
138 – Keyla Ajoleza (12-7)
145 – Gretchen Donally (25-10)
160 – Celina Preston (20-11)
180 – Kimberly Carlin (16-12)
207 – #6 Jayleen Sekona (24-7)
Extra Matches
117– Isabella Cruz (1-4)
131– Alyssa Jackson (11-7)

Senior Night
 
The Mavericks will recognize eight team members prior to Saturday's Senior Night dual, which will serve as their final career home match.
 
The list includes Keyla Ajoleza, Kimberly Carlin, Isabella Cruz, Hania Halverson, Alyssa Jackson, Bella Morales, Celina Preston, Jayleen Sekona.  Ajoleza is a redshirt sophomore but plans to graduate this year.
 
Ten-Win Seasons
 
The Mavs' dual victory over Adams State on Sunday, Jan. 25 was their tenth of the season and allowed the Mavs to reach double figures for dual wins for the fourth straight season.
 
They are now 10-8 heading in to this Saturday's dual against Chadron State.
 
Quest for the Single-Season Record
 
Six different Mavericks have recorded 20 or more wins this season and many of those have a shot at setting the Mavs' single-season record, which is currently held by Claire DiCugno, who went 31-8 during the 2021-22 season.
 
After going 2-0 at the RMAC Championships, Adriana Gomez now leads the Mavericks with 26 wins (26-11).  Gretchen Donally, who was forced out of the RMAC Championships, due to injury is 25-10.  Jayleen Sekona is 24-7.
 
Sophia Cornish is 23-9 while Lorianna Piestewa is 21-5.  Celina Preston is 20-11.
 
Twenty times Four
 
With her RMAC Tournament semifinal win, Celina Preston became the first Maverick to ever record 20 or more wins in four seasons.  Preston now has 84 career wins, the fourth highest total in program history behind only Jayleen Sekona (96), Marissa Gallegos (94) and Jennesis Martinez (87).
 
National Rankings
 
A new edition of the NWCA NCAA Women's Coaches' Poll was released on Friday, Jan. 16.  The Mavs remained in the No. 7 spot as a team and continue to have five nationally-ranked individuals, who combine to give
 
The Mavericks still have five individually ranked wrestlers, who combined to earn 28 tournament power index ranking points, five more than the 23 they had in the previous (Dec. 19 rankings).
 
Mia Zuniga leads the group and continues to sit third at 103 pounds.  Lorianna Piestewa moved up three spots to fourth at 124 pounds  while Jayleen Sekona dropped one spot to sixth in the 207-pound rankings.  Gretchen Donally was able to move up one spot to ninth in the 145-pound rankings while Sophia Cornish maintained her No. 10 ranking at 117 pounds.
 
The Mavs and No. 11 (tie) Simon Fraser are the two nationally-ranked teams in the RMAC field. The Red Leafs have three nationally-ranked wrestlers in Ella Finding (#8, 131), Liv Weiber (#4, 145) and Julia Richey (#7, 207).
 
Iowa continues to sit atop the team rankings and is followed by McKendree, North Central and Grand Valley Sate and King.
 
The full rankings can be seen here.
 
About the Eagles
 
The Eagles have a 5-5 dual record and are 2-1 in RMAC contests.  They finished fifth at last week's RMAC Championships and crowned their first conference champion in program history in 103-pounder Brianna Vollendroff.
 
Rylee Balcazar was also in the finals at 110 pounds falling on criteria to CMU's Adriana Gomez.  Piper Cadden (131) and Esther Peters (207) both placed third.
 
Four of their five dual wins have come at home in Chadron, Nebraska.  They are just 1-5 when away from the Chicoine Center.
 
Series History
 
The Mavs are a perfect 5-0 in duals against the Eagles, who started their program in 2021-22.    The Mavs have scored 41 points in all three of their home wins over the Eagles, winning 41-3, 41-3 and 41-6.
 
They won last year's meeting 28-18 on Jan. 17, 2025 in Chadron.
 
Home Mat Dominance
 
In official action, the Mavericks are now 16-1 all-time in home duals in this their eighth season with a program and have won 16 consecutive times inside Brownson Arena, a streak they will look to continue on Saturday.  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 are 3-0 at home this season and also won an exhibition dual over Snow College.
 
An historic year
 
The NCAA will sponsor a championship in the sport of women's wrestling for the first time in 2025-26.  The collegiate championship, featuring teams from all three divisions of the NCAA, will be held on Mar. 7-8, 2026 in Coralville, Iowa.
 
A total of 18 wrestlers in each of the ten weight classes will qualify through one of six NCAA regional tournaments on the weekend of Feb. 21-22.  The Mavericks will wrestle out the Region VI tournament, which will be hosted by Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
Only three wrestlers from each weight class at each regional will advance to the national tournament.
 
Another notable change is that teams will only be allowed to send one wrestler in each weight class to the regional.
 
The Region VI field includes 18 teams from around the Western half of the United States plus the lone Canadian team in the NCAA— Simon Fraser.
 
All five RMAC teams are part of the region along with Fort Hays State (Kan.), Lindenwood (Mo.), Linfield (Ore.), Lyon (Ark.) McKendree (Ill.), McMurray (Texas), Minot State (N.D.), Pacific (Ore.), Schreiner (Texas), Sioux Falls (S.D.), Vanguard (Calif.), Westminster (Mo.) and William Jewell (Mo.).
 
RMAC Network News
 
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130.
 
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 Maverick starters will head to the NCAA Region VI Championships on Feb. 21-22, which will qualify the top three finishers in each weight class for next month's national championships as explained above.