GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Colorado Mesa came out on top against Colorado School of Mines, 20-18, in a back-and-forth RMAC wrestling dual that went down to the final match.

The Orediggers (7-2) won five bouts, but the Mavericks picked up bonus points in three of their five wins to make the difference.

Mines went up 6-0 thanks to early decisions by Zachary Gracia, who beat Frank Martinez 7-2 at 125 pounds, and Noah Au-Yeung, who shut out Tim Romero 3-0 at 133. Taylor Gambill fell victim to an unlucky pin at 141, leading 5-4 before a later William Moss reversal led to a fall with 13 seconds left to tie the dual 6-6; Mesa then took the lead on back-to-back wins by John Daniel (3-1 over Ryan Carpenter) and Payton Tawater (18-6 over Jack Damenti) to lead 13-6.

The Orediggers roared back with a 1:30 pin by #10 Keenan Willits at 165, but TJ Shelton suffered his first loss in a 10-1 major decision to Bruno Nicoletti at 174 to give Mesa a 17-12 lead. Mines quickly retook the lead, however, thanks to tough wins by Connor Ventura and Anthony Spallino; Ventura gutted out a 3-2 decision over Adam Visconti at 184, and Spallino beat Jareb Aziz 3-1 at 197 to lead 18-17.

That left it up to the heavyweights, and Mesa's Clayton Voytilla beat Weston Hunt 7-4 to pick up the dual-sealing win.

Mines returns home Thursday to host New Mexico Highlands at 7 p.m.
 

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Colorado Mesa 20, Colorado School of Mines 18 [Full Scoring]
125: Zachary Gracia (CSOM) over Frank Martinez (CMU) (Dec 7-2) 
133: Noah Au-Yeung (CSOM) over Tim Romero (CMU) (Dec 3-0) 
141: William Moss (CMU) over Taylor Gambill (CSOM) (Fall 6:46) 
149: John Daniel (CMU) over Ryan Carpenter (CSOM) (Dec 3-1)
157: Payton Tawater (CMU) over Jackson Damenti (CSOM) (MD 18-6) 
165: Keenan Willits (CSOM) over Marc Farina (CMU) (Fall 1:30) 
174: Bruno Nicoletti (CMU) over TJ Shelton (CSOM) (MD 10-1) 
184: Connor Ventura (CSOM) over Adam Visconti (CMU) (Dec 3-2) 
197: Anthony Spallino (CSOM) over Jareb Aziz (CMU) (Dec 3-1) 
285: Clayton Voytilla (CMU) over Weston Hunt (CSOM) (Dec 7-4)