#9 Mines at #25 Colorado Mesa, Saturday, 5 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Results]
 

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THIS WEEKEND
#9 Colorado School of Mines visits #25 Colorado Mesa on Saturday night looking to continue a hot start to RMAC competition. The Orediggers will face their third-straight top-25 opponent coming off wins against #25 San Francisco State (32-13) and #19 Chadron State (27-9) last weekend. Colorado Mesa is 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC, but take on CSU-Pueblo Friday night before hosting Mines. The dual will be streamed live on the RMAC Network.

LAST TIME OUT
Mines won seven bouts as they dominated #19 Chadron State in a 27-9 dual win on Sunday. The Orediggers (5-2, 3-0 RMAC) remained perfect in conference competition as they raced out to an 18-0 lead thanks to victories in the opening four weight classes. Jake Woods highlighted the meet with an upset of #9 Brandon Kile at 133, while Matt Lavengood and Taylor Gambill picked up falls at 125 and 141, respectively. Noah Ottum, Skyler Lykins, Perry Rodenbeck, and Connor Ventura also had wins in the dual.
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was a big mover in this week's NWCA top 25 poll, cracking the top 10 for the first time in program history with the #9 team tournament ranking. Mines individuals made big jumps in the rankings as well as Robert Gambrell (10-1) moved up one spot to #2 at 174 pounds, while Weston Hunt (9-2) went up three places to #4 at 285 pounds and Skyler Lykins (15-2) had a six-spot leap to #6 at 165. Earning his first career ranking was Anderson Salisbury (17-6), who debuted at #12 at 184 pounds.

THE HUNT FOR THE RMAC TITLE
Mines sits atop the RMAC standings at 3-0, with Western Colorado 2-0 and both Colorado Mesa and CSU-Pueblo 1-0. Adams State suffered a loss to Western last week to make them 1-1, while Mines has already defeated the bottom three teams in the standings in New Mexico Highlands (1-2), San Francisco State (1-3), and Chadron State (1-5).

SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
The Mavericks enter the weekend ranked #25 in the NWCA poll and are 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC; their RMAC win came over Chadron State 32-17 on Nov. 16, and they also edged Western Colorado 24-22 in a non-RMAC dual on Dec. 5. The Mavs are tough up and down the lineup led by #3 Payton Tawater at 157 and #8 Donnie Negus at 197; Fred Green is 15-3 at 165 and Nolan Krone 15-5 at 184 to lead them in wins.

LAST YEAR VS. COLORADO MESA
Mines defeated the Mavericks 23-11 at Volk Gymnasium to clinch a share of their first-ever RMAC title on Feb. 6 last season. Mines won six weight classes including Matt Lavengood's pin at 125, majors for Skyler Lykins at 157 and Robert Gambrell and 174, and a tech fall for Weston Hunt at 285.

WOODS EARNS RMAC HONOR
On Tuesday, 133-pounder Jake Woods was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week for the first time in his career. Woods went 3-0 across three duals Mines also go 3-0 to start their RMAC schedule. Woods had back-to-back pins on Friday, sticking New Mexico Highlands' Issac Garcia in 2:53 and San Francisco State's Antonio Margiotta in 2:48. He scored an upset on Sunday at #18 Chadron State when he beat #9 Brandon Kile 4-3 thanks to a third-period reversal. Woods accounted for 15 dual points.

LEADING THE WAY
This season, Mines has some familiar faces and some new ones leading the way. Anderson Salisbury leads the team in wins at 17-6 with Skyler Lykins second at 15-2. Lykins boats the team's best dual record (7-0) and the top record versus D-II opponents (13-2), while he and Jake Woods co-lead the team in dual points (27). Salisbury leads the team in major decisions (4) and tech falls (4) while Woods and Nolan Funk co-lead the team with five falls each. Carter Noehre owns the season's fastest fall at 0:23.

NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Saturday's dual will see two former high school teammates go against each other at 285 pounds as #4 Weston Hunt is projected to take on Hunter Mooring. The pair graduated from Pueblo West High School together; in 2017 Mooring was the Colorado 195-pound runner-up while Hunt won the 220-pound title. The two met in last year's dual with Hunt winning a 16-0 technical fall. And although they won't face each other, Mines 174-pounder Robert Gambrell and CMU 197-pounder Donnie Negus are both Douglas County HS alumni.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
Mines' home dual on Feb. 7 vs. #13 Adams State has been moved up one hour to a 6 p.m. start time.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will visit Western Colorado on Feb. 1 as they continue the RMAC schedule.   

#9 MINES at #25 COLORADO MESA PROJECTED LINEUPS
125 - Matt Lavengood (5-1) vs. Collin Metzgar (8-6) or Cian Apple (12-8)
133 - Jake Woods (10-5) vs. Dylan Keeney (13-10)
141 - Wes Rayburn (14-7) or Taylor Gambill (2-1) vs. Daniel Van Hoose (6-2)
149 - Noah Ottum (8-7) or Carter Noehre (4-3) vs. Dyllan Fuchs (8-1)
157 - Ryan Fidel (11-6) vs. #3 Payton Tawater (8-3) or Erik Contreras (4-13)
165 - #6 Skyler Lykins (15-2) vs. Fred Green (15-3)
174 - #2 Robert Gambrell (10-1) or Perry Rodenbeck (2-5) vs. Seth Latham (12-7)
184 - #12 Anderson Salisbury (17-6) or Connor Ventura (1-3) vs. Nolan Krone (15-5)
197 - Nolan Funk (11-8) vs. #8 Donnie Negus (8-5) or Aaron Trygstad (1-3)
285 - #4 Weston Hunt (9-2) vs. Hunter Mooring (3-7)