Mines at CSU Pueblo, Friday, 6 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Results]
Mines vs. #23 Western Colorado, Sunday, 2 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Results]

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SPLIT WEEKEND OF RMAC ACTION AS MINES RETURNS HOME
The stretch run in the regular season starts this weekend as Colorado School of Mines takes on two tough RMAC opponents, visiting CSU Pueblo on Friday night before hosting Western Colorado Sunday afternoon. Friday's dual will be at 6 p.m., and Sunday will be a 2 p.m. start at Volk Gym as Mines returns home for the first time since Dec. 2. The first 50 Mines students in attendance on Sunday will receive free pizza, and there will be a special alumni recognition before the dual. Both duals will stream live on the RMAC Network. 

IT'S ALUMNI WEEKEND 
This is Alumni Weekend for the Orediggers, and all alumni are invited to join Mines Wrestling on Saturday, Jan. 28 for an Open House at the Jack Hancock Wrestling Center in Volk Gym to meet the team, watch practice, and tour the facility starting at 4 p.m., followed by a social at Miners Saloon at 1109 Miners Alley in Golden at 5:30 p.m. Then Sunday cheer on the Orediggers as they host Western Colorado at 2 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Mines (8-1) relied on upperweight success to secure wins over Newman and Central Missouri at last Saturday's Midwest Duals in Kearney. The Orediggers rolled Newman 33-12 with three straight wins - including pins by Anderson Salisbury and Anthony Atria - to finish the dual, then handled Central Missouri 24-14 with Salisbury and Deandre Rucker's decisions at 197 and 285 assuring the team victory. 

SERIES HISTORY
Mines and CSU Pueblo will wrestle for the 34th time dating back to 1983, with CSU Pueblo holding a 22-11 series lead but Mines winning two straight and four of the last six. Last year, the Orediggers beat CSUP 35-9 in the regular-season finale winning eight of 10 bouts, including bonus-point wins by Tyler Krause, Carter Noehre, Anderson Salisbury, Perry Rodenbeck, and Weston Hunt.

Mines and Western Colorado are old rivals dating back to 1950 as they square off for the 78th time, with the Mountaineers leading the series 50-27. Mines, however, has won three straight including a 22-17 victory last year in Gunnison on pins by Krause and Rodenbeck and Grayston DiBlasi's major decision. 

MOVING ON UP
Anderson Salisbury continues to rack up wins in his career, and the two-time all-American is in elite company on the all-time wins list. At 79-24 all-time in his career, Salisbury is one of only 13 Oredigger wrestlers to reach 75 wins, a mark most recently achieved by former teammate Weston Hunt (78); Salisbury just passed Hunt for sole possession of 10th all-time in wins at 79, and he could move as high as a tie for seventh with a couple of wins this weekend. 

RACKING UP PINS, PART I
The NCAA's latest statistics report out on Wednesday has two Orediggers - brothers Grayston DiBlasi and Weston DiBlasi - ranking among the top 10 nationally at all weight classes in falls. Both have seven pins vs. D-II opposition this season to tie for fifth nationally, with Grayston's coming in a cumulative 13:44 and Weston's 16:05. Lake Erie 141-pounder Christian Small leads D-II with nine falls. 

RACKING UP PINS, PART II
Speaking of Grayston DiBlasi, the sophomore has been putting up wins at a historic pace in his two years in Golden, and he is already climbing up the Orediggers' all-time falls list. His 19 career pins puts him into the top-10 tied with Keenan Willits as DiBlasi is now 46-11 overall. He is Mines' active leader in falls, and at 20-4, has now put together back-to-back 20-win seasons.

DAMENTI LEADS THE WAY
Mines captain and 165-pounder Jack Damenti has been a steadying force in the middle of the lineup this season, leading by example with a 12-4 overall record including a perfect 8-0 mark in duals to produce 33 team points. Damenti owns six bonus-point wins among his dozen, as well, and leads Mines in takedowns (40) and escapes (20).

IN THE POLLS
Mines is receiving votes in the third regular-season NWCA coaches' poll out last Friday, with both Grayston DiBlasi (up two spots to #9 at 141) and Anderson Salisbury (holding at #5 at 197) in the individual rankings. In the latest Open Mat rankings out on Wednesday, Mines moved up two spots to #19 in the dual team rankings and stayed at #25 in the tournament rankings, and has four wrestlers in the individual top-20: DiBlasi (staying at #8 at 141), Christian Lopez (up one spot to #13 at 125), Ryan Cody (debuting at #20 at 184), and Salisbury (steady at #5 at 197). Western Colorado is ranked #23 in the latest NWCA poll including #4 Jason Hanenberg at 149 and #9 Cole Hernandez at 174, while CSU Pueblo is out of the rankings.

THE RMAC HUNT
#8 Adams State leads the RMAC standings at 3-0 as they take on Colorado Mesa Thursday and Western Colorado Friday. Western is 2-0 and Mesa is 1-0 as they still have the bulk of their schedule to wrestle, with Mines at 2-1 and CSU Pueblo 1-1 still in the hunt for a share of the title.

LEADING THE WAY
The Orediggers have selected four captains for the 2022-23 season: Jack Damenti, KJ Kearns, Tyler Krause, and Anderson Salisbury. Both Kearns and Salisbury are returning captains from the 2021-22 season. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will finish the dual season with two straight Volk Gym dates hosting Colorado Mesa on Feb. 3 and Chadron State on Feb. 9.
 

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Mines Probables - vs. CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado
125 - Christian Lopez (13-5)
133 - Weston DiBlasi (13-6)
141 - #9 Grayston DiBlasi (20-4)
149 - Teague Dilbeck (9-6)
157 - Daniel Caddy (7-7) or Carter Noehre (9-5)
165 - Jack Damenti (12-4) or Tristin David (8-5)
174 - Levi Farris (3-3)
184 - Ryan Cody (14-6) or Garrett Bakarich (6-7)
197 - #5 Anderson Salisbury (16-4)
285 - Deandre Rucker (10-6)