Mines at Western Colorado - Saturday - 6 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Results]

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OREDIGGERS TAKE ON MOUNTAINEERS IN GUNNISON
Two teams unbeaten in RMAC competition will face off Saturday night as Colorado School of Mines visits Western Colorado for a 6 p.m. dual in Gunnison. Both are 2-0 in the RMAC, with Mines a perfect 4-0 overall and Western Colorado 5-2. The dual will stream live on the RMAC Network, with live results available on TrackWrestling. 

LAST TIME OUT
Mines was busy last weekend as they picked up a pair of dual wins over Fort Hays State and San Francisco State, and found success at the Western Colorado Open. In San Francisco, Mines cruised 33-8 over Fort Hays State led by a Grayston DiBlasi pin and tech falls from Trebor Moreno, Cody Thompson, and Mason Diel; they followed that up with a 26-15 win over the host Gators with Moreno and Thompson pinning their opponents and DiBlasi adding a tech fall. At the Western Colorado Open, Garrett Bakarich went 3-0 with three pins to win the 184-pound bracket, with Ryan Cody the runner-up at 197 and Jeffery Morosini sixth at the same weight. 

THE SERIES
Mines and Western Colorado are old rivals dating back to 1950 as they square off for the 79th time, with the Mountaineers leading the series 50-28. Mines, however, has won four straight including a tight 22-20 win in Golden last year. In that dual, Mines came from behind and used bonus points to win despite taking only four of the 10 bouts; Weston DiBlasi, Grayston DiBlasi, Ryan Cody, and Anderson Salisbury all won by either fall or tech fall. 

IN THE POLLS
Mines appeared in fifth place in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll, with favorite Adams State topping the list ahead of Colorado Mesa, Western Colorado, and Chadron State. In the newest NWCA rankings out just before the new year, both the Orediggers and Western Colorado are receiving votes in the team ranking; Mines has three individuals ranked in Grayston DiBlasi (#8 at 141), Cody Thompson (#12 at 149), and Wyatt Reisz (#11 at 174). The latest OpenMat rankings out Wednesday have DiBlasi at #10, Reisz at #9), and 125-pounder Christian Lopez at #17. Western Colorado has one competitor ranked by the NWCA, with Cole Hernandez #4 at 174. 

LEADING THE WAY
Mines' starting lineup has found plenty of success this season, led by the trio of Grayston DiBlasi, Wyatt Reisz, and Cade Whish with 13 wins apiece. Cody Thompson sits at 12-2, and Trebor Moreno is 9-1. Thompson leads the team in dual points produced at 22 in four outings, while Moreno has also produced bonus points in all four of his dual wins for 21 points. Whish leads the Orediggers with seven falls followed by Moreno, Bakarich, and Carson Dulitz at four, with Ryan Cody owning the season's fastest pin in 29 seconds. 

DIBLASI MOVING UP THE RANKS
Speaking of Grayston DiBlasi, the junior 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 24 career pins has him now tied for fifth all-time at Mines, and at 67-18 in less than three full seasons, DiBlasi is on pace to potentially be the first Oredigger in 30 years to challenge for 100 career wins.

PINNED DOWN
DiBlasi isn't the only Oredigger moving up the career falls list. Garrett Bakarich's winning performance at the Western Colorado Open last weekend also put him into the all-time top-20 of pins at Mines, vaulting him to 14th with 17 in his career. Impressively, Bakarich has produced those 17 pins out of 19 career wins, and all four of his wins this year have come via the pin. 

AT THE HELM
Head Coach Austin DeVoe is in his 11th season in charge of the Mines Wrestling program, having rebuilt the Orediggers into a national contender with a pair of RMAC titles, seven all-Americans, and seven Academic All-Americans in his tenure. With 72 dual wins under his belt, Mines has had six consecutive winning dual seasons including the only three double-digit win seasons in program history, and Mines tied the program record for wins last year at 11-2. On the national stage, Mines has had team success as well including an 11th-place finish in 2022 which was the program's best finish since the 1990s. 

NEXT UP
Mines will stay on the road for duals at Chadron State (Jan. 19) and Colorado Mesa (Jan. 27) before returning home to host Adams State on Feb. 3.
 

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PROJECTED BOUTS - MINES at WESTERN COLORADO
125 - Christian Lopez (7-3) vs. Roberto Estrada
133 - Trebor Moreno (9-1) vs. Patrick Allis
141 - #8 Grayston DiBlasi (13-4) vs. Noah Kasprowicz
149 - #12 Cody Thompson (12-2) vs. Dean Noble
157 - Jaron Mahler (9-4) vs. Ryan Wilson
165 - Tristin David (9-4) vs. Walker Heckendorf
174 - #11 Wyatt Reisz (13-4) vs. #4 Cole Hernandez
184 - Mason Diel (8-4) vs. Cole Gray
197 - Ryan Cody (4-5) vs. Sage Harrison
285 - Cade Whish (13-5) vs. Zachary Schraeder