#20 Mines at the Younes Hospitality UNK Open, Saturday, 9 a.m. CT [Live Results/Video]
Hosted by Nebraska-Kearney

---

OREDIGGERS FACE TEST AT UNK
With four dual wins under their belts this season, Colorado School of Mines heads out on the road for the first time for a key early-season test at the Younes Hospitality Open, hosted by Nebraska-Kearney. The largest collegiate open tournament in the nation, the meet will have more than 600 wrestlers competing on 16 mats at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney, Neb., split between "Elite" and "Amateur" weight class brackets. The tournament is live streamed (pay-per-view) with live results on TrackWrestling.

THE FIELD
The Younes Hospitality Open is one of the toughest tournaments in the country outside of the NCAA Division II Championship meet, with a who's-who of D-II teams attending along with top NAIA and NJCAA talent. Among the NWCA-ranked D-II teams in attendance besides #20 Mines are #6 Nebraska Kearney, #7 Augustana, #8 Maryville, #12 Adams State, #12 Colorado Mesa, and #16 Western Colorado; from D-I, #13 South Dakota State; from the NAIA, #5 Doane, #24 Morningside, and #25 Texas Wesleyan; and from the NJCAA, #2 Fort Hays Tech Northwest, #11 Cloud County, #15 Northwest, 

LAST YEAR
Cody Thompson captured the Elite 149-pound championship to lead five Mines placewinners at the 2023 Younes Hospitality UNK Open. Thompson went 5-0, while Grayston DiBlasi placed fifth at Elite 141 and Tristin David was fourth at Elite 165. In the Amateur brackets, Trebor Moreno placed sixth at 133 pounds, and Wyatt Reisz ended on a win to be third at 174 pounds.

LAST TIME OUT
Mines improved to 4-0 in duals with lopsided wins last Friday, beating Otero College 50-4 and Fort Hays State 37-4. Christian Lopez led the way with two bonus-point wins at 125 pounds, while the starting lineup vs. FHS impressed with eight straight wins including majors by Grayston DiBlasi, Cody Thompson, Tristin David, and Wyatt Reisz along with Mason Diel's technical fall.

IN THE POLLS
Mines started the season ranked #20 in the NWCA's tournament rankings, and #21 this week in OpenMat's tournament and dual rankings. Individually in the NWCA top-12s, Cody Thompson debuted at the #1 149-pounder in the nation with Grayston DiBlasi at #10; in the OpenMat top-20s this week, Thompson was #3 and DiBlasi #9 joined by Christian Lopez (#14 at 125), and Wyatt Reisz (#20 at 174). Mines was selected fourth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll in October.

DIBLASI REACHES WINS MILESTONE
Grayston DiBlasi won twice more last Friday to take his career record to 77-22, putting him among elite company in the Mines all-time records. DiBlasi is only the 14th Oredigger to reach 75 career wins, and his .777 career winning percentage currently slots in fourth all-time in program history as he is set to wrestle his 100th match this weekend. Currently 12th all-time with 77 wins, he could be the 11th Oredigger to reach 80 victories this weekend. He is far and away Mines' active wins leader ahead of Christian Lopez (48) and Cody Thompson (42).

BACK ON THE MAT
One of the highlights of the Rookie Open came when Yahir Chairez-Salazar made his return to the mat with a first-period win by fall at 149 pounds, marking another milestone in his incredible comeback story. A freshman who redshirted for both the wrestling and football teams in 2022-23, Chairez-Salazar was involved in a serious car accident in the summer of 2023 that caused an amputation of his left leg above the knee. Determined to keep wrestling, he got back on the mat earlier this year to train for his comeback - a journey that culminated barely 15 months after his accident with a return to the mat and a win. You can read more about Yahir's remarkable story here.

OREDIGGERS EARN RMAC AWARDS
Mines had five wrestlers named to the 2024 All-RMAC teams last winter, and all five return in 2024-25. Cody Thompson earned a spot on the first team, Wyatt Reisz was Freshman of the Year in addition to a second-team spot, Ryan Cody was also named to the second team, and Grayston DiBlasi and Christian Lopez were named honorable mention. Reisz was the first Freshman of the Year in program history.

AT THE HELM
Head Coach Austin DeVoe is in his 12th season in charge of the Mines Wrestling program, having rebuilt the Orediggers into a national contender with a pair of RMAC titles, eight all-Americans, and eight Academic All-Americans in his tenure. With 80 dual wins under his belt, Mines has had seven consecutive winning dual seasons including the only three double-digit win seasons in program history, including tying the program wins record in 2022-23 with an 11-2 record. 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. 
 

---

PROJECTED ENTRANTS - MINES at the YOUNES HOSPITALITY UNK OPEN
Garrett Bakarich (2-0)
Valor Buck (2-2)
Marcus Caro (7-0)
Yahir Chairez-Salazar (1-4)
Brandon Cody (0-0)
Ryan Cody (1-1)
Grant Crownhart (0-0)
Tristin David (2-0)
#10 Grayston DiBlasi (4-0)
Mason Diel (2-0)
Carson Dulitz (0-0)
Ben Fanelli (0-0)
Austin Holman (0-0)
Laith Ibrahim (2-0)
Elliot Kim (2-2)
Ethan Kremer (0-0)
Avery Krippner (1-0)
Christian Lopez (4-0)
Jaron Mahler (3-3)
Trebor Moreno (2-0)
Jeffery Morosini (5-1)
Timber Parlin (4-1)
Wyatt Reisz (3-0)
Marco Romero (0-0)
Deandre Rucker (0-1)
Jakob Smith (1-0)
Xander Sweeney (6-1)
#1 Cody Thompson (2-0)
Trevor Thorn (3-2)
Kaleb Valdez-Lemos (6-1)
Cade Whish (4-2)