#18 Mines at the Midwest Classic, Saturday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET [Live Results/Video]
Hosted by the University of Indianapolis

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OREDIGGERS CLOSE 2024 IN INDY
Mines will close out 2024 with one of the nation's toughest tournaments, traveling to Indianapolis for the 45th Midwest Classic at UIndy this weekend. The two-day tournament begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern each day as Mines will face arguably the most elite field assembled anywhere outside of the national championship meet with a field full of nationally-ranked squads and wrestlers. Brackets and live results (free) and video (pay-per-view) are available on TrackWrestling.

THE FIELD
The Midwest Classic is always a tremendous mid-season test with the nation's elite in attendance. The field features 19 of the top-25 ranked teams in the latest NWCA Division II poll, including #18 Mines, as well as #2 Central Oklahoma, #4 McKendree, #6 Glenville State, #7 Gannon, #9 Adams State, #11 UIndy, #12 Grand Valley State, #13 Kutztown, #14 Colorado Mesa, #15 Lander, #17 Western Colorado, #19 UNC-Pembroke, #20 Pitt-Johnstown, #21 Maryville, #22 Tiffin, #23 Lake Erie, #24 Central Missouri, and #25 Ouachita Baptist. 

LAST YEAR
Wyatt Reisz and Grayston DiBlasi were placewinners at last year's Midwest Classic to lead the Orediggers. Reisz finished fifth at 174, and DiBlasi was seventh at 141, with Christian Lopez also making it into Sunday at 125 pounds. Mines scored 47 team points to finish tied for 19th out of 51 teams at the meet.

LAST TIME OUT
Mines had 10 placewinners in its last competition at the Younes Hospitality Open in Kearney, Neb. on Nov. 23. At the largest single-day tournament in the nation, Trebor Moreno, #10 Grayston DiBlasi, and #1 Cody Thompson were all runners-up at 133 through 149, respectively, while Wyatt Reisz and Laith Ibrahim ended on wins to take third at 174 and 285. Garrett Bakarich and Ryan Cody each placed fifth at 174 and 197, respectively, and Christian Lopez was sixth at 125. In the Amateur brackets, Timber Parlin was fifth at 184 and Marcus Caro was sixth at 157. 

IN THE POLLS
Mines is #18 in the latest NWCA team tournament rankings, and is #22 (tournament) and #21 (dual) in this week's OpenMat's rankings. Individually in the NWCA top-15s, Cody Thompson is the #1 149-pounder in the nation with Grayston DiBlasi at #7 at 141 and Wyatt Reisz #15 at 174; in the OpenMat top-20s this week, Thompson was #3, DiBlasi #9, and Reisz #14 joined by Christian Lopez (#12 at 125), Trebor Moreno (#14 at 133), and Laith Ibrahim (#16 at 285). Mines was selected fourth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll in October.

OREDIGGERS HIT WINS MILESTONES
Grayston DiBlasi continues to move up the Mines all-time ranks in wins, sitting at 80-23 entering this weekend. He is only the 11th wrestler in program history to reach 80 career wins, and his .776 career winning percentage currently slots in fourth all-time in program history. Meanwhile, Christian Lopez hit the 50-win mark his last time out (50-34), and Cody Thompson could join him this weekend (46-16). 

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.  

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 MIDWEST CLASSIC
125 - Christian Lopez (6-3) 
133 - Trebor Moreno (5-1)
141 - #7 Grayston DiBlasi (7-1)
149 - #1 Cody Thompson (6-1)
157 - Marcus Caro (13-1)
165 - Jakob Smith (2-2)
174 - #15 Wyatt Reisz (6-1)
184 - Mason Diel (4-2)
197 - Ryan Cody (4-3)
285 - Laith Ibrahim (7-1)