#16 Mines vs. Chadron State - Friday, Jan. 10 - 6 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Results]
Volk Gym - Golden, Colo.

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RMAC SLATE STARTS WITH CHADRON STATE
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule begins Friday night for #16 Colorado School of Mines as they host defending champion Chadron State at Volk Gym. Mines stands 6-1 in duals so far this season while the Eagles are making their dual debut after wrestling exclusively in tournaments in the fall semester. The dual is set for 6 p.m. and will stream live on the RMAC Network. 

LAST TIME OUT
Mines got 2025 off to a winning start, going 2-1 at the Jack Hancock Duals at Volk Gym last Saturday. The four-team round-robin tournament saw Mines bounce back from an opening loss to #14 Central Missouri, 27-12, to defeat Belmont Abbey, 24-20, and Sioux Falls, 26-21, later in the day. The tournament, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach Jack Hancock, was revived for the first time since 2008. #4 Grayston DiBlasi was the Orediggers' iron man on the day going 3-0, while Christian Lopez, #14 Wyatt Reisz, and #14 Ryan Cody also went 2-0 for the day. 

LOPEZ EARNS RMAC HONOR
Christian Lopez was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday after a 2-0 Jack Hancock Duals that included an upset of #3 #3 Jakason Burks of Central Missouri, 4-1 in overtime. He also added a 15-0 technical fall victory over Daniel Parra of Sioux Falls. It is the first time Lopez has won the award. Lopez is projected to wrestle another ranked opponent Friday night against Chadron State's #9 Hunter Jacobsen.

IN THE POLLS
Both Mines and Chadron State are well-represented in the latest NWCA and OpenMat polls, with Mines ranked #16 and CSC receiving votes in the NWCA rankings, and Mines also showing #17 in the OpenMat poll. Among individuals, Mines has eight of its 10 starters earning at least one ranking: Christian Lopez (OM #11), Trebor Moreno (OM #16), Grayston DiBlasi (NWCA #4/OM#5), Cody Thompson (NWCA #8/OM #4), Marcus Caro (NWCA #9/OM #18), Wyatt Reisz (NWCA #14/OM #12), Ryan Cody (NWCA #14/OM #18), and Laith Ibrahim (OM #16). Chadron State has two ranked individuals in Hunter Jacobsen (NWCA #9/OM #15) and Keegan Gehlhausen (NWCA & OM #7).

THE SERIES
Mines and Chadron State are squaring off for the 40th time tonight, with CSC holding a 25-12-2 all-time advantage dating back to their first meeting in 1962. The Eagles won last year, 22-12 in Nebraska, but Mines has won five of the last six duals. 

DIBLASI CLIMBS ALL-TIME WINS LIST
Grayston DiBlasi went 3-0 at the Jack Hancock Duals, taking him to 88 career wins which surpassed both Anderson Salisbury and Paul Wilson for fourth all-time in a career at Mines. DiBlasi's next victory will tie him for third with Mike Osterfoss, and then it's the only two Orediggers to reach the century mark, Glen Frank (126) and Duane Maue (113) ahead of that. DiBlasi is trying to be the first Oredigger to reach 100 career wins since Frank did it in 1993.

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 82 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. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will stay home to wrestle its final non-RMAC dual next Friday, Jan. 17, hosting Cal Poly Humboldt at 6 p.m.
 

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PROJECTED BOUTS - #16 MINES vs. #RV CHADRON STATE
X125 - Xander Sweeney (10-4) vs. Yusef Nelson (5-4)
X165 - Tristin David (4-3) vs. Tayten Gillette (9-6)/Jaziah Whaley (4-4)
125 - Christian Lopez (11-5) vs. #9 Hunter Jacobsen (13-5)
133 - Trebor Moreno (8-3) vs. James Davis (4-4)
141 - #4 Grayston DiBlasi (15-3) vs. Cyrus Wells (10-6/Kyle Lewis (5-4)
149 - Carson Dulitz (0-2) vs. Torry Early (7-5)
157 - #9 Marcus Caro (18-4) vs. Brandon Paredes (7-5)/Hunter Gilmore(3-4)
165 - Jakob Smith (5-4) vs. Tayten Gillette (9-6)/Jaziah Whaley (4-4)
174 - #14 Wyatt Reisz (14-3) vs. Logan Berger (11-5)
184 - Mason Diel (5-5) vs. #7 Keegan Gehlhausen (8-2)
197 - #14 Ryan Cody (9-6) vs. Dominic Joyce (6-6)/Reese Jacobs (3-2)
285 - Cade Whish (7-5)/Trevor Thorn (4-4) vs. Cody Pinkerton (9-4)