GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - #22 Colorado School of Mines answered the bell, rallying back from a big early deficit to defeat #22 Colorado Mesa 24-16 Friday at Brownson Arena.

The two teams - tied in this week's NWCA national rankings at #22 - traded runs as the Mavericks (4-3, 1-2 RMAC) won four in a row between 133 and 157 pounds before the Orediggers (8-2, 3-1 RMAC) captured the final five weight classes. Mines' upperweights again produced results led by Mason Diel, whose upset of #8 Gabriel Carranza at 197 pounds keyed the team victory.

Jake Goodin turned a decision into a last-second pin to start at 125 pounds, leading Adonias Cantu 11-7 before pancaking him for six with only 16 seconds remaining in the bout. That would prove to be an important result later on, but Mines had to weather a storm in the meantime as the Mavericks peeled off four straight victories between 133 and 157 pounds. 

AJ Hague got the the home team on the board with his 15-2 major over Izaiah Padilla, and Apollo Cruz pinned Ryan Espiritu in the second period to take a 10-6 lead. Alex Castaneda stunned #3 Cody Thompson at 149 pounds with a 6-4 win, dealing Thompson his first loss of the season on a takedown at the buzzer awarded by review. Brandon Cody nearly upset #7 Owen Cline at 157 pounds, but Cline came out with a last-second, go-ahead takedown of his own to win 12-11 and give CMU a commanding 16-6 lead at the halfway point.

Mines began to dig out from the deficit with a 7-1 Marcus Caro victory over William Alvarado at 165, and Jakob Smith earned a crucial bonus point in his 11-2 major decision against Christian Pebley at 174 to cut the team score to 16-13. Wyatt Reisz attacked late with four third-period takedowns to stretch a major into a technical fall against Noah O'Dougherty at 184, 21-6, for his 50th career win, and that gave Mines the lead back 18-16 with two weight classes to go.

Diel faced a tall task against the nation's #8-ranked 197-pounder in Carranza, but he wrestled a superb defensive match to head into the third period scoreless. Diel's takedown out of a scramble with less than 30 seconds remaining kept him unbeaten on the season (9-0) and earned a 3-1 win over Carranza.

That put Mines up five points with only heavyweight to go as the Mavericks looked to pinning specialist Ruben Samuelson, but Laith Ibrahim defended ably and earned a third-period reversal plus riding time to seal the victory with his 3-1 decision.

Mines returns home on Thursday, Jan. 29 to host Adams State at 6 p.m.
 

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#22 Colorado School of Mines 24, #22 Colorado Mesa 16 [Full Scoring]
125: Jake Goodin (MINES) over Adonias Cantu (CMU) (Fall 6:44)
133: AJ Hague (CMU) over Izaiah Padilla (MINES) (MD 15-2)
141: Apollo Cruz (CMU) over Ryan Espiritu (MINES) (Fall 4:48)
149: Alex Castaneda (CMU) over #3 Cody Thompson (MINES) (Dec 6-4)
157: #7 Owen Cline (CMU) over Brandon Cody (MINES) (Dec 12-11)
165: Marcus Caro (MINES) over William Alvarado (CMU) (Dec 7-1)
174: Jakob Smith (MINES) over Christian Pebley (CMU) (MD 11-2)
184: Wyatt Reisz (MINES) over Noah O'Dougherty (CMU) (TF 21-6 6:18)
197: Mason Diel (MINES) over #8 Gabriel Carranza (CMU) (Dec 3-1)
285: Laith Ibrahim (MINES) over Ruben Samuelson (CMU) (Dec 3-1)