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Rivalry at its best in College Wrestling in Colorado

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By Tom Blair, ICW

Looking back on this past week dual meet of D2 colleges in Colorado one might just pass up a dual that took place on Dec 9th as Colorado Mesa men’s team wrestled cross state rival and #19 ranked nationally Western State (Western Colorado University) at their home arena. This dual was the 8th meeting between father and son head coaches in the programs. Colorado Mesa head coach Chuck Pipher earn his second dual meet win against his son Charlie Pipher, who holds a 6 – 2 lead in the family rivalry.

The dual would see each team have seven Colorado high school grads on their lineup for the Thursday night even. With six matches having head-to-head Colorado wrestlers doing battle to see who the king of the mat for the evening might be. Head-to-head matches were at 125, 133, 141,149, 174, and 184 pounds. The matches not only brought excitement to the crowd but was also fun to see an all-star studded lineup from both universities.

The night began with a revenge match of sorts. Colorado Mesa's Dawson Collins earned a 7-5 win over Mountaineer Cody Fatzinger to open the dual.

Nothern Colorado Duals

By Tom Blair, ICW Staff

Northern Colorado wrestling team started the season with a home quad meet instead of the usually home individual tournament. The invited teams of Northwest Kansas Technical College, North Idaho, Doane University and Big 12 conference foe Utah Valley. Northern Colorado would also send 7 wrestlers to the Colorado School of Mines Open individual tournament in Golden.

Among the visiting teams were several former Colorado high school grads - Jett Strickenberger, NIC /(Ponderosa), Cael Jordan, Doaane / (Eaton), Jayden Woodruff, Utah Valley / (Ponderosa), Jaxon Garoutte, Utah Valley/ (Pueblo County)

Northern Colorado would start their duals against Northwest Kansas Technical College which only brought three wrestlers due to team illness (covid19). The matches wrestled were a 2 to 1 advance for Northern Colorado with the other 7 weight classes being forfeits. The final score Northern Colorado 54 Northwest Kansas Technical College 4.

165: Nick Knutson (UNCO) over Richie Lee (NKTC) (TF 16-0 2:04)

174: Jameel Cole (NKTC) over Damen Pape (UNCO) (MD 12-3)

197: Alan Clothier (UNCO) over Davis Lee (NKTC) (TF 16-0 3:09)

The second dual would have a full lineup by both teams with Northern Colorado taking charge right off on the first match and kept the ball rolling with seven victories in a row. North Idaho would take a sudden victory win at 184 lbs by Devin Winston over Xaiver Vasquez 3 – 1. Northern Colorado would finish the dual with winning the next two matches for a 46 – 3 win.

Colorado Mesa Women's Head Wrestling Coach Travis Mercado

InsideCoWrestling staff member - Tom Blair interviewed Colorado Mesa Women's Head Wrestling Coach Travis Mercado at the fundraiser held October 9th in Grand Junction at the university. Mercado in his 4th season at the helm of the women's program. He is the only head coach Mesa women's program has had in it's short career of offering women's wrestling. Mercado a native of California has adjusted to Colorado. click on link to view video interview: https://youtu.be/pmW0z_q_76Q

Colorado Mesa Men's Wrestling Head Coach Chuck Pipher

InsideCoWrestling sat down with Head Men's Wrestling Coach at Colorado Mesa Chuck Pipher at the Steak & Crab Fundraiser. Coach Pipher is in his 15th year as head coach at Mesa and is a member of the over 30 years coaching club. Pipher is driven to get he best from his wrestling team of around 40 wrestlers. Mesa has competition within the state with 4 colleges in the RMAC. Looking into the future you could see Pipher take on the roll of a retired coach. check out the video by clicking on the link : https://youtu.be/GUxeXnvocbA

Northern Colorado Head Assistant Coach Garett Kiley

Garett Kiley joined the coaching staff at Northern Colorado four years ago in 2018 and was promoted to Head Assistant following the 2019-20 season. In his two years with the Bears he has helped eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Kiley helped raise the bar for the program in 2019-20 as UNC qualified five wrestlers to compete in the NCAA Championships before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled it. In his first season at UNC, Kiley coached up three Bears to the NCAA Championships in Rico Montoya, Chris Sandoval and Jacob Seely. He assisted in the recruiting efforts of a top five ranked recruiting class that included Andrew "Boo" Alirez and Mosha Schwartz who would go on a qualify for the NCAA's their freshman season. Before coming to UNC he was a Campbell University for two years. In the 2017 season, Kiley helped to guide Campbell to its first ever Southern Conference Championship and All-American in 2017.

click on the link below to watch video.

https://youtu.be/rvi0kZQTg5g

NCAA D1 – Recap of Colorado Wrestlers

By Tom Blair, ICW

Colorado would have two high school grads earn All-American status at the NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship in St Louis, Missouri. Cohlton Schultz, Arizona State (Ponderosa) would earn 4^th place with a 5 – 2 record and Ryan Deakin, Northwestern (Legacy) would earn 3^rd place with a 5 – 1 record.

The two D1 teams of Air Force Academy and Northern Colorado did not fair as well as they have hoped with only winning 5 matches and losing 12 matches combined.

Air Force Academy – 41^st place

133 lbs - Jared Van Vleet went 2 – 2

174 lbs - Cody Surratt went 0 – 2

285 lbs - Wyatt Hendrickson went 3 – 2

Northern Colorado – 48^th place

133 lbs - Mosha Schwartz (Castle View HS) went 0 – 2

174 lbs - Jackson Hemauer went 1 – 2

184 lbs - Alan Clothier went 1 – 2

The wrestlers representing Colorado at the NCAA D1 Championship and were unable to place but gave it their all:

125 lbs Malik Heinselman, Ohio State (Castle View HS) went 1 – 2

125 lbs Fabian Gutierrez, University of Tennessee Chattanooga (Adams City HS) went 1 – 2

141 lbs Grant Willits, Oregon State (Pueblo County HS) went 2 – 2

149 lbs Josh Finesilver, Duke (Cherry Creek HS) went 3 – 2

149 lbs Andrew Alirez, Northern Colorado (Greeley Central) - withdrew

157 lbs Hunter Willits, Oregon State (Pueblo County HS) went 2 -2

184 lbs Tate Samuelson, Wyoming (Castle View HS) went 1 – 2

NCAA banned fans from all winter sports championship tournamnets.

By Tom Blair, ICW Staff

Disappointment is the common word used around the nation today with word of not allowing fans at sporting events including wrestling.
The below is a statement from NCAA :
NCAA president Mark Emmert announced Wednesday afternoon that all NCAA championship events this month and next will go on without fan attendance.
This impacts Minnesota most with the NCAA Wrestling Championships, March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are included in this decision.
Emmert’s statement:
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel. Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.”

D2 Wrestling Nationals - Colorado Results

By Tom Blair, ICW Staff

The NCAA D2 National Wrestling Championship were held this past weekend in St Louis, Missouri. The four D2 colleges of Colorado Mesa, Adams State, Western State and Colorado School of Mines sent qualifiers. Colorado was represented by a total of eight wrestlers in this tournament.

St Cloud St was the team champion with 107 points and placing 7 out of the 8 wrestlers that were qualified while 2^nd place UNK – Kearney scored 105.5 (10 qualifiers and 9 All-Americans / placers) was over 30 points in front of the third-place team of Lindenwood. The Colorado colleges placement - 8^th Colorado Mesa with 31 pts, 14^th Colorado School of Mines 23 pts, 22^nd Adams State 12.5 pts and 24^th Western State 12 pts.

D2 Super Regional VI – Colorado Colleges results

By Tom Blair, ICW Staff
The Super Regionals for NCAA D2 qualifiers were held this pass weekend and the five colleges in Colorado all traveled to Kearney, Neb for their tournament which was held at University of Nebraska – Kearney. The Super Regional VI had a total of 10 teams in this event which would send the top three in each of the 10 weight classes to the NCAA D2 Championships being held at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Fall, South Dakota on March 13 & 14, 2020. Looking at the brackets there were six weight classes where it was an all Colorado matchup for 3rd / 4th place and having the loser of the match staying home.
With each regional taking 3 per weight class, the brackets will have 18 in each, so there will be two pigtails into a 16- man bracket. The five Colorado colleges will be sending a total of 17 wrestlers, with Mesa having the most with 5 wrestlers and Western State having the least with 2 wrestlers.
Adams State – 125 lbs Isaiah DeLaCerda, 133 lbs Jonathan Andreatta, 141 lbs Noah Hermosillo
Mesa – 157 lbs Payton Tawater, 165 lbs Fred Green, 174 lbs Seth Latham, 184 lbs Nolan Krone, 197 lbs Donald Negus
Western State – 125 lbs Patrick Allis, 165 lbs Hunter Mullin,
CSU Pueblo – 133 lbs D’andre Brumfield, 149 lbs Gavin Melendez, 285 lbs Gavin Nye
CSM – 174 lbs Robert Gambrell, 184 lbs Anderson Salisbury, 197 lbs Nolan Funk, 285 lbs Weston Hunt
Add into the mix 149 lbs Sam Turner, UNK (formerly at Wyoming) looking to be a D2 placer at the championship.
Below is the placers from the regional , full brackets and results can be found at trackwrestling.
125
• 1st Place - Josh Portillo of Neb.-Kearney
• 2nd Place - Patrick Allis of Western Colo.
• 3rd Place - Isaiah DeLaCerda of Adams St.
• 4th Place - Matthew Lavengood of Colo. Sch. of Mines
• 5th Place - Aaron Perez of San Fran. St.
• 6th Place - Parker McBride of Colorado St.-Pueblo

Colorado NCAA D1 Quailifers

NCAA D1 Qualifiers for the championship tournament which is being held March 18 – 21 at the US Bank Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The wrestlers listed are from either the two D1 colleges in Colorado (Northern Colorado and Air Force) or have graduated from a Colorado high school. Wyoming is included in this list as they are so close to the border.
125 lbs - Fabian Gutierrez, Chattanooga (Adams City) at large bid and Malik Heinselman, Ohio State (Castle View)
133 lbs – Mosha Schwartz, Northern Colorado (Ponderosa) and Montorie Bridges, Wyoming
141 lbs – Grant willits, Oregon State (Pueblo County)
149 lbs – Andrew Alirez, Northern Colorado (Greeley Central)
157 lbs – Ryan Deakin, Northeastern (Legacy)
165 lbs –
174 lbs – Hayden Hasting, Wyoming
184 lbs – Alan Clothier, Northern Colorado and Tate Samuelson, Wyoming (Castle View) at large bid
194 lbs – Stephen Buchman, Wyoming at large bid and Jacob Seely, Northern Colorado (Fruita)
285 lbs – Brian Andrews, Wyoming and Dalton Robertson, Northern Colorado (Weld Central)