ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Adams State Men's Wrestling team scratched and clawed their way to victory on the road against conference foe Colorado Mesa Thursday, to extend their win streak to six and further solidify their status as a contender for the RMAC conference title. The formula in which they won, for the second straight week, was to stack points early in lighter-weight divisions. This does not happen, however, without one or two guys gutting out much needed wins to leave no doubt.
The dual kicked off with 125-pounder
Jonathan Andreatta won his bout handly 17-2 to give the Grizzlies early momentum. The win left Andreatta still undefeated in conference matchups on the year, with one win coming out of the 133-pound class.
Darek Huff at 133 pounds, rebounded from his loss last week against CSU-Pueblo and won by way of fall to give the Grizzlies one more team point that would later prove to be crucial, as they went up 6-0 to start the evening.
In what was a tightly-contested 6-4 decision in the 141-pound division,
Dylan Udero fought hard but was defeated for what would be the first points for the Mavericks of the night. Unfazed, the Grizzlies answered with two straight key victories from
Noah Hermosillo who won 12-5, and
Ryan Rochford who bounced back from his loss last week and won 11-0. The team score after the 157-pound weight class was Adams State 18 Colorado Mesa 3.
Holding a lead that seemed fairly comfortable, Colorado Mesa would begin their late run as
Koery Windham was defeated in a 3-2 decision in the 165-pound weight class.
Isaac Lopez would counter the loss with a win in the 174-pound division for the final Adams State team points of the night. His win was followed by losses by
William Tyler at 184 pounds,
Khalil Gipson at 197 pounds, and
James Romero at 285 pounds, to make things a little too close for comfort. In the end, every point mattered and the Grizzlies prevailed in a thriller, 21-19 for their sixth straight victory.
The win keeps the Grizzlies in a three-way tie for second in the RMAC, well within striking distance if they can keep momentum rolling in Colorado Mines were to lose at any point. They close out regular season competition at archrival Western Colorado and Colorado Mines, both on the road in what will determine their season in the end. Regardless, the win Thursday night in Grand Junction puts them in a great position to make a run at the conference title and get back into the Top 25 nationally.
Adams Sate will be back in action from Gunnison as they prepare to next take on Western Colorado Saturday, February 9
th at 7 PM.
