GOLDEN, Colo. — Nick Dardanes and Michael Lopez finished unbeaten Sunday, capturing individual championships to lead Adams State men's wrestling at the Mines Rookie Open.

Dardanes won the 141-pound title with four victories, while Lopez swept five matches at 149 pounds, earning bonus points in each. Caden Schadwinkel added a fourth-place finish at 184, Elijah Contreras placed fifth at 197, and Cayetano Cushing finished sixth at heavyweight.

Dardanes worked through two close decisions on his way to the championship. After an opening bye, he defeated Colorado Mesa's Steve Caday 6–4 before recording a technical fall over Otero's Josiah Gonzales in 5:23.

The semifinal brought his tightest test. Dardanes defeated Western Wyoming's Dalton Compton 4–1 in sudden victory to secure his place in the final. He then finished his title run by pinning Colorado Mesa's Silas Varner in 1:39.

Lopez took a different route to the top, overwhelming the 149-pound field with three pins and two technical falls.

He opened with a pin of Northeastern Junior College's Chase Yancey in 1:59, then pinned Air Force's Landon Thomas in 6:12. Lopez needed just 1:25 to earn a technical fall over Western Colorado's Jacob Daniel in the quarterfinals.

He followed with another technical fall, defeating Colorado School of Mines' Coen Schmidt in 4:28 to advance to the championship. Facing Air Force Prep's Miller Sipes, Lopez closed his 5–0 day with a pin in 4:30.

At 184, Schadwinkel opened with a 14–8 decision over Otero's Nakhai Miller. He carried that momentum into the quarterfinals, earning a technical fall over Western Wyoming's Bridger Thalman in 3:54.

Schadwinkel dropped a 10–4 semifinal decision to Air Force's Cy Fowler before falling to Colorado Mesa's Noah O'Dougherty in the third-place match.

Contreras rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to win three consecutive consolation matches at 197. After opening with a pin of unattached wrestler Josiah Beiter in 5:34, he fell to Colorado Mesa's Devin Kinlicheenie.

Contreras answered with technical falls over Colorado Northwestern's Terrance Mattson in 6:13 and Fort Hays Tech Northwest's Christopher Lopez in 5:17. He capped his comeback with an 11–3 major decision over Colorado Mesa's Adam Avila to take fifth.

Cushing opened the heavyweight bracket by pinning Colorado State's Nicholas Silva in 2:31. Following a quarterfinal loss to Colorado School of Mines' Jude Beers, Cushing added a pin of Fort Hays Tech Northwest's Spencer Steinbeck in 4:04. He finished sixth after losses in the consolation semifinals and fifth-place match.

Merrik Williams also reached the quarterfinals at 149, opening with pins of Colorado School of Mines' Tristan Gauvin in 4:02 and Frank Phillips' Teavion Adams in 2:09.

UP NEXT

Adams State will travel to Kearney, Nebraska, for the Younes Open on Saturday, November 21. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. MT.