By Spencer Allenback
The CSU-Pueblo wrestling team beat Colorado School of Mines Wednesday, Jan. 18, out-dueling the Orediggers 20-15. This was the first victory for the ThunderWolves against Mines since wrestling returned to the university in 2006.
Sophomore Trevor Grant had one of the crucial bouts throughout the duel, during his rematch against Mines junior Brandon Sheldon. Sheldon got the better of Grant a year ago when the two teams met at Massari Arena. This year, Grant got the victory and scored 12-6 against Sheldon. The decision put the ThunderWolves up 16-9 in the match.
“Coming off the loss last year, I wrestled like I had nothing to lose,” Grant said.
Junior Jess Hillhouse, 133-pounds, had a dominating performance against Oredigger Tanner Taylor. Hillhouse had two takedowns in the first period and got the pin in the second period. The bout lasted 4:28 and was another pin for fifth-ranked Hillhouse.
Freshman Tim Urenda improved his overall record to 15-5, with a major decision victory over Mines sophomore Elias Arias. The 125-pounder had a big second period with a reversal and a three-point near fall. Junior Nick Stahler, a 149-pounder for the ThunderWolves, scored four points in the third period to win his bout 5-3.
Junior Adam Carey, who wrestles in the 184-pound weight class for the ThunderWolves, took his undefeated dual record into Wednesday’s bout. Carey wrestled Mines junior Ryan Swanson. Carey kept his undefeated streak alive with an impressive win over Swanson. Carey had five takedowns and gave CSU-Pueblo four points.
The ThunderWolves suffered some defeats as 141-pounder Ryan Kirby lost 4-0 at the hands of Oredigger Austin Cordova. Matt Addington, 165-pound ThunderWolf, lost a close decision 4-3 against Mines wrestler Jordon Larson. Joe Giron and Bill Grey were also defeated in their respective matches.
Ranked twentieth, the ThunderWolves received their fifth victory as a nationally ranked team and have an overall record of 7-3. The win was also a RMAC victory and moved the ThunderWolves to 2-1 in the conference. CSU-Pueblo is now tied with Fort Hays State for third in the RMAC.
The team has a big conference dual next week against Nebraska-Kearny, ranked fourth.
“These duals are way more important than the tournaments, because they set up our seeding for regionals,” Grant said. After regionals, the team would like to make it to nationals, he said.
“Our goal is for all of us to make it to nationals and for us to wrestle nationals in our own gym,” Grant said.
