GUNNISON, Colo. – Wrestling returns to campus this weekend as Western Colorado University hosts the 2^nd annual Western Colorado Open and the 29^th Tracy Borah Duals. The Open begins on Friday at 2 p.m. and the Borah Duals begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Both the Western Colorado Open and Borah Duals will take place in the Mountaineer Field House.
 
The tournament and duals will also be run in conjunction with Gunnison High School duals on Friday and a high school tournament on Saturday. The triangular duals take place on Friday evening, starting at 5 p.m. in the Mountaineer Field House. Saturday's high school tournament will also begin at 9 a.m. in the Mountaineer Field House.
 
Admission is free to Friday's Western Colorado Open and Gunnison High School duals. Saturday, admission into the Mountaineer Field House is $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. All Mountaineer Athletic Association members, Western students with ID, Gunnison Watershed School District students and children under five are free.
 
Fans can purchase tickets at the north or south entrances of the Mountaineer Field House.
 
Along with two Western wrestling teams, five other colleges will be participating in the 29^th Tracy Borah Duals. Adams State University, Air Force Academy, Colorado State University – Pueblo, San Francisco State University and Simon Fraser University will compete in the duals.
 
Since the Tracy Borah Tournament adopted a dual format in 2007, the Mountaineers have a 32-8 record in 40 duals at the Tracy Borah Duals.
 
The only other school to wrestle in all 28 years of the Tracy Borah Duals is Air Force. The Falcons have an overall record at the duals of 25-15.
 
Western enters the weekend ranked 17^th in the NCAA DII Wrestling Coaches Association Poll. CSU-Pueblo is the only other ranked team at the duals. The Thunderwolves are currently ranked 11^th. Adams State is receiving votes in the poll.
 
Brandon Supernaw continues to be ranked first at 174 pounds for the Mountaineers. Supernaw has a 7-0 record this season, with three wins coming by way of pin.
 
Western's Konnor Schmidt is also ranked in the top-12. Schmidt is ranked ninth at 197 pounds and has a 12-4 record with five wins by fall.
 
Live results will be available for every match in the Western Colorado Open and Tracy Borah Duals. All of Western's duals will also have a live video feed for those watching from afar.
 
Results will be posted on GoMountaineers.com/Borah and can be found on TrackWrestling.com, following the conclusion of each dual.

 

Dual Schedule
Western Colorado vs. Simon Fraser	Mat 1	9 a.m.
Adams State vs. San Francisco State	Mat 2	9 a.m.
Air Force vs. Western Colorado #2	Mat 1	10:30 a.m.
Adams State vs. Simon Fraser	Mat 2	10:30 a.m.
CSU-Pueblo vs. San Francisco State	Mat 3	10:30 a.m.
Western Colorado vs. San Francisco State	Mat 1	1 p.m.
Simon Fraser vs. Air Force	Mat 2	1 p.m.
Western Colorado vs. Air Force	Mat 1	2:30 p.m.
Simon Fraser vs. CSU-Pueblo	Mat 2	2:30 p.m.

 

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HISTORY OF TRACY BORAH

Leroy (Tracy) Borah graduated from Grand Junction High School in 1943. From there, he began his journey to become one of the most well respected and influential wrestling coaches in the history of small college athletics and specifically, the state of Colorado. Borah received his B.S. from Colorado State University in 1950 where he was a double threat on the wrestling mat and the football field. He then came to Western State College to obtain his M.A., and later completed advanced studies at Arizona State University. Not only was he a pioneer in Colorado collegiate athletics, but Borah excelled in other areas of life. Tracy served as a paratrooper during World War II fighting for the U.S. Armed Forces while also playing professionally in jazz big bands.

He began his coaching career at the prep level instructing teenagers at Sedgwick (Colo.) High School in football, basketball, and track & field in 1950. This is also where he began to enhance young minds through teaching social studies and biology. Borah then spent three years at Haxton (Colo.) High School where he coached the same three sports and again taught social studies and biology.

Borah moved up to the collegiate ranks and began his illustrious coaching career in the sport of wrestling in July of 1954. His first experience instructing grapplers was at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. He coached football, wrestling, track & field, and taught biology at Northeastern, all of which were familiar tasks to Borah. He also took on the responsibility of building the track, a strenuous activity, which took dedication and resilience.

From Northeastern Junior College, Borah moved back to Western State College where his legacy would reach its pinnacle. The success of athletics at Western State College can be attributed to the hard work of Borah. He arrived at WSC in 1956 where he served as athletic director, head wrestling coach and assistant coach for both football and track upon his retirement in 1985.

As head wrestling coach, Borah guided 45 individual Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions, 30 All-Americans, seven national champions and back-to-back national championship teams in 1963 and 1964. The latter national championship squad was inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame in 2004. He also served on the National Wrestling Rules Committee and was the founder and director of the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Camp. Borah ran the camp for 22 years, which today is the longest running wrestling camp in the United States. He also started the Colorado Collegiate Wrestling Championships and was president of the Mountain Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, which he incepted with three other wrestling colleagues. The MIWA was considered to be tougher than the NAIA national championships to many because not only were there several high quality NCAA College Division teams, but the tournament also featured nationally ranked University Division teams.

During Borah's 18 years as athletic director, Western State experienced one of the most successful football eras in the history of the RMAC. During this time, Bill Noxon coached the gridiron Mountaineers to eight RMAC titles in nine seasons. Borah was also responsible for starting Western's first athletic booster organization - the Century Club.

Some of Borah's crowning achievements are as follows: inducted into the Colorado High School Coaches Hall of Fame (1989), Western State Colorado University Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame (1995), NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame (1996), Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (1998), National Wrestling Hall of Fame Colorado Chapter (2000), RMAC Hall of Fame (2005) and RMAC All-Century Team Coach (2009). He was also awarded the Coach of the Year by the Colorado Wrestling Coaches Association and the College Educator of the Year in 1979. Tracy Borah Day was designated in Gunnison, Colo. on Feb., 14, 1985, celebrating the accomplishments of which many individuals hold in high regard with respect to Borah. The Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame Room is dedicated in his honor.

In 1991, the Tracy Borah Invitational was born. The format changed to a dual event in 2007.