Las Vegas, NM. On Friday, the Mountaineers are head out on the road for matches on Friday (Feb. 4) and Saturday (Feb. 5), looking to break their two-match losing streak when they are hosted by New Mexico Highlands University and Colorado State University Pueblo.
The last time that Western faced New Mexico Highlands (Jan. 8) and Colorado State University Pueblo (Jan. 8) they won against New Mexico Highlands 30-20, but lost against Colorado State University Pueblo 9-37.
 
MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND

• Western is looking to overcome their two-match losing streak by picking up a couple of away wins this weekend. Western lost their last two matches to University of Nebraska at Kearney (12-32) and Colorado School of Mines (17-22).
• Their last matchup was against Colorado School of Mines and it came down to the last few matches to decide a winner. Jimmy LaConte (174) was able to give Western a shot at victory by making a 2-point takedown on Ryan Fidel in the last seconds of his match to win 9-7 and tie up the match 13-13. Unfortunately, this was not enough for the Mountaineers, and they lost 22-17 after losing the last 2 out of 3 matches. Making their overall record 3-7.
• Cody Fatzinger (125) was able to get Western on the board with a 4-1 decision victory over Christian Lopez.
• Jason Hanenberg (149) was able to get off to a strong start, and control the rest of his matchup leading to a victory. He defeated Cody Thompson with a 12-6 decision victory.
• Hunter Mullin (165) was the last person to get a victory for the Mountaineers, as he dominated Jackson Damenti and was able to get 17-7 major decision win.

COWBOYS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND

• After losing their last matchup against Adams State (Jan. 6) 12-39, New Mexico Highlands University is currently sitting at a record of 3-7.
• The Cowboys (0-2 RMAC) were able to pick up six points from Redshirt Sophomore Allen Michel (174) when he pinned his opponent Cody Lewis in just two minutes and eighteen seconds.
• The rest of NMHU's points came from them having to forfeit at heavy weight.

THUNDERWOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND

• CSU Pueblo is coming off a loss to Chadron State (Jan 29) 14-26, and is currently in sixth place, right below Western in the RMAC standings with a conference record of 1-3.
• Gavin Melendez (149) was able to pick up six takedowns in his match against Chance Bockenstedt where he kept control for most of the match. He was also able to pick up an escape point and bonus point for ride time which allowed him to get the 14-5 major decision victory.
• Justin Davis (157) got ahead of his opponent, Dean Neff, by recording two takedowns in the first period, making the score 4-1. Davis was then able to tack on another six-points in the second period with another takedown, along with four near-fall points. He finished with a dominating third period, scoring eight-points by takedown, along with a couple escape points.
• Ruben Garcia (165) started down 0-2 against Chadron's Javen Palmer in the first period. Garcia was able to tie the match by the end of the second period, allowing for a comeback in the third. Garcia trailed 3-4 as the clock was winding down, he was able to force a takedown and gained the lead as the time expired, winning the match 5-4.
• Ben Gould (197) had a tough matchup against Eli Hinojosa. The first period was scoreless, in the second period Hinojosa was able to earn an escape point, which gave him the narrow 1-0 lead going into the final period. In the beginning of the third period, Gould elected to start on the bottom and was able to get an escape point, as well as getting a takedown which gave him the lead 3-1. A great defensive performance by Ben Gould allowed him to take get the narrow win, beating Hinojosa 3-2.

ON THE MAT NEXT
Western will stay on the road for the next matchup, being hosted by Adams State University for their match on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. The next day Friday, Feb. 11, Western will return back to campus to host RMAC leader Chadron State College, in the Paul Wright gymnasium at 6 p.m.