COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  Visiting Western Colorado, ranked 22nd in NCAA Division II, led 10-9 after Ryan Wilson's win at 157 pounds but the U.S. Air Force Academy, 20th-ranked in D-I, won four of the final five matches to escape with a 27-13 win over the Mountaineers in the Falcons' Clune Arena.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Air Force def. Western Colorado, 27-13
Records: Western 0-1, Air Force 1-0
Location: Clune Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers won three of the opening five matches, moving in front 10-9 on Wilson's 4-2 decision, a win that came on his late takedown of Air Force's Gavin Gross.
• Ranked No. 7 in D-II at 133 pounds, Patrick Allis served up Western's first win of the evening, executing a two-point reversal in the third to earn a 7-6 decision over Kole Biscoe.
• Air Force picked up bonus points with a major decision at 141, but Dean Noble matched that result at 149. His 9-1 win included a near fall in the third and a riding point to pick up the major.
• A technical fall at 165 pushed the Falcons back in front, 14-10, but Cole Hernandez cut the deficit to one with a 9-6 decision at 174. Hernandez, third nationally at that weight, used an 8-2 second period to rally from a 3-1 first-period deficit.
• That would be Western's last victory on the night, however, as Air Force closed with a major, a decision, and a fall over the final three matches to escape the Mountaineers' upset bid.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will send a contingent to Golden, Colo., for Sunday's Colorado School of Mines Rookie Open.