GUNNISON, Colo.  Senior Night. The final home match of the season. A Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent. All things came together Saturday night for 23rd-ranked Western Colorado wrestling as it tore through Colorado State University Pueblo winning the first eight matches in an eventual 37-6 victory in Paul Wright Gym.

Prior to the match start seven graduating wrestlers – George Filholm, Porter Fox, Jason Hanenberg, Hayden Johnson, Jacob McCarley, Cole Mortensen and Hunter Mullin – were honored in a brief ceremony at center mat. And three of those wrestlers were in the lineup, each recording a victory for the affectionately called Red Tornado.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. CSU Pueblo, 37-6
Records: Western 9-7 (4-2 RMAC), CSUP 6-6 (1-5)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first senior on the mat was Hanenberg at 149 pounds. Ranked fourth nationally, he went to work quickly with a takedown that led to four back points. Pueblo's Anthony Nichols saved himself that time but was soon in the same position, surrendering another four back points to Hanenberg. Nichols earned an escape but Haneneberg went right back at him, registering another takedown that this time Nichols wasn't able to save himself from as Hanenberg closed the bout with a fall at the 2:36 mark.
• Two matches later at 165 it was Mullin trying to give the seniors their second win. A scoreless match saw its first points on a Mullin reversal in the early moments of the second period. The ThunderWolves' Elijah Valdez fought free for an escape to halve his deficit and send the duo into the third with Mullin leading 2-1. Valdez starting the third on the bottom and picked up an escape to tie the score, but midway through Mullin earned another takedown and, despite Valdez picking up one more escape, took the decision, 4-3.
• Johnson at 184 was the last of the trio to strap in, and his bout was as tight as Mullin's. Johnson led 2-0 entering the second after a first-period takedown then added a point on an escape from his bottom starting position in the second. Pueblo's Cameron Nesbitt elected to start on the bottom for the third but was never able to escape Johnson's advantage with piled up riding time adding one final point in a 4-0 decision.
• It was a dominating night overall for the Mountaineers, who picked up an early 6-0 lead on a CSUP forfeit at 125 giving Patrick Allis a win. Alex Alvarez thrilled with an exciting 19-4 technical fall at 133, followed by a second period fall for Dean Noble at 141.
• Between Hanenberg's and Mullin's wins came a hard-fought 8-4 decision at 157 by Ryan Wilson, and ninth-ranked Cole Hernandez rolled to a 19-2 tech fall at 174 to clinch the match for Western with the scoreboard showing an insurmountable 34-0 lead.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers close out their RMAC schedule on February 9 with a trip to face 12th-ranked Colorado Mesa University.