GUNNISON, Colo.  Fresh off its annual intrasquad meet, Western Colorado wrestling is set to officially begin its regular season with a home match Friday against visiting Northeastern Junior College.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE MATCH

• The Mountaineers are ranked 15th in The Open Mat preseason rankings and No. 16 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association preseason rankings.
• Individual rankings show Dean Noble on No. 5 in both the Open Mat and NWCA 149-pound lists and Cole Hernandez No. 3 on both lists at 174 pounds.
• Cole Gray at 184 pounds is eighth in the NWCA rankings and ninth on the Open Mat list.
• Vincent Cabral is No. 18 in Open Mat's 157-pound individual rankings.
• Western also opened the 2022-23 season with a match against Northeastern, defeating the Plainsmen 43-6 in Paul Wright Gym.
• The 2024-25 schedule sees the Mountaineers making a trip to Sterling, Colo., on January 23, 2025, to take on host Northeastern.

NORTHEASTERN HEADING INTO THE MATCH

• Friday's match at Western will also be the Plainsmen's season-opening match after hosting their own Black & Gold Intrasquad on Oct. 26.
• Last winter Northeastern placed fourth at the NJCAA Plains District Championship, with four wrestlers advancing to the NJCAA National Championship.
• Calvin Mendez, the only returner for the Plainsmen of that quartet, lost by technical fall in the Round of 16.
• One of the other NJC wrestlers that were at nationals is Riley Butt (285), now finishing his career at Western Colorado.
• Northeastern finished 29th at nationals with 15.5 points.
• The Plainsmen are coached by Western graduate Colby Duncan '20. Recruited by current Director of Athletics Miles Van Hee and coached through his graduation by current head coach Charlie Pipher, Duncan was a Mountaineer team captain and earned recognition on the NWCA All-Academic Team and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic Honor Roll.

UP NEXT

• Western's redshirts and reserves will participate in the Colorado School of Mines Rookie Open on Sunday.
• The Mountaineers' next varsity match is an RMAC bout with visiting New Mexico Highlands University on Fri., Nov. 8.