GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  The 13th-ranked Mountaineers on Thursday will finish off the final Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual on their schedule, taking on host and No. 25 Colorado Mesa University in the Bank of Colorado Battle in Brownson. 

THE HISTORY 
The Mavericks are 13-17 all time against the Mountaineers, having won a non-conference matchup earlier in the season at Western, and dropping a reserves match at Western in January. 

WESTERN COLORORADO (7-4 overall, 4-2 RMAC) HEADING INTO THE DUAL 

• The Mountaineers registered a pair of dominating home wins their last two times on the mat. On February 1 they clobbered CSU Pueblo, 40-6, and six days later won the final five matches of the dual with Adams State to score a 30-14 RMAC win. 
• Third-ranked Dean Noble at 149 pounds was one of five Mountaineers to win both of his matches in the CSUP and ASU duals, getting a third-period pin against the ThunderWolves and earning a decision in the Grizzlies dual. 
• Walker Heckendorf at 165 equaled Noble with a pin and a decision to his credit. 
• Top-ranked Cole Hernandez at 174 earned bonus point wins in his two matches, getting a major against CSUP and a technical fall against ASU, followed in the lineup by Cole Gray at 184 who pinned his ThunderWolves opponent and majored his foe in the ASU dual. 
• Heavyweight Riley Butt earned an exciting overtime (SV-1) win to close out the CSUP dual and added a win by decision against the Grizzlies. 

COLORADO MESA (9-1, 5-1) HEADING INTO THE DUAL

• The Mavs had won five in a row before dropping a narrow 23-15 loss to No. 16 Colorado School of Mines last Friday. 
• Mesa will put six ranked (NWCA) wrestlers on the mat when they face off against the Mountaineers, but none as highly ranked as Western's Noble and Hernandez. 
• Dayson Torgerson is ranked fifth at 125 pounds for the highest ranking by a Mesa wrestler. 
• Ryan Wheeler at 157 and Gabe Carranza at 197 are ranked 10th in their respective weight classes, while Tyler Doyle at 285 is 13th and Oran Huff at 133 is 14th. 
• Jason Bynarowicz at 184 pounds hits the rankings at No. 15. 

UP NEXT 
Western will send its redshirts and reserves to the Feb. 16 Rocky Mountain Collegiate Open, hosted by Colorado Mines in Golden, Colo.