GUNNISON, Colo. – The Southwest Minnesota  State University wrestling team went 2-1 at the Western State Duals on Saturday afternoon picking up victories over No. 20 Colorado State-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa University. SMSU earned a 20-19 win over CSU-Pueblo and a 22-15 victory over Colorado Mesa University. SMSU finished the day with a 30-12 loss to host Western State. The Mustangs are now 6-2 in dual matches on the season.

SMSU and CSU-Pueblo were tied at 19 after the 10 weight classes were completed, but the Mustangs earned the victory because of a 44-41tiebreaker advantage in point scoring.

SMSU grabbed an early 6-0 lead over CMU when Travis Borchert pinned Daniel Romero at 2:32. CMU won the 133-pound match before Ethan Hildebrandt won at 141 pounds by forfeit to give SMSU a 12-3 lead.

The Mavericks won the four of the next five bouts by decision while Jacob Begin earned a 10-3 decision at 165 pounds to keep the Mustangs ahead 15-9. Martin Hagen won a 5-0 decision at 197 pounds and Brian Rodas picked up a 14-2 major decision in the heavyweight match to secure the 22-15 victory for SMSU.

Against CSU-Pueblo, SMSU took a 3-0 lead in the 125-pound weight class with Travis Borchert earning a 9-3 decision over Tim Urenda. CSU-Pueblo tied the match at three in the next bout before Ethan Hildebrandt earned a 5-3 decision at 141 pounds to give the Mustangs a 6-3 advantage.

After two straight decisions by the Thunderwolves, Jacob Begin tied the match at 12 pinning Matt Addington at 4:14. CSU-Pueblo followed that with two more decisions and the Mustangs rebounded to tie the match with Martin Hagen (197 pounds) earning a 15-4 major decision over Cody Johnson and a 3-1 decision by Cole Wilson in the heavyweight bout.

Southwest Minnesota State will now turn its attention to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action taking on Upper Iowa University on the road on Sunday, Jan. 22, beginning at 2 p.m.