PUEBLO, Colo. (February 5, 2022) - The Colorado State University Pueblo wrestling team finished its home portion of the regular season, falling 28-8 against No. 20 Western Colorado on Saturday at Massari Arena.

The Pack earned wins from Gabriel Taboa (Fr., Jerome, Idaho) at 133 pounds and from Gavin Nye (Gerber, Calif.) at the 285 lb. matchup.

Taboa scored a second period win by fall (4:13) against his opponent Darian Palacio. In the first period, Taboa earned a quick takedown and started the riding time clock. At the end of the period, Taboa led 3-0 and deferred his decision to start period two.

Palacio chose to start in neutral and Taboa began his offense from the start and earned his second takedown and would hold control until the whistle ended the match in favor of Taboa.

In the last match of the evening, Nye faced off against Western's Sammy Deseriere and earned a quick takedown before a reversal evened the match at 2-2. Nye would earn an escape point in the final seconds of the period and carried a 3-2 lead into the second period.

In the next period, Nye elected to start on the bottom and he worked his way out of the hold and earned another escape point and a two-point advantage.

The final period, Nye started on top and Deseriere was able to escape and allowed Nye to start his offensive attack and he delivered a two-point takedown and held on for the final minute to earn the 6-3 decision.

In other close matches, Gavin Melendez (R-Sr., Los Banos, Calif.) dropped a 4-0 decision at 149-pounds versus Jason Hananberg and Dominic Robles (So., Pueblo, Colo.) battled in a hard fought 8-6 defeat against WCU's Cole Gray.

Ahead of the match, Pack Head Coach Dax Charles and staff recognized five departing student-athletes competing in the final home matches as members of the Pack. Along with Melendez and Nye, Parker McBride (Duvall, Wash.), Justin Davis (Pueblo, Colo.) and Ruben Garcia (Selma, Calif.) all were recognized for their outstanding academic and athletic careers.

CSU Pueblo will hit the road and compete Wednesday at New Mexico Highlands. The Pack will close the dual season a week from today at Colorado School of Mines.