KEARNEY, Neb. (January 20, 2024) - The Colorado State University Pueblo wrestling team returned to Kearney, Nebraska for a second time this season and competed at the UNK Younes Hospitality Duals, and finished 2-1 on Saturday at the Buffalo Co. Fairgrounds, hosted by University of Nebraska-Kearney.

The ThunderWolves picked up dual wins over Sioux Falls and (RV) Maryville and was led by Ben Gould (Sr., Canyon Country, Calif.) who finished unbeaten in three matches.

Dual Recaps
CSU Pueblo 33, Sioux Falls (SD) 12
Against USF, the ThunderWolves picked up wins in seven of the ten matches. The Pack recorded three wins by fall and three decision victories. Michael Atencio (R-So., Rye, Colo.) earned the first win by fall at 141 lbs., taking down Beau Beavers at 4:28.

The next CSU Pueblo pin came at 174 pounds when Tytus Coombs pinned Ashtin Johnson at 4:03. 

At 285 pounds, Josiah Aldinger (Fr., Falcon, Colo.) defeated the Cougars' Rocky Wiedman in 48 seconds, scoring six team points for the Pack.

Brandon Bigler (So., Pacifica, Calif.) was victorious in his match after his opponent was unable to finish due to injury. 

The first victory of the day for Gould came in the 197-pound match-up against Isaiah Laguna and Gould earned three team points with a 7-1 victory.

Anthony Nichols (R-Sr., Grand Coulee, Wash.) scored an 8-5 win by decision over Cooper Sanders at 149 pounds and Remington Winmill (R-So., Wendell, Idaho) held on during his 285-pound bout for a 12-11 victory over Daevon Vereen.

CSU Pueblo 9, No. 18 Northern State 39
In the second dual of the day against NSU, CSU Pueblo earned two individual wins at 184 pounds and 197 pounds. 

Donn Greer (So., Soledad, Calif.) earned the Pack six team points after his opponent did not finish due to injury.

Gould was the next on the mat for the ThunderWolves and scored a 4-1 decision win over Tyson Lien.

The Pack lost several matches in the middle weights by large margins and at 125 pounds, Dominick Castro (Fr., Pueblo, Colo.) had a strong showing against Landen Fischer, dropping a 4-1 decision.

CSU Pueblo 22, (RV) Maryville 15
The final dual of the day turned out to be most exciting against the Saints from Maryville. The Pack finished with six individual wins and included one win by fall and one major decision win.

At the 125 pound match, Castro started the scoring for the ThunderWolves after coming away with a 10-7 SV-1 win over Sam Shafer.

Maryville won the next two matches and collected eight team points. At 133 pounds, Bigler lost by a 17-2 TF versus Evan Binder and at 141 pounds, Atencio dropped an 8-3 decision against Kody Ketchum.

The ThunderWolves responded with back-to-back wins. Nichols scored a 4-2 decision win over Collin Reif in the 149 pound match and Cyruss Meeks (Jr., Casper, Wyo.) earned six team points after a 9-3 win over Carter Smith.

At 165 pounds, Elijah Valdez (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) dropped an 11-2 Maj. against Cole Ritter before CSU Pueblo bounced back with three straight wins.

In the next match at 174, Tytus Coombs (R-So., Meeker, Colo.) pinned Brian Thorpe at 2:23 and was followed by a 16-6 Maj. win for Greer over John Gholson.

Gould earned his third win of the day with a 7-3 win against Jeramiah Larson and in the 285 pound match, Aldinger fell 11-5 against Ryan Herman.

Up next
CSU Pueblo returns home for their first home duals of the regular season. On Friday, the Pack will host Western in a RMAC clash starting at 6 p.m. and on Saturday, No. 1 Central Oklahoma comes to town for a 6 p.m. dual. Both duals will be inside Massari Arena.