GUNNISON, Colo. (January 10, 2025) - Returning to action for the first time in the New Year, the Colorado State University Pueblo wrestling team traveled west to Gunnison to compete at the Western Colorado Open and freshman Kevin Boston (Omaha, Neb.) secured the 149 pound title on Saturday inside the Mountaineer Field House.

Mario Tafoya (So., Albuquerque, NM) finished 5th at 165 pounds and Alfredo Mendoza (Fr., Salinas, Calif.) brought home a 6th place finish in the 149 pound bracket.

Including the trio of placers, eight ThunderWolves competed on Saturday.

Player recaps
Boston had a solid day and earned two TF wins, a Maj. win and in the title bout, Boston won in SV-1 to bring home his first tournament win of the season.

In his first match of the day against Kyle Manuel from Northern Colorado, Boston went on a tear and scored a 19-4 TF win.

The quarterfinal match pitted Boston against Jack Faczak from Adams State and Boston pulled away early and earned a 16-5 win and in the semifinal match against Miles Harris from Western Colorado, Boston put up 19 more points in a dominating 19-4 victory.

In the first place match against Kieran Thomspon from Adams State, the two battled to a 3-3 draw through three periods and needed an overtime period to settle the battle and Boston earned a take down and finished the match.

Tafoya went 2-2 on the day including one win by fall en route to his fifth place finish.

The first match of his day Tafoya pinned (1:42) Joe Coon from Adams State before suffering a 15-6 Maj. defeat to Levi Deaguero, also from Adams State.

In the consolation semifinal. Tafoya lost by pin (0:44) against William Moneypenny from Colorado Mesa and Tafoya secured 5th place after a win by forfeit over ASU's Malachi Rider.

At 149 pounds, Mendoza went 3-3 and got two wins by decision and one Maj. before falling in the fifth place bout.

In Mendoza's first match of the day against Cael Figueroa from Adams State, he picked up an 11-2 Maj. before being sent to the consolation bracket following a 18-3 TF loss against Owen Cline from Colorado Mesa.

He bounced back in his first match on the consolation side and earned a 4-1 decision over CMU's Patrick Preston. He continued his upward trend in his next match and outlasted Celestino Gonzales from Western Colorado, in a 12-10 victory.

Mendoza lost his next match by Maj. against Miles Harris from WCU and dropped an 11-7 decision in a rematch with Cline in the 5th place match.

Brennon Joiner (Fr., Westminster, Colo.) earned a win by fall over John Finnegan from CMU at 149 pounds and went 1-2 on the day.

Samuel Ramos (R-Fr., Goleta, Calif.), Richard Palomar (R-Jr., Pueblo, Colo.), Tyler Ziek (So., Grand Junction, Colo.) and Markel Nicholson (Fr., Brewton, Ala.) each went 0-2 in their respective brackets.

Up next
CSU Pueblo will stay in Gunnison and will enter dual season on Saturday at the Tracy Borah Duals, hosted by Western Colorado. The ThunderWolves are scheduled to battle Simon Fraser at 10 a.m. and Newberry College at 2:30 p.m. at Mountaineer Field House.