CMU women’s wrestling made a strong impression at the NCAA’s first official championship for the sport
For years, women faced limited opportunities in a sport long seen as male-dominated, but on March 6-7, 2026, women’s wrestling became the NCAA’s 91st championship sport. Colorado Mesa University (CMU) made history as they crowned four All-Americans who placed in the top eight of their respective weight classes at this first appearance.
The Mavericks sent four wrestlers to Coralville, Iowa to make history as inaugural national qualifiers and to chase a place on the podium. With only four wrestlers in the tournament, the team finished in eighth place with all of them finding All-American status. Sophomore, Lorianna Piestewa took fourth in the 124-pound weight class. Redshirt senior, Jayleen Sekona placed fifth in the 207-pound weight class. Junior, Mia Zuniga and redshirt sophomore, Adriana Gomez, took eighth in the 103 and 110-pound weight class.
With 41.5 team points, CMU stood tall as the highest placing Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) team in the tournament. The Mavericks truly made history and will look to continue their journey as an official NCAA sanctioned sport stepping away from the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC).
The CMU Women’s wrestling team has put a lot of effort into not only building their team into a top contender, but also as advocates for women’s wrestling across the country. Women have competed in wrestling for some time now, however, it wasn’t until the late 1990s when the University of Minnesota Morris became the first college to sanction a women’s team. Following this, Hawaii became the first state to sanction high school girls' wrestling. More than two decades later, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) adopted it as a championship sport, and the NCAA recognized it as an emerging sport. In 2024, women’s wrestling was officially approved as an NCAA championship sport, although athletes around the country had to wait until 2026 to compete in their first season as official NCAA athletes.
CMU women’s wrestling became a sanctioned varsity sport in 2018 and immediately joined the NCWWC. In the 2023 National Championships, the Mavericks secured their first National Champion in Marissa Gallegos. They then joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in the 2023-24 season.
Today, there are over 150 colleges and universities that sponsor varsity programs, and the sport has grown from 804 participants in 1994 to over 74,000 in high school competition. Each summer, head coach, Travis Mercado and his team put on multiple camps throughout the summer with the end goal of promoting the sport.
“We create an environment that is designed to foster their growth, not just in wrestling skills, but in being a female athlete,” Mercado said.
Next season, the Mavericks will look to build on the momentum they built this season as they return for the second NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships next year.
