Colorado Mesa senior Fred Green earned the program's second National Champion as he claimed the 165-pound title for the Mavericks on Saturday, March 13, in the America Center.
The Port Orchard, Wash. native defeated Gannon's Alex Farenchak, the fifth seed at the weight, 7-3 in the final. Green was on the attack from the outset as he scored a pair of takedowns in the first period and rode Farenchak for nearly a minute and a half in the period.
Entering the third period, he had a 5-3 lead and chose to go down. He earned his escape just four seconds into the round and was able to fend off the late attack from Farenchak and tacked on the riding point for the win.
Following the match, Green unlaced his shoes, placed his headgear in the middle of the mat and fell to his knees signifying that he is done and is retiring from wrestling. He has one more semester of eligibility. 
In his semifinal, he faced a familiar foe in Nebraska-Kearney's Matt Malcom. Green was 2-0 all-time against the Loper having defeated him in each of the last two regional championship matches. Malcolm led 6-1 midway through the second period when Green hit Malcolm in a Peterson for a six-point move and a 7-6 lead heading into the third period.
Malcolm was still on the attack in the third period as he chose neutral and was able to take Green down twice in the period. The senior earned the last takedown with 33 seconds remaining and earned two late nearfall points for the 13-10 win.
The championship is the first for the Mavericks since 2015 when James Martinez won the 157-pound title in non-other than St. Louis, Missouri.
Fellow senior Donnie Negus earned a nice podium finish at 197-pounds. The Elizabeth, Colo. native placed fifth at the weight, going 2-1 in the matches he wrestled on the day to finish his season with a 12-3 mark.
Negus won his first match of the day 4-2 over St. Cloud State's Noah Ryan 4-2 before falling to fifth-seeded Zach Ryg of Upper Iowa 17-4 in the consolation semifinals. In his placement match, Negus defeated Jackson Ryan of Southwest Minnesota State, 4-3 to finish the tournament 4-2.
Despite having just two wrestlers in the tournament, the Mavericks were mighty.
Colorado Mesa finished in eighth place as a team with 31 points coming solely from Green and Negus and is the highest placement in the NCAA National Tournament in program history. They were the highest placing RMAC team, finishing eight points better than Colorado School of Mines, and every other team in the top ten had more wrestlers in the tournament.